Camera Blocking Choices
b. What is important in the scene? (dialogue, action)
c. What do the characters want? (character objectives)
d. What emotions do you want the audience to experience? (feelings)
e. Whose POV is being expressed? (writer, character, director)
f. What distance are you from the subject? (size of the shot)
g. What is your relationship to the subject? (choice of lenses)
1) The Dramatic Circle of Action (where you eventually put the camera) is determined by the size of the area you want to shoot.
a. You can place the camera outside the action to keep some distance from the action. (Example: Wide shot of a football game.)
b. You can place the camera inside the action so the action moves around the camera. (Example: hand-held close-ups of actors fighting.)
2) Reasons to Move the Camera
a. Move for emphasis. (The camera moves into an actor)
b. Move to emphasize a character in a group. (Pan or dolly)
c. Transfer attention from one character to another. (Pan, dolly, focus)
d. To connect movement from one space to another. (Pan from a door to a desk or steadicam from one room to another room)
3) Static or Moving
a. Static Camera (Subjects can be still or moving)
b. Static Subjects (Camera can be still or moving)
c. Moving Camera (Subjects can be still or moving)
d. Moving Subjects (Camera can be still or moving)
4) Subjective and Objective Camera Angles
a. A Subjective camera angle is a shot taken close to the 180 line. (You can see the face and eyes more clearly.)
b. An Objective camera angle is a shot taken perpendicular to the 180 line. (It is wider – more profile to the actor.)
5) Camera Height is used to show physical relationships (or status) between people. For example, in real life, there are two kinds of status relationships:
a. Equal to equal (Good cop & bad guy/doctor & doctor)
b. Superior to inferior (Judge & defendant/teacher & student)
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