"How to Read a Movie"

CC: Flickr user Dave & Bry

When filming a movie, there are obviously many things that directors, cinematographers, camera men etc. need to take into account - but never had I heard about how the placement of certain things in a film frame can say so much about a moment in the movie. Of course, there's the law of thirds - but there is a whole dynamic of placement that goes far beyond that, and that can mean so many different things. 

The most interesting example I came across was the "tilting"of a screen in order to signify something going on with characters in a shot. I loved the idea that "Tilt shots of course put everything on a diagonal, implying the world is out of balance. I have the impression that more tilts are down to the right than to the left, perhaps suggesting the characters are sliding perilously into their futures." ("How to read a movie", Ebert). I think there is something really beautiful in tilting the camera so that characters are seen as "sliding" into their futures, and that there is so much more going on in a movie than just the characters on a screen! 

I loved the idea of going through a movie and stopping at certain frames like Ebert did with his class. I found it so interesting that at any moment in a film there can be material to analyze, that there will always be something to investigate and look more into - just by looking at the way the characters are placed. Certain lighting can emphasize different parts of the frame, which can send a completely different message depending on who/what the light is cast onto (or not cast onto). I can surely say that I will now look at cinematography in a completely different light!