DEAF 402 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Bernard Bragg, William Stokoe, Birds Eye
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
ASL Cinematic Techniques
- Visual Vernacular – Originated by Bernard Bragg
o “Cutting” back and forth between the characters, objects, or actions to show the
different points of view on the scene
o Creation of the “cinematic feel” in the ASL narratives and performances
▪ Theatrical and artistic forms of expression through mime, gestures, and
classifiers
▪ Show instead of tell the details, become the story
- ASL Cinematic Techniques
o William Stokoe claimed, “[Each] signer is placed very much as a camera: the
field of vision and angle of view are directed by variable” (as cited in Bauman,
2006, p.110)
o Common Film Language Used
▪ Shot Selections
▪ Camera Angles and Movements
▪ Editing and Effects
- Shot Selections
o Framing of the elements or shots (handled by classifier choices)
▪ Use of close-up (or zoom), medium, and long shots
o XLS, Long Shot, Medium Shot, Close-Up, XCU
- Camera Angles
o Use of “camera-like” angles or perspectives (handled by classifier choices)
▪ Use of eye level (or straight) angles, low and high angles, worm’s eye and
bird’s eye angles, and canted (or tilted) angles
o Low Angles and High Angles
▪ Low Angle Shot: the storyteller tilts their head up as if camera tilts up at
the character, object, or action in the higher space
▪ High Angle Shot: the storyteller tilts their head down as if the camera tilts
down or points down on the character, object, or action
- Camera Movements
o Use of “camera-like” movements (handled by classifier choices and movements)
▪ Use of panning →, crabbing (like an actual crab), tracking (partial
zoom), zooming, pedding , and tilting
- Editing
o Arrangement of the elements or shots (handled by role shifts and point of view
changes)
▪ Dialogue Editing: cutting back and forth between participants in a
dialogue
▪ Relational Editing: editing of the shots to suggest association of ideas or
actions between them
▪ Parallel Editing: cutting between two simultaneous events that take place
in separate places
▪ Cutting Away: cutting between two seemingly unrelated shots
▪ Montage: editing images together to produce a visual story
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