2. Starter Task
Note down the most visually impressive film
you have ever seen
(which film has looked the most impressive)
Pick one example from the scene and bullet
point the reasons why the visual are so
impressive

3. Learning Objectives
Analyse the history of Cinematography and
develop an understanding of visual story telling
Examine the development of cinematography
and consider the implications for filmmakers
Analyse the opening of Blade Runner and
evaluate the use of cinematography

4. Cinematography
The role the camera plays in film has developed
significantly since the earliest days of cinema
Cameras were large, heavy cumbersome
objects that required a team of men to move
from one location to another
As a result in most silent films the
camera never moves – in fact early
cinema was essentially the recording
of stages plays that were broadcast in
to theatres
Thomas Edison’s
“Anna-Bella Serpentine
Dance”

5. Cinematography
In the early days of cinema a single camera was
attached to a tripod to record the events on set
Due to it’s size and weight the camera did not
move – this is known as a FIXED CAMERA
As a result most early film looked like this:

6. Nosferatu
It was only a short amount of time before
filmmakers began cutting (joining one shot with
another) from one FIXED CAMERA shot to
another
This simple joining of shots was the beginning
of editing and led to the development of ‘The
Cinematic Language’
• Watch the following extract from
‘Nosferatu’ (1922)
(Dir: F.W. Murnau)
• How does cutting from ‘Nosferatu’ outside
the room to woman inside increase tension?

7. Nosferatu
A simple edit – and cinema is born!
Directors begin editing films with the audience
in mind – such as with ‘Nosferatu’ - by showing
the Vampire on the stairs and then the woman’s
reaction, the director has created tension
The audience know what is coming for her and
this encourages us to empathise with the
woman and fear for her safety
Cinematography evolved in the 1920’s and
filmmakers such as Charlie Chaplin took
advantage of the new possibilities

8. Robots, Wizards and
We are now going to watch 3 extracts from Machines
3 different eras of cinema.
You must:
• Bullet point the ways that cinematography
has developed since the silent era
• Besides Black & White – what else has
changed?
• How was developing technology changed
the way films are made? The Wizard of Oz
Metropolis
The Matrix
Dir; Victor
Dir; Fritz Lang
Dir. Wachowski
• In what ways have these developments Flemming (1939)
(1927)
Bros.
enhanced films for their audiences? (1999)

9. Cinematic Language
The change in technology and development of
cinematography led to the creation of the Cinematic
Language
“the various visual codes used in
cinematic storytelling”
Audiences became familiar with different shot types and
began associating different shots with different things
High Angle Shots – a technique used to
place characters in vulnerable positions
and make them seem vulnerable

10. Establishing Shots
You may have noticed that every time we change location in
a film we see a shot showing the outside or a building or of
the environment the characters are in
This type of shot is called an Establishing Shot
Establishing Shots are used to inform the
audience that a location has changed and the
story has moved to a new environment
They are also used at the beginning of films to
establish the ‘film world’ and introduce the
audience to the environment the film will take
place in

11. Establishing Shots
Films are relatively short forms of storytelling and as such have to
convey a lot of information in a short space of time
Watch the opening sequence from Blade
Runner and answer the following questions:
What do we learn about the world of Blade
Runner?
What effect does the constantly moving
camera have on the audience?
What do we learn about the story / themes
Blade Runner
after cutting to the ECU of the human eye?
Dir; Ridley Scott
(1982)

12. Future Noir
“Blade Runner begins with several ELS / Establishing Shots that
gradually introduce the audience to 21st Century Los Angeles”
The characters and themes are them introduced
• Industrial Wasteland – Earth is in physical decay – no
evidence of nature and the skyline is dominated by
industry
•The sky is brown and heavily polluted by smoke –
What caused it?
• ECU of an eye – Who does this belong to? (
• Flames reflected in the eye – are they dangerous?
•Continually moving forward slowly draws the
audience in to this nightmarish world

13. Establishing Shots
Analysis Task
You have five minutes to write a short analysis
of Blade Runner’s opening sequence
You must include:
Shot types
What does the establishing shot tell us?
How do we learn about the themes / story /
characters?
Swap your work with a partner and review it Blade Runner
Dir; Ridley Scott
Provide 2 positive comments (1982)
And 2 areas for improvement

14. Summary
The Art of Cinematography has evolved since
the birth of cinema to become a dynamic and
essential part of any film
The Cinematic Language developed alongside
camera technology and enables audiences to
read a form of storytelling shorthand –
filmmakers can convey lots of information in a
short space of time through visuals alone
Establishing shots are a part of the cinematic
language and are used to switch locations in a
film and inform the audience of where the
action is taking place

16. Learning Objectives
To do list…
Psycho – camera gives information to the
audience about the character
Hand held camera – Saving Private Ryan

17. Starter Task
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18. Learning Objectives
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19. Cinematic Language
Pan Shot
The camera remains
stationary in a position and
moves, or ‘pans’ from left to
right
Use:
To follow a subject / object
Directing the audiences
attention to a specific area /
object

20. Cinematic Language
‘Tilt’ Shots
The camera remains
stationary in a position and
moves, or ‘’tilts’ up or down
Use:
To follow a subject / object
Directing the audiences
attention to a specific area /
object

21. Cinematic Language
‘Tracking’ shots
The camera is connected to a track and moves along that
track in one direction – either left to right, or forward to
back
Use:
To follow a subject / object as
it travels – such as characters
walking / cars driving

22. Cinematic Language
‘Crane’ shot
The camera is positioned on a crane that can move
up/down, left/right etc and take shots from high positions and
unusual angles
Use:
Establishing shots – to follow action and
provide a birds-eye view of the action /
environment

23. Cinematic Language
‘Hand-Held’ Camera
The camera is attached to a rig on the cinematographers body.
The camera is then operated by hand is characterised by a ‘shakey’
look
Use:
Handheld styles gives a scene more fluidity
and a natural feel
It can be used to position the audience within
the action or give the audience an insight in to
a characters POV

24. Spot the shot?
Watch the following montage of scenes and
not down all of the shot types that you see
1 Point for each correct shot type
1 Bonus point for each film correctly named

25. Saving Private Ryan
How does Spielberg ‘place the
audience’ in the scene?
How does the cinematography
add to the believability of the
scene?
Why do you think Spielberg
used hand held camera
techniques here?
Saving Private Ryan
Dir; S. Spielberg (1998)

26. What goes in a shot?
When a director films a scene s/he must
not only decide what should be seen – but
also what should not be seen
Sometimes withholding information from
the audience can be just as effective as
giving information -
Considering what to include / exclude from
a shot is called FRAMING
BLADE RUNNER
Framing is very effective in creating a In an attempt to add
required impression and the shot mystery to the film, Ridley
types, camera height and location Scott framed the eye in a
must be considered carefully CU and purposefully hides
the identify of the person

27. What goes in a shot?
Look at this still from The
King’s Speech
The film is about the King’s
speech impediment and his
discomfort when speaking in
front of other people
The framing includes a
stadium of people watching
the King adding to his
discomfort

28. What goes in a shot?
By changing framing of the
shot and moving the camera
closer to the King we lose
that sense of him being
watched –
By including the audience
within the frame the King
becomes more isolated and
his fear of speaking in public
The camera does not simply record is magnified
that which is in front of it but can be
placed skilfully to create the required
impression

29. Framing – In the Mood for
Watch the following extracts from In the Love
Mood for Love and make notes on the framing
Look at the camera location and placement
Do you notice anything unusual?
Why has the filmmaker chosen to place the
camera where he has?
How are the characters being filmed?
How does the framing add meaning / provide
information? In the Mood for Love
(2001)
Dir; Wong Kar Wai
Clip 2 – What do we learn about the
relationship between the two characters?

31. Scene 2 – it has already been established that the two main characters
are having a secret affair. How does the framing and cinematography
reflect this?

32. Cinematography
Instead of being limited to one camera position
and shot type, directors were now able to show
a world from multiple points of view –
enhancing the realism and believability of the
films
Filmmakers like Charlie Chaplin could used
many shots to tell a story and give the film a
more dynamic feel
Watch this short Chaplin film and note how he
creates a mini-story through the use of the
camera