Feeling quite accomplished today as I finished Pat Miller's script supervising book. Highlights:
Lined script: At the start of each shot, draw the perpendicular line from the slate number down to the exact spot where the shot ends. If the shot continues to subsequent pages, place an arrow on the line at the bottom of the page.
The wiggly line: A straight line is drawn through for those speeches and actions that have been filmed, while the wiggly line is drawn through any off-camera dialogue.
FILM LANGUAGE - Industry definitions
(The list of definitions was long, but there were a few new ones worth noting, or clarifying.)
Barney - special cover over the camera that insulates camera noise.
Beat - A deliberate slight pause in the flow of dialogue or action.
Camera Left - Subjects or objects are positioned at the left side of the frame or move toward the left side of the frame. Screen direction is opposite to legitimate stage direction. As you view the scene in front of the camera, Camera Left is parallel to your left-hand side. To move Camera Left, a performer moves in the direction of his or her right-hand side; to move Stage Left, a performer moves in the direction of his or her left-hand side.
Camera Right - The opposite of Camera Left. As you view the scene in front of the camera, Camera Right is parallel to your right-hand side. To move Camera Right, a performer moves in the direction of his or her left hand side; to move Stage Right, a performer moves in the direction of his or her right hand side.
Cookies/Cukaloris - A piece of plywood or plastic with cutout patterns of varying shapes and sizes that casts surface shadows onto the set when placed in front of a light source.
Dailies - Reels of processed film from the laboratory that comprise the day's shoot. The film is viewed by the director, the producer and other concerned personnel.
Foley - The technique of augmenting and creating sound effects to synchronize with action in a film during post-production (e.g., foot steps, breathing, punches, slaps).
Hubba-hubba - The murmuring sounds emanating from a crowd in a scene, on instruction from the A.D.
Master shot - The film that comprises the continuous performance of a scene, which includes dialogue and camera moves. Any portion of a scene, or any subject matter related to a scene, that is being filmed for the first time is in the category of master shot.
Mock-up - 1. replica made of a structure or an object featured in a scene, particularly when the script calls for its destruction. 2. A replica made of a section of an automobile, airplane, or the like, for the purpose of shooting close-up angles for the dialogue or reactions of the characters occupying the seats.
Scrim - A piece of special gauze mounted on a stand and placed between the camera and the characters being filmed. This diffuses the light and lessens the sharpness of the image, so that the subjects' blemishes may be diminished or erased. (*I checked this word because it made think of soap ops and how much scrim they use!)
Upstage - The area farthest from the camera. Moving upstage means moving toward the rear of the set up.
DYNAMICS OF THE CAMERA
- Try to acquire the habit of visualizing a movie set in relation to a frame of film so that you will always think in terms of screen (camera) direction. The set is a three walled area: there is the left side of the frame, known as Camera Left/CL, the right side of the frame, known as Camera Right/CR, and the background/BG of the frame. The camera and the audience are the "fourth wall".
- Imaginary Line/Action Axis/180 rule. Theoretical line extending straight across the scene in the line of eye contact between the two subjects closest to the camera on each side of the frame. The concept mandates that all component shots be confined within the area in front of the imaginary line of the fixed shot. Thus, congruity will be maintained when intercutting the related shots.
- Progression - It is mandatory that subjects make a clean entrance (from outside the frame) into every shot and a clean exit (to outside the frame) from every shot.
- The Chasing Action - When two characters are moving in the same direction - say, left to right (stalking or chasing each other)--each character must make a clean entrance into every shot and a clean exit out of every shot at the same pace as in the previous shot.
- Going Through a Door - a hint for ensuring correct progression for going through a door: When shooting the first scene, make a note (or a diagram) indicating where the doorknob is: either on CR or CL. When shooting the second scene, make sure that the doorknob is on the direct reverse side of the door. If in shot 1, the doorknob was on CR, then in shot 2 it must be on CL.
- Jumps on Screen - When props within a shot are incongruously juxtaposed from one angle to another, jumps occur on screen. If a master 2/shot is to be covered by two single close angles, it must be determined beforehand "who gets the candle?" It is a cinematic dictum that the prop cannot appear in both close shots.
TECHNIQUES OF MATCHING
- Action Matching/The Match cut - "Cut on action". In other words, plan to cut from the master shot to another angle when subjects are in motion--rising from a sitting or kneeling position, or when the body turns etc. The most harmonious transition into the master shot from a close shot is achieved when the repeated action in the close shot starts from a few feet ahead of the spot where the cut in the master shot is planned and continues for a few feet beyond the cut in the master shot. The task of action matching has become one of the preeminent functions of the continuity supervisor.
- Directional notations: L-side, R-side, L-hand, R-hand, etc. CL and CR for camera left and camera right (the right side of the body is CL for camera, and the left side of the body is CR for camera).
Ultimately, my favorite piece of advice in the entire book is * Know exactly what the frame is holding * Above all else, I need to know what the frame holds, not necessary what my eye holds in its particular view. So for example, I always need to get a good look of what the camera is getting because if I'm sitting on the opposite side of the room at a different angle, my eyes might get a view/angle on something that is completely different in the frame. I think keeping this piece of advice in mind is going to help me the most in the long run!
I also thought the photo above nicely illustrates the different types of shot sizes and is definitely an image to keep in mind during shooting.
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