How to light a scene

Lighting is an essential part of moviemaking. Half of the struggle in filming is controlling the light to create the right mode for a scene. Film stock, Lens, Aperture, F-stops, all deal with lighting control. With the quality and ability of cameras to capture light improving, less and less are filmmakers restricted by not having enough natural light. Any filmmaker just starting out should know the different type of light and the basic lighting techniques.

The Sound of Movies

You may have seen the film The Artist, if not it's a good movie and the perfect example of how sound took Hollywood by storm and "talkies" became a new normal of the cinema experience. So how is sound recorded?  It's the same concept for digital and analog(film), the difference is in how the information is stored.

Film

The differences between film and digital footage begins with the camera. Film is digitalizing. Less and less are movies shot with film. Instead movie begin and end with digital cameras and editing. However, knowing about the history of film is valuable for anyone interested in cinematography.

Sound in animation- The Voice Actor

Acting is one thing, but voice acting is another and yes it's still acting. Half of what brings a character to life in an animated film is hearing them speak. I'm using Howl's Moving Castle cause it's one of my favorite movies and before I saw Christian Bale as Batman, he was Howl.

Wizard Of Oz -Look of Film

Film looks different from digital, but a lot of old movies are being remastered and updated to an HD looking format. To show the rapid changing of film look at The Wizard of Oz. You may be familiar with the 1939 film (the one that had sound and Technicolor), but just fourteen years earlier there was a 1925 a silent black and white film.

Mise en Scene- The camera Lens

The camera lens bends light into the camera focusing it against a sensor or film stock. Digital cameras use a sensor while film cameras use film stock.

Film stock comes in  color and black and white. Black and white film stock has five layers while color film stock has up to fifteen layers. Both types of film have an emulsion layer, where the image is created. The process is based upon light exposure.

Mise en Scene -camera placement

The camera's placement sets up a shot from angles to lens, tiny little movements here and there increase the drama of the moment.

Timeless Formulas

Have you ever watched a movie and had the vague feeling of deja vu? You ask yourself, didn't I just see that somewhere else? You probably did. Expanding upon the Three Acts of a Screenplay, there is something called a formulaic Screenplay. I recommend finding the book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting you'll ever need! Written by an "insider" it explains why somethings seems to always be present in certain movies. 

How editing changes a scene

After actually filming a movie, the next time consuming effort is on editing. That is where the magic happens.

Below is a scene in a basic screen play format.