CCS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Super 8 Film, Film Stock, Key Light
11 Jun 2018
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CCS 101
Chapter 6: Cinematography
• cinematography - the process of capturing moving images on film or a digital storage device
• camera crew - divided into one group of technicians concerned with the camera and another
concerned with electricity and lighting
• camera group consists of the camera operator and the assistant camerapersons (ACs)
• shot - one uninterrupted run of the camera
• take - refers to the number of times a particular shot is taken
• setup - one camera position and everything associated with it
• the cinematographer's responsibilities for each shot and setup (as well as for each take) fall into 4
broad categories:
o cinematographic properties of the shot (film stock, lighting, lenses)
o framing of the shot (proximity to the camera, depth, camera angle and height, scale, camera
movement)
o speed and length of the shot
o special effects
• camera operator - does the actual shooting
• first AC - oversees everything having to do with the camera, lenses, supporting equipment, and
the material on which the movie is being shot
• second AC - prepares the slate that is used to identify each scene as it is shot; files camera
reports; and when film stock is being used, feeds that stock into magazines that are then loaded
onto the camera
• the group concerned with electricity and lighting consists of the gaffer (chief electrician), best boy
(first assistant electrician), other electricians, and grips (all-around handypersons who work with
both the camera crew and the electrical crew to get the camera and lighting ready for shooting)
• film stock -
o there are 2 basic types of film stock, one to record images in black and white, the other to
record them in color
o they are completely different and have their own technical properties and cinematic
possibilities
o film stock is available in several standard gauges (widths measured in millimeters): 8mm,
Super 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, 65mm, 70mm, as well as special-use formats, such as IMAX,
which is 10x bigger than a 35mm frame
o another variable of film stock is its speed (or exposure index) - the degree to which it is light-
sensitive
• film stocks that are extremely sensitive to light, and thus are useful in low-light
situations, are called fast; those that require a lot of light are called slow
• colorization - using digital technology, certain television executives during the 1970s and 1980s
"painted" colors on movies meant by the original filmmakers to be seen in black and white
o unimpressive results
• widescreen aspect ratio - color film was used strategically by Hollywood during the 1950s to lure
people away from their television sets and back into theaters
• artificial lights are called instruments to distinguish them from the light they produce
• focusable spotlights and floodlights - produce light, respectively, hard (mirrorlike) and soft
(diffuse) light
o a focusable spotlight can produce either a hard, direct spotlight beam or a more indirect
beam
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• when it is equipped with black metal doors (known as barn doors), it can be used to
cut and shape the light in a variety of ways
• in either case, it produces distinct shadows
o floodlights produce diffuse, indirect light with very few to no shadows
• the most effective floodlight for filmmaking is the softlight, which creates a very soft,
diffuse, almost shadowless light
• reflector board - not really a lighting instrument, because it does not rely on bulbs to produce
illumination, but it is a double-sided board that pivots in a U-shaped holder
o one side is a hard, smooth surface that reflects hard light
o the other is a soft, textured surface that provides a softer fill light
o most often they are used to reflect sunlight into shadows during outdoor shooting
• three-point system - perhaps the best-known lighting convention in feature filmmaking
o employed extensively during the Hollywood studio era, the system was used to cast a
glamorous light on the studios' most valuable assets during these years - their stars - and it
remains the standard by which movies are lighted today
o employs 3 sources of light, each aimed from a different direction and position in relation to
the subject: key light, fill light, and backlight
• the backlight is the least essential of these 3 sources
o the key light (also known as the main, or source, light) is the primary source of illumination
and thus, is customarily set first
• positioned to one side of the camera, it creates hard shadows
o the fill light, which is positioned at the opposite side of the camera from the key light,
adjusts the depth of the shadows created by the brighter key light; may also come from a
reflector
o primary advantage is that it permits the cinematographer to adjust the relationship and
balance between illumination and shadow - the balance between the key and fill lights - a
balance known as the lighting ratio
o when little or no fill light is used, the ratio between bright illumination and deep shadow is
very high; the effect produced is known as low-key lighting
• low-key lighting produces the overall gloomy atmosphere that we see in horror films,
mysteries, psychological dramas, crime stories, and film noirs, where its contrasts
between light and dark often imply ethical judgments
o high-key lighting, which produces an image with very little contrast between the darks and
the lights, is used extensively in dramas, musicals, comedies, and adventure films; its even,
flat illumination does not call particular attention to the subject being photographed
• when the intensity of the fill light equals that of the key light, the result will be the
highest of high-key lighting: no shadows at all
o we increase the contrasts to produce low-key lighting and decrease them to produce high-
key lighting
• the cinematographer lowers the fill light to achieve a higher ratio and contrast
between shadow depth and illumination, and raises the fill light to lower the ratio and
contrast
o backlight - usually positioned behind and above the subject and the camera, used to create
highlights along the edges of the subject as a means of separating it from the background
and increasing its appearance of three-dimensionality (such highlights are also known as
edge lights or rim lights)
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