The 8 Technical Elements in Film Production

You know when you’re talking to someone and trying to explain how you feel about a recent film or TV show that you watched? But you can’t articulate your thoughts in a way that effectively expresses your concerns and interests. Well, even if you’re not a filmmaker, this blog should at least give you enough information to have a healthy and informed opinion or conversation about a movie. If you are an aspiring filmmaker, the information you’re about to read here will be some keywords worth jotting down for yourself.

Key Elements Involved in Film Production

Film Types

Film types are generally categorized into three main categories: realism, classical, and formalism. Most connoisseurs of motion picture art feel that the greatest films are the artistic and personal expressions of strong directors. The cinema exists, however, for many social functions, and its art has served many types of film that do not set out to be artistic. — Britannica

Shots

When it comes to shots involved in filmmaking, there are ten primary options that are further broken down into variations:

• Extreme Close-Up (ECU)
• Close-Up (CU)
• Medium Shot (MS)
• Full Shot (FS)
• Long Shot or Wide Shot (LS)
• Extreme Long Shot (ELS) or Extreme Wide Shot
• Deep Focus
• American Shot
• Over The Shoulder (OTS)
• POV Shot

Shots are the building blocks of film, and shot selection significantly impacts the viewer’s interpretation of the action on screen. It’s crucial to choose the right shot to effectively communicate your film’s message. — Into Film

Angles

There are four main angles involved in filming:

• Eye Level
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Oblique Angle

The camera angle helps the creator establish different relationships between the subjects and the audience. Mastering these techniques is essential for anyone aspiring to be a professional filmmaker! — Vliz

Lighting

There are four main types of lighting:

• High Key Lighting
• Low Key Lighting
• Chiaroscuro Lighting
• Silhouette/Black Lighting

Specific types of lighting create particular moods. Consider the genres of movies you love; comedy and noir films tend to use different lighting techniques to invoke specific feelings.

Without good lighting, even the best camera can’t capture a perfect picture. Learn how a film crew uses lighting to enhance images, create depth, and support the story’s mood and atmosphere. — David Lynch, Masterclass

Color

In filmmaking, the use of color plays a significant role in communicating the tone of a scene. To be a renowned visual artist, knowledge of the color palette is essential. Many of the greatest directors, cinematographers, and production designers have backgrounds as visual artists.

Color in film doesn’t only come into play during the color correction and grading stages; it begins with the production design. To make a scene resonate emotionally, try using colors associated with the feelings you want to evoke.

There are two main kinds of color:

• Saturated: Communicates optimism, fantasies, love, or pleasant scenery.
• Desaturated: Communicates the past, strife, sorrow, or dystopian scenery.

There are two main kinds of color:

Saturated

• communicates optimism, fantasies, love, or some pleasant scenery

Desaturated

• communicates the past, strife, sorrow, or some other dystopia scenery

Sound

There are two main kinds of sound; diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, which are what build up the sound design for film. The key difference between both kinds of sounds are broken down below:

Diegetic

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose sound is implied to be present by the action in the film; also characterized by offscreen or on-screen.

Types of Diegetic Sound:

1. Character dialogue is the most obvious example of a diegetic sound.
2. Object sounds give a film more realism. For example, the sound of the crushing of the character’s footsteps in the snow or the sounds of the traffic when the character is shown to be walking on a busy street.
3. The music originating from within in the film helps the audience in becoming engrossed within a scene.

The source of diegetic sound doesn’t necessarily need to be seen on screen, as long as the audience understands that it is coming from something within the film. – MasterClass

Non-diegetic

The sound whose source is not visually noticeable on the screen nor has been applied by the action occurring in the film; basically, any sound that does not come from inside the story itself.

Non-diegetic sound, also called commentary or nonliteral sound, is any sound that does not originate from within the film’s world. The film’s characters are not able to hear non-diegetic sound. All non-diegetic sound is added by sound editors in post-production. – MasterClass

Types of Non-Diegetic Sound:

1. The film’s score is used to set the film’s tone. This sound is used to plan and evoke audience emotions, add to the drama, express doubtfulness, or present an element of surprise.
2. Sound effects added for dramatic effect.
3. Narration or voice-over is used by the director to assist in the explanation or reinforcement of the plot.

Again, these are things ONLY the audience hears, and the characters involved in the story do not.

Editing

Film editing is one of the aspects or parts of a film that usually tend to go unnoticed (at least in Hollywood films!). The main job of the film’s editor is to put together the shots involved in the storyline and make their flow as smooth and fluid as possible to ensure the audience can fully engage in following the film’s plot. Some editors may also purposely break this fluid smoothness from the storyline if the plot requires (or if they’re terrible editors).

• Continuity: a breakdown of time and space while preserving fluidity.
• Classical: This style bounces from long shot to medium shot to close up for invoking a dramatic effect.
• Radical Subjective Continuity: cuts of different time and space for dramatic effect.
• Thematic: edits that are theme-driven.
• Associative: the juxtaposition of two shots that when combined serve a purpose (but separate, they do not).
• Dialectic: edits that are driven by expressing a contradiction.

Mise-en-Scene

Mise en scène, pronounced meez-ahn-sen, is a term used to describe the setting of a scene in a play or a film. It refers to everything placed on the stage or in front of the camera—including people. In other words, mise en scène is a catch-all for everything that contributes to the visual presentation and overall “look” of a production. When translated from French, it means “placing on stage.” – MasterClass

This is why directors have to be smart when organizing furniture around a room (this is also where art director’s come in place). Because everything that is showing on the screen matters. Mise-en-scene can be broken down into the following:

• Placement around frame
• Face to the camera – Quarter Turn, Half Turn, Three Quarter Turn, Full Turn, Back
• Territorial space – Background, Mid-ground, Foreground
• Frame constraints
• Tight – conveys the subject’s intensity, importance, and inability to escape.
• Open – conveys desolation, space, freedom, or insignificance.

When analyzing films for projects, or creating a film, you may be required to use some or all of the characteristics above. Linking all these elements together can help you to create a logical explanation of the film. Try to think of the film as a whole and how the elements mentioned above work together to bring out the main message of the film.

The art of storytelling through film and the many artists/talents involved in creating a film generally tend to go unnoticed. We hope that this blog has helped you to understand the basic elements of what goes into creating a film. At Cinemagic, we believe that motion pictures have the power to humanize, educate, promote, and do so much more.