Camera Motivation
There may be an occasion when you walk away from a film amazed at the sheer beauty of the cinematography. Minutes later, you realize this is your only reaction to the film -- the other elements are uneventful.
So, what is wrong with this film? How can a film seem so beautiful yet be otherwise meaningless? Often when photography fails to derive motivation from the script, the story goal is never achieved. In fact, anything in a film that derives its story sense from something other than the script will cause the story to be lost. When the audience experiences a film, it is usually for the first time and over a specific time frame. Most viewers haven’t read the script and only know the film from what is presented on the screen.
Part of the problem is that everyone on the director’s team has read the script many times and can simply project information into a scene that the audience doesn’t see. It is easy to forget that the audience only knows what is presented on the screen. To the audience, the film is an unknown experience.
John Sayles says it best in his book, Thinking in Pictures: The Making of Matewan.
If one of the elements (script, acting and picture) drags on the others, or contradicts them or is distractingly awkward, it can take the viewer out of the flow of the story.
Another excellent book that discusses camera motivation is The Art of the Storyboard by John Hart.
Since the shot itself is the smallest element that makes up the scenario, it dictates its own psychological, artistic, and intellectual demands. The primary questions that one has to ask in reference to the content of the shot are these:
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What are the demands of the script?
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Who is involved in the scene?
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In what locale do these characters exist?
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Why are they there?
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What mood will enhance the setup of this particular shot?
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What colors will augment the emotions involved in the conflict?
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Where will the camera be placed to best advantage?
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What lenses will be used of establishing the shot?
As John Sayles says, “an element that contradicts pulls the viewer out of the story.” An element contradicts a story when it is contrary to the story.
Another aspect of shot motivation is related to bad storylines. Some stories are so bad that they totally depend on “fancy” photography, special effects and action to entice the audience. A good example of this “smoke and mirror” approach exists in most episodes of “Walker Texas Ranger.”
The cameraman creates the world that the editor will later occupy for many months. If the editing transpires without proper awareness of shot motivation, then all is lost. If the editor doesn’t understand the motivation of the script including any motivational echoes incorporated by the Director of Photography during the shooting, then the audience could be drawn from the story. For example, a wrong decision on when to cut to a reaction shot of a character can announce that reaction too early, destroying the cadence of the story. Anything that pulls the audience out of the reality of the film will destroy that fragile world in which they are participating. Once this occurs it is almost impossible to pull the audience back.
Anything causing awareness of camera movement pulls the audience out of the story. Directors of Photography create their own methods to suspend the audience within the story. Jon Boorstin discusses this in his book, The Hollywood Eye:
Keeping the audience in the picture is the cameraman’s constant concern, even in the most ordinary scene. Consider two people talking while driving in a car. Cameramen do not like to shoot this scene. It is almost impossible to come up with something new, and most of the old solutions give cameramen hives. In the first place, the cameraman is constrained. There is no room to maneuver; unless the camera is put in the backseat and photographs the back of the actors heads the cameraman has to build a camera mount outside the car. Where? The cameraman and the director must make a basic choice: do they want the audience to be inside the car with the actors or outside the car looking in?
Boorstin continues on with many decisions required of the director and cameraman. Lighting, limitations caused by camera mounting devices, lenses and many other considerations are discussed in reference to the motivation of scene. Nothing is arbitrary about cameral position, angle, movement or lighting. Everything is tied to the motivation of the scene. Who is the protagonist and what do they want is the major consideration of every scene. What is in their way of obtaining they want is also or primary importance. Take all this into consideration regarding story motivation and then ask the same questions regarding the aspects of camera and what the audience is going to see.
If there is confusion about the story, then the most basic questions about where to place the camera will prove difficult. During pre-production, if one encounters some difficult questions about potential camera positions or problems with the storyboard, then possibly it’s time to again focus on the script. Possibly the script might be fine but the director and their team have some confusion. This is the time, during pre-production, to solve these problems. If you encounter these problems while on location, then you are in trouble. If you’re a beginning filmmaker, remember, you get very few second chances. Don’t fool yourself into believing you’ll solve this problem later.