Wide/Med/CU Shots

[ussinners]

With Us Sinners the spaces were pretty tight, so I used a lot of CUs. I always had the person who needed to be seen on screen. So, if someone was talking, you weren't thinking, how's that person reacting. Quite a few reviewers (both good and bad) mentioned the overuse of CUs. More then one said "This ain't porn".

So, with Leading Lady, I'm still getting a lot of coverage. But, I find with these scenes, both characters are important. So, I find myself going from CUs back to wide and medium shots. At the moment, I'm trying to piece together the best shots that tell the story in the best fashion possible.

I sent a scene to a friend and he told me going from the CUs back to the wide shot was awkward and not really done. He told me wide shots are used to establish a scene and once you go to CUs you don't go back to the wide shot.

Since I just watch movies, and very rarely ever comb over them for film making tips, is this true?

I know there are no set rules. But, is this the norm?

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

The real rule is what do you want viewers to see to tell your story?

Most dialogue is shot with close-ups. Most action is shot with wide shots.

An exception to the rule can be showing everyone's reaction to one person's comment. I have a scene where Artemis is underccover among her Amazons who are losing faith in her for not seeing or hearing from her for tens of thousands of years and sees they are becoming misguided. So, she starts quoting the ways of Artemis to them and they all look at her wierd. A reaction shot like that also cuts down on dialogue. In this case, the best shot to use is a wide shot to see the reaction in the faces of the people surrounding her.

There are times too where close-ups are needed for action scenes when you want viewers to pay attention to certain details. Like in my production of axes breaking. We will pickup the close-ups this spring.

 

[Kosh]

What your friend told you is true, as some do tend to look at things that way. Not that it's good or bad, it's just one way to look at things.

Persoannly I am not a big fan of sticking to "rules" like that as they tend to make the storytelling/viewing experinece formulaic and predictable. I prefer going in close to draw the audience in to key moments/dialogue/reactions - sort of holding thier breath and then releasing them by backing off for them to catch their breath (the backing off can be a Med or longer shot, it depends on what the story, the mood calls for). So used in that manner, for me at least, you get to control how the audience consumes the story, you get to allow the story to breathe and live. I mean jumping from a CU to a long might be jarring a bit, but I still think it can be done - e.g., moving from the lips delivering a warning to the raction to said warning (perhaps people dropping their weapons and running away to heed the warning). You can do whatever you want as long as it moves the story forward, gets the message across and does not allow anythhing to interrup the viewing and the telling.

The same goes with exposure, lighting, sound - use them to tell the story and not as some formualic checklist. Some scenes will be exposed correctly (whatever that means to you and your story) while some call for under-exposure to set the mood. Some secens are lit fully, while some call for creative lighting techniques. I say use these techniques to enhance the look, feel and effectiveness of your story instead of the old/safe, predictable formulaic approaches. But that's just me. I sure would like to hear what others have to say about this. I hope this helped.

 

[rayw]

I know what you're asking for is confirmation of what are essentially dance steps - "What is proper?", but your query did remind me immediately of the following article I just read the other day on my distribution quest.

#1
"Tell Tale Signs A Film’s Budget is Far Smaller Than A Filmmaker Claims
Too many close-up shots, too few (or no) extras walking around in the background and limited locations are all obvious signs that a film didn’t cost much to make. Furthermore, small films tend to feel claustrophobic, because there are no overhead shots or wide shots. So, even if filmmakers need to go small with their budgets, they need to think big with the scope of how they execute it""
http://www.filmthreat.com/features/25213/

Headzup!

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

As a general "rule", he is correct. You usually don't go back to the master once you go into the close ups. Doesn't mean it's never done, or can't be done, but you don't see it very often.