TONI WEISS
C A M E R A B L O C K I N G
F O R E M O T I O N A L I M P A C T
Director, Screenwriter, Storyboard Artist
B Y :
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA
O U R TO P I C TO DAY :
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA WO R K S H O P OV E RV I E W
PART 1
• STORY FLOW & LOGIC: what are shots for ?
• SHOT FLOW & RYTHM: how are shots put in sequence ?
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA WO R K S H O P OV E RV I E W
PART 2
• CAMERA MOVEMENT & EMOTION: moves are feelings
• BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: aesthetics tell stories
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA WO R K S H O P OV E RV I E W
PART 1
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S TO RY F L OW
STORY FLOW & LOGIC: what are shots for ?
Each new shot in a sequence creates e i ther :
(1) in format ion
(2) emot ion
To dec ide which in format ion or emot ion i s impor tant to your s tor y,
ask the 2 questions every director asks :
(1) who does the s tor y / scene be long to ?
(2) what do I want to te l l the aud ience ?
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
SHOT FLOW & RYTHM: how are shots put in sequence ?
The basic pattern o f a shot f low i s „Q & A“ :
one shot poses a QUESTION. . .
the next shot ANSWERS i t . . . .
and ends wi th another QUESTION. . . .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
SHOT FLOW & RYTHM: editing ground rules.
There are some simple rules to ed i t ing a shot f low:
(1) do not cut f rom one shot s i ze to the same shot s i ze too of ten
(2) use the same lenses and d is tances in ang les & rever se ang les
(3) be care fu l not to jump across the ax i s / l ine of act ion
(4) most impor tant ly : use the shot for what it has been shot for ! ! !
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
SHOT FLOW & RYTHM: what shot sizes do for your story.
Dif ferent shot sizes te l l d i f ferent th ings :
ECU: Extreme Close Up - Deta i l s as Foreshadowing , Quest ion or Par s Pro Toto
CU: Close Up - I so lates for emot iona l c lar i ty
OTS: Over The Shoulder - create a fee l ing of connect ion
MS: Medium Shot - B lock ing and Body Language te l l the s tor y
WS: Wide Shot - use i t to establ i sh a scene or to i so late a char acter
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
SHOT FLOW & RYTHM
Lets see th i s in act ion :
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA S H OT F L OW
„THE MIST“ storyboards © 2007 by Pete Von Sholly / MGM
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA WO R K S H O P OV E RV I E W
PART 2
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA C A M E R A M OV E M E N T
CAMERA MOVEMENT & EMOTIONS: moves are feelings.
By moving the camera , you can create s t rong emot iona l messages .
Used proper ly, you can even v i sua l i ze your char acter ‘ s inner life .
Books use words . F i lms & Animat ion must use p ic tures , sound & mus ic .
Th is i s qu i te powerfu l & impor tant .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA C A M E R A M OV E M E N T
ESTABLISHING SHOTS
(1) cr ane down - s ink into the scene/mood & d iscover what ‘ s impor tant .
(2) boom up - revea l the scene/addi t iona l in fo & put your char acter in context .
Game Des igner s somet imes use too many wide shots in the i r cut-scenes .
Don‘ t .
Use an establ i sh ing shot no more than once in a scene .
Return to i t on ly i f there i s an emot iona l reason to go wide .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA C A M E R A M OV E M E N T
REVEALS
(1) Zie l insk i move & other c lever combinat ions of pan , t i l t & dol ly
(2) Circ le Moves & pans - to add a surpr i s ing new e lement to the shot
Somet imes us ing a revea l i s more e legant s tor yte l l ing than
to s imply cut to the in format ion you want to revea l .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA C A M E R A M OV E M E N T
MOVING IN - DOLLY MOVES
(1) With a zoom , the aud ience ‘s percept ion of the char acter changes .
(2) With a dolly-in-move , the char acter ‘ s percept ion of someth ing changes .
When the camera moves c loser to a char acter,
i t creates a powerfu l fee l ing of change :
Spagett i -Westerns / Quent in Tar ant ino ‘s ep ics employ zoom shots .
Sp ie lber g , Zemeck is & Peter Jackson use th i s master fu l ly.
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: aesthetics as storytelling.
There are cer ta in aspects of the v i sua l des ign of a shot
that might seem l ike pure aesthet ic choices .
They are not .
Such as : he ight of camera , block ing , compos i t ion & f r aming and depth of f ie ld .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: height of camera.
(1) an eye-level-shot te l l s us : there i s l i t t le conf l i c t in the scene .
(2) a low-level-shot he lps to te l l s us : there i s lots of conf l i c t in th i s scene .
Whether the camera i s h igher or lower makes a huge emot iona l d i f ference :
(3) a bird‘s eye-view-shot takes us out of the l ine of conf l i c t .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: the blocking of characters.
How char acter s s tand next to each other in the f r ame
makes a huge emot iona l d i f ference :
Block ing A Block ing B
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: composition & depth.
The f ina l ar t o f v i sua l s tor yte l l ing requ i res a f ine eye :
Compos i t ion i s the ar t o f
look ing for harmony and ba lance in a v i sua l .
Some are born wi th a s ixth sense for i t .
Other s must learn f rom the master s .
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: composition & depth.
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA B L O C K I N G & A E S T H E T I C S
BLOCKING, ANGLES & FRAMING: composition & depth.
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA F U RT H E R S T U DY
Thou shalt buy it & learn it by heart.
THE HOLY BIBLE
In which all shall be revealed in moving pictures.
REVELATIONS 1 - 6
HOW TO TELL STORIES WITH A CAMERA F U RT H E R S T U DY
Hans Bacher reveals how to design for animation.
ST. JOHN‘s BOOK
Drawing made easy by the man who invented Spidey.
Stan Lee speaks. Nuff said ?
THE GOSPEL OF STAN
T H A N K YO U.
© TONI WEISS / MOVING TARGET FILMS
www.movingtargetfilms.at