Harry's Dream [Int'l Version]

    上海电影节十二岁了，在在今年这届电影节的众多活动中，给我印象最深的是国际展映单元、中国项目创投单元。先说展映，经过了十二年的摸索，在展映片单方面已经悄然形成了自己的风格。除了〈贫民富翁〉领衔的奥斯卡系、〈马利与我〉等片所代表的商业系、〈死亡飞车〉领衔的B级片、〈山形尖叫〉为首的新片板块之外，今年最刺激的莫过于希区柯克单元、法国新浪潮单元、伊莎贝尔•于佩尔单元、丹尼•保尔作品展、林权泽作品展。其实每一部作品都恰似老友相识，都曾用小屏幕看过，但是对于真正的经典作品，只有透过大银幕，才能真正领略大师的魅力，真正进入大师的精神世界。

    在看〈五点到七点的克莱奥〉和〈六大导演拍巴黎〉的时候，真的有一种穿梭时光的感觉，漆黑的影院里，鸦雀无声，四层楼高的银幕上放映着法国的黑白片，有种错觉是会想像到等会散场时，走出影院会是五十年代巴黎的街道。现在有太多的高科技设备，手机，电脑，IPOD，互联网…而被忽略的是人在内心里真正的精神需求。在众多好莱坞大制作的动作片中，文艺片依然可以生存到现在就在于它真的可以拍到人的心里，曾获得恺撒大奖的〈塞拉菲娜〉中，主人公每当遇到不开心的事情，就会爬到树上跟树说说话，看看蓝天，心情就会好很多。到片尾她老的时候，仍然拖着椅子走到树下，用手和脸贴着树。这才是文艺片真正能打动人的地方，无需要大场面，只要一幅画面和悠扬的音乐既可触及人心。

    今天，约了哥们一起看了〈机器人瓦力〉，刚看了他也发表了日记，所以借此机会我也来说两句，〈机器人瓦力〉这部片子是2008年由PIXAR公司出品，被成为史上最好看的动画片之一，IMDB评分8.6（上映时曾冲到9.2），TOP250排名第42（上映时曾冲到前10）。国内的豆瓣网评分9.2，时光网评分9.1。可是，就这样一部片子，国内居然没有引进，原因有很多种，在此不在赘述。还好上海电影节把此片列为展映影片之一，国内极少数观众可以在大银幕上欣赏本片，我看上海电影节所有影片都可以凭证件，唯独这部得自己买票，可见其首欢迎程度，今日一看，果然全场爆满。在影院里看瓦力的确不一样，大银幕的视觉刺激，以及音响效果都非常一流，而且更重要的是能感觉到观众的情感表达，很多次观众的笑声带给瓦力真正的殿堂效应。并且很难得看到80%以上的观众都能坐到片尾字幕放完才离开，可以说明观众愿意给予好作品足够的尊重。

    好了，上海电影节今天闭幕了，明年见。

    Loudness

    The sound we hear results from vibration in the air. The amplitude, or breadth, of the vibrations produces our sense of loudness, or volume. Film sound constantly manipulates volume. For example, in many films a long shot of a busy street is accompanied by loud traffic noises, but when two people meet and start to speak, the volume of the traffic drops. Or a dialogue between a soft-spoken character and a blustery one is characterized as much by the difference in volume as by the substance of the talk.

    Loudness is also related to perceive distance, often the louder the sound, the closer we take it to be. In addition, a film may startle the viewer by exploiting abrupt and extreme shifts in volume, as when a quiet scene is interrupted by a very loud noise.

    Pitch

    The frequency of sound vibrations governs pitch, or the perceived “highness” or “lowness” of the sound. Nevertheless pitch plays a useful role in picking out distinct sounds in a film sound track.

    Pitch can also serve more specific purposes in a film. When a young boy tries to speak in a man’s deep voice and fails (as in How Green Was My Valley), the joke is based primarily on pitch. In the coronation scene of Ivan the Terrible, Part I, a court singer with a deep bass voice begins a song of praise to Ivan, and each phrase rises dramatically in pitch-which Eisenstein emphasizes in the editing, with successively closer shots of the singer coinciding with each vocal change. When Bernard Herrmann obtained the effects of shrill, birdlike shrieking in Hitchcock’s Psycho, even many musicians could not recognize the source: violins played at extraordinarily high pitch.

    Timbre

    The harmonic components of a sound give it a certain “color” or tone quality-what musicians call timbre. When we call someone’s voice nasal or a certain musical tone mellow, we are referring to timbre.

    Filmmakers manipulate timbre continually. Timbre can help articulate portions of the sound track, as when it differentiates musical instruments from one another. Timbre also comes forward on certain occasions, as in the clichéd use of oleaginous saxophone tones behind seduction scenes. More subtly, in the opening sequence of Rouben Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight, people starting the day on a street pass musical rhythm from object to object-a broom, a carpet beater-and the humor of the number springs in part from the vary different timbres of the objects.

    As fundamental components loudness, pitch, and timbre interact to define the overall sonic texture of a film. At the most elementary level, these three acoustic factors enable us to distinguish the various sounds in a film. For example, these qualities enable us to recognize different characters’ voices. At a more complex level, all three components of film sound interact to add considerably to our experience of the film. For instance, both John Wayne and James Stewart speak slowly, but Wayne’s voice tends to be deeper and gruffer than Stewart’s querulous drawl. This difference works to great advantage in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, where their characters are sharply contrasted. In The Wizard of Oz the disparity between the public image of the Wizard and the old charlatan who rigs it up is marked by the booming bass of the effigy and the old man’s higher, softer, more quavering voice.

    Citizen Kane offers a wide range of sound manipulations. Echo chambers alter timbre and volume. A motif is formed by the inability of Kane’s wife Susan to sing pitches accurately. Moreover, in Citizen Kane the plot’s shifts between times and places are covered by continuing a sound “thread” and varying the basic acoustics. A shot of Kane applauding dissolves to a shot of a crowd applauding (a shift in volume and timbre). Leland beginning a sentence in the street cuts to Kane finishing the sentence in an auditorium, his voice magnified by loudspeakers (a shift in volume, timbre, and pitch).

    When shooting in 16mm, it is standard procedure to print every take, when shooting in 35mm, in order to avoid the expense of printing unwanted takes, the laboratory will print selectively. At the end of each take, the director will decide whether or not the take is worth printing. The takes that he selects will be circled on the script supervisor’s copy of the screenplay, on the camera reports, and on the sound reports. Selected takes are also referred to as “circled takes”.

    At the end of each day a production assistant will run the exposed film and a copy of the camera reports to the laboratory, and the one-quarter inch tapes and a copy of the sound reports, to the sound house. During the night, the lab will process the film and make a positive print, called a “daily”, of the director’s selected takes, the sound house will transfer the one-quarter inch tape from the same selected takes onto a sprocket magnetic track. This is called a “sound daily”. The stock used for a 16mm magnetic track is completely coated with magnetic oxide, 35mm magnetic stock for sound dailies is coated with two stripes of oxide and is referred to as “edit stripe”. The sound from the original one-quarter inch recording will be transferred onto the wider of the two stripes. The narrow stripe is called a “balance stripe” since its purpose is to balance the thickness of the stock at both edges. If one edge were thicker than the other, the stock would have a tendency to “cone” as its being wound onto a core or reel.

    The following day, while the production team shoots the next series of scenes, an assistant editor will sync the dailies, lining up the sound track with the picture for an interlock screening that same evening. The picture and sound track are placed in sync by lining up the picture and sound of the clap stick at the beginning of each take. A sync signal system on the camera and tape recorder will ensure that they both run at the same speed. Consequently, when the picture and sound of the clap stick are in sync at the head of a take, the rest of the take will be in sync as well. After checking to make certain that each scene is in sync, the assistant editor will send the picture and sound track to be coded. Coding is the process of printing numbers (code numbers) on the edge of the picture at one-foot intervals and identical numbers will be used as a sync reference when the editor begins cutting the picture and tracks.

    In addition to syncing the dailies, the assistant editor will log each take, listing the scene and take number, the code numbers at the beginning and end of each take, the print-through edge numbers at the beginning and end of each take, and a brief description of each take.

    If you are shooting in close proximity to your lab and sound house, each day’s shooting will be synced and ready for an interlock screening the following evening. The first day’s dailies will be screened on the second night of production and a new set of dailies will be ready for screening every night thereafter.

    Deviations in this schedule occur when the production goes on distant location or switches to a night-time shooting schedule, or when the laboratory has difficulties, such as a printer breakdown. If you’re shooting on distant locations it will take time to ship material to and from the lab. A lab technician will give you technical reports each morning by phone, which aids the director of photography but doesn’t tell the director anything about the performances. Often a producer will not go to the location but will stay behind and screen dailies. This can be of great value to the director. In any case, the dailies will be sent as quickly as possible to wherever the production is shooting.

    Some low-budget pictures are scheduled so tightly as to make daily screenings impossible. At the very least, however, dailies may be viewed on weekends or on the first available rest day.

    The value of screening dailies cannot be overstated. For the director it is an opportunity to determine how the actors’ performances and character interpretations translate to the screen. He will judge the accuracy of his communication with the director of photography and the camera operator, with the sound mixer, the makeup artist, and so forth. He will get a clear, overall feeling for how his picture is coming together.

    For the crew, dailies offer an opportunity to evaluate their specific areas of responsibility. The director of photography and gaffer will judge their approach to lighting. The sound mixer will judge not only his original recordings, but also the quality of the transfers. The makeup artist will improve his approach to certain actors’ makeup based on information he gets from the dailies. The script supervisor will double-check continuity within each scene. In short, everyone stands to learn from the dailies and improve his work on the film.

    In addition, dailies are a terrific morale booster. Film almost always looks good in daily form, sometimes deceptively so. Francis Ford Coppola once said, “A finished film never looks as good as the dailies”. The daily screenings are a time and gratifying to sit in a screening room and watch the previous day’s work. It’s usually verification that everyone has done a good job.

    The same is often true of the actors, but there is a difference. Actors are not sitting back objectively watching their work, they are watching themselves. For some actors this is constructive but for others it is devastating. Should they not like their performance in a particular scene, or their interpretation of a character, they may suddenly change that character partway through the film. It may be that a scene out of context and unedited will strike a wrong note with an actor. Their trust in the director may decline. They may become timid and less willing to take chances. That same scene in the context of the finished film, completely edited, may work magnificently but it is often difficult for an actor to judge a scene out of context. In a sense, it requires reading the director’s mind. For this reason many directors request that the cast not be permitted to attend dailies screenings. This is often sound policy and not necessarily a reflection on the director’s sense of security about his work.

    Another advantage to daily screenings is that if a scene doesn’t work it can usually be reshot with minimum effort. Even if you’ve moved to a different location, you may be able to rewrite the scene to fit the new location. The sooner you know you’ve got a problem, the more flexibility you will have in solving it.

    In addition to the cast and production crew, the film editor will usually attend daily screenings.

    The First Take

    When the actors come out of makeup, the crew will have completed preparations for the first shot. Now is the time for the director and the actors to polish the performance. While they are doing this, the crew will fine-tune their work as well. There is usually a noticeable difference in the actors when they are in full costume and makeup. The scene becomes real for the first time. It may be that only one or two walk-through are necessary before shooting the first take. While the actors are walking through their final rehearsals, the director of photography is fine-tuning the lights, double-checking exposure, and making last-minute adjustments. The sound mixer is adjusting levels on the recorder. The camera operator, assistant cameraman, and dolly grip are practicing their moves as the actors walk through the scene. The beauty of this system is that everyone works together, fine-tuning their special areas of responsibility, targeting on a mutual goal.

    When the director feels that the actors are on the verge of a polished performance, he should go for a take. There is a grave danger in the performance becoming stale if it is over rehearsed. Remember that there is a certain magic that takes over when the cameras roll, and especially when they roll for the first take. Steven Spielberg has said that he considers this magic important enough to print the first take of every scene regardless of any problems there may have been during that take.

    When everything is ready to roll, the first assistant director calls “Quiet on the set, roll sound and roll camera.” The director then calls “Action”. If the director doesn’t call “cut” before the end of the scene, he may have a good first take. On the other hand, the dolly might have hit a bump, or the sound mixer might have picked up a car honking in the distance, or the camera assistant might have missed a focus mark, or…. With all of the possibilities for error, it’s amazing it ever goes smoothly, even with all the specialists at work. If there are problems with the first take, shoot a second take, and a third, and a fourth, and so on until it is right. Then move on to the next setup.

    It is important to run through the entire action for each setup before the camera, lighting, and sound crews move into position. The reason for this is to communicate precisely which portion of the scene will take place during the shot. It may be that only a very small segment will be covered by a particular setup and the crew will move much more efficiently if they limit their work to covering only that segment of the scene.

    Follow this process, beginning with your largest shot and working down to the smallest shot until you’ve completed the scene. Then move on to the next scene and begin the process again. Continue this for each scene in the schedule until you’ve finished the film.

    Production Sound

    In addition to recording a clean, full dialogue track, the sound mixer must also record room tone, production sound effects, and wild lines.

    Room tone is the ambient, background sound of each location. Each location will have a unique tone. It will be used to fill any holes in the dialogue tracks and to smooth out differences in level and equalization between voices in the final mix.

    Production sound effects are sounds the mixer records for scenes in which there is no dialogue. For these scenes, he will record sync sound effects that may be used in the finished picture or used as a guide track for the sound effects editor.

    In addition to sync sound effects, the mixer will record wild sound effects that can be cut to match the picture during the editing. Examples of wild sound effects are footsteps, dog barks, shattering glass, body hits, tire squeals, and gunshots. Production sound effects such as these are often more effective than stock library effects.

    Wild lines are short words or phrases such as “Halt”, “Let’s go”, or “Good day”, which are often recorded “wild” (that is, off camera) when the quality of the sync recording is questionable. Also, if a character in a film such as a bank robber wears a mask, his lines will often be rerecorded wild after the sync take for better intelligibility. Wild lines must also be recorded for off-camera dialogue, such as a character’s rambling thoughts in a dream sequence in which we don’t see the actor speaking. Often these lines can be recorded during production, saving time and money in postproduction.

    A Basic Lighting Setup
    An effective lighting setup for a simple subject can be done with three lights: the key, fill and backlight. Each light has a particular function. In a complex lighting design, many units may be used to provide the same three-point lighting over a broader area.

    Key Light
    The key is the brightest light and casts the primary shadows, giving a sense of directionality to the lighting. Traditionally, hard lighting units like a spotlight (in either spot or flood position) are used for the key. The light is frequently softened, however, with diffusion material. The shadows cast by the key provide modeling of the face. The light is usually placed somewhat off the camera-to-subject axis, high enough up so that the shadow of the subject’s nose does not fall across the cheek but downward instead. This height helps ensure that body shadows will fall on the floor and not on nearby walls where they may be distracting.

    Fill Light
    The main function of the fill light is to fill in the shadows produced by the key without casting distinct shadows of its own. Fill lighting is almost always softer than the key; it is usually achieved with a soft light fixture or a bounced spotlight. If the fill light is placed near to and at the same level as the camera, its shadows will not be visible on film. The fill is normally not placed on the same side of the camera as the key. Sometimes light is bounced off the wall or ceiling to provide flat, even fill over a broad area.

    Backlight
    Backlights, sometimes called hair, rim or edge lights, are placed on the opposite side of the subject from the camera, high enough to be out of view. Backlight should be fairly specular, or hard, to produce highlights on the subject’s hair. If a backlight is at about the same level as the subject and somewhat off to the side, it is called a kicker. Kickers illuminate the shoulders more than hair lights do. All backlights function to outline the subject brightly, defining the subject’s shape while separating it visually from the background. The contemporary lighting style for color film calls for subtle, not pronounced backlight in most situations.

    Set Light
    A fourth basic light, the set light, may be used to illuminate the background. Usually the background is partly lit by the key and fills lights, as well as by several set lights.

    Lighting Faces
    In medium and close shots that include people, the lighting on faces is extremely important. Although facial lighting depends on the overall lighting of the location or the set, the general lighting scheme is often designed around providing proper light on faces.

    Start by positioning the key light alone, paying close attention to the shadows of the nose and eye sockets on the face. In television and documentary interviews, it is common practice to eliminate these shadows almost entirely. To achieve this, the key is placed frontally, that is, near the camera and on the side to which the subject is looking. If the key is moved farther off to the side, especially if the side is opposite the one to which the subject is looking, the shadows from the nose and the side of the face provide more interesting modeling. A rule of thumb is to position the key so that the nose shadow falls along the line from the side of the nose to the corner of the mouth. Normally, the key should be placed frontally and low enough so that this shadow does not extend all the way down to the mouth. More dramatic effects can be achieved by moving the key even farther to the side. If the subject is positioned so that he is not looking toward the camera and the key light is placed on the far side of his face, the subject will be rim-lit with strong shadows falling across his face. This kind of look is well suited to nighttime scenes where only one or two light sources are visible in the scene.

    Facial shadows can be made less harsh and distinct by using a soft light or a bounced spotlight or floodlight as the key. Many people like the gentle look this gives. When Hollywood cinematographers use soft frontal keys for lighting women, nets are often used to shade the forehead and mouth subtly, giving some sense of dimensionality. Diffused lights do not “throw” as far as specular ones and need to be placed closer to the subject to produce sufficient illumination.

    After the key has been placed, the fill light should be added. Put this light close enough to the camera so that it does not create a second set of distinct shadows. You must pay attention to the intensity of the fill relative to the key, for this will determine lighting contrast.

    Backlights should be placed high enough to avoid flare and angled down so that they do not stride the tip of the subject’s nose. If it casts a visible shadow forward in front of the subject, flag the light with the barn doors or a gobo. Since backlighting can easily have a theatrical, artificial look in some scenes, it should be used sparingly.

    Feature film markers often use a low-powered eye light to produce a lively reflection in the subject’s eye, making the subject appear alert or alluring. An eye light should be flagged off with a snoot or a net to prevent it from covering the face with flat fill. Sometimes a clothe light is used to bring out particularly dark or absorptive clothing. Like the eye light, this should be selectively and not broadly aimed.

    Lighting of faces can be individually tailored. Large facial features can be played down with more frontal lighting or by turning the face toward or away from the camera. Specular light will accentuate skin defects and makeup more than soft light. In fiction filming, makeup is usually applied to all actors. A light brushing of translucent face powder, which is itself invisible, cuts down glare from the skin and should be reapplied regularly. Waterproof mascara is often used for the eyes of both actors and actresses so that facial expressions will read better on film.

    Before beginning any film that involves controlled lighting, choices should be made on the lighting style you hope to achieve. The cinematographer and director can look at films, photographs and paintings. In documentary films, flat bounce lighting is used sometimes to ensure that the entire filming space is sufficiently bright and to allow the camera and subject to move without the lights being repositioned. The fact that a location looks deliberately lit rather than naturally lit may be of little concern or perhaps defended on the grounds that this is “truer” to the reality of filmmaking. The black-and-white fiction films of the 1930s look lit in a different and highly stylized way. These films were usually made on sets with scores of lights that bathed the actors from lighting grids above and around the sets-places where lights could never be located in a normal building interior. In many feature films today, the prevailing lighting aesthetic is naturalism. Although many lights may be used, the intent is to simulate the light that might occur under normal conditions in the filming space.

    The essence of naturalism in lighting is to ensure that the prevalent light on the location is “motivated,” that is, seeming to come from a logical source. Window light is a good example of a motivating source. Often a few household fixtures are placed in a scene as practical, either to actually supply light or to act as motivation for light from professional lighting units.

    The quality of fast lenses and film stocks has improved and it has become increasingly feasible to shoot film indoors entirely in available light, without bringing in any special lighting equipment. Feature filmmakers sometimes restrict themselves to available light in a scene to achieve a feeling of realism or perhaps to simulate a “documentary look.” For the documentary filmmaker, especially those making unscripted films, the decision of whether to use available light can be fundamental to the film. Since unscripted documentaries often involve intimate filming of family life, personal experiences and similar situations, there is usually a great premium on minimizing the disruption caused by the film crew. Bright lights can create an “on-the-set” feeling, and people under the lights often feel like they should perform. Also, since it is difficult to light an entire house or location, the use of lighting transforms some areas into filming spaces while others remain living space. All of this disrupts the natural flow of life that the filmmaker may hope to capture.

    Although some filmmakers argue that lights do not add significantly to the distraction caused by a film crew’s presence, especially in scenes that are inherently public, there is no question that the reliance on bright lights detracts from a crew’s mobility. Filmmakers who work primarily with available light have more freedom, carrying perhaps a few photofloods or screw-in quartz lights in case they need to film in very dark interiors. However, the use of larger lighting units may sometimes be needed at night or for large interiors.

    The direction of illumination greatly determines how the subject appears on the screen. Light striking the subject from the direction of the camera is called front light. Front axial light, which emanates from very near the camera’s lens, casts shadows that are mostly not visible from the camera position but may unpleasantly outline a subject standing in front of a wall. Camera-mounted fixtures, such as those used for flash photography, provide front light, which illuminates all the visible surfaces of the subject. Full frontal lighting is usually uninteresting, since no modeling shadows are visible and dimensionality and surface texture are minimized. The flattening effect may, however, be desired.

    You can think of full frontal lighting as projecting from the number 6 on a clock face whose center is the subject. (Think of the camera as also positioned at the number 6.) Offset (the light at number 5 or 7) and three quarter front light (around 4:30 or 7:30) can be used for portraiture when more shadowing is desired.

    Full side light (around 3 or 9) provides good modeling and indication of texture (since texture is indicated by the pattern of tiny individual shadows visible from the camera position). Side light can be quite dramatic. It produces shadows that fall clearly across the frame and distinctly reveal the depth of various objects in space.

    Back light originates from behind (and, in studio lighting, usually above) the subject. It tends to outline the subject’s shape and to differentiate it from the background. Backlight can produce a bright edge or halo on a subject’s hair and shoulders. When back light predominates, called contre-jour, it can create a moody and romantic effect, giving a sense of isolation to the subject. If the background is bright and no light falls on the camera side of the subject, the subject will be in silhouette.

    The effect of lighting is also determined by the height from which light strikes the subject. Top light, which shines down from directly above the subject, can make deep shadows in eye sockets. It can also make landscapes seem more two-dimensional, since few shadows are visible. Most film lighting is done with the key lights angled about 40 degrees from the floor or slightly higher for the best modeling without casting excessive shadows. Under lighting, which lights from below the subject and casts shadows upward, occurs in nature infrequently and is sometimes used in films to lend a ghoulish look to faces.

    Much of the atmosphere of a lighting scheme is determined by the lighting contrast—that is, the relationship in light intensity between the brightly lit areas and the shadow areas in the frame. With great lighting contrast, there is a great difference in intensity between the bright areas and the deep shadows. With low lighting contrast (often achieved by using secondary lights to fill in the shadows), the lighting appears fairly flat and uniform throughout the frame. The degree of lighting contrast is often expressed numerically in terms of the lighting contrast ratio.

    A low-key lighting design has high lighting contrast and a Rembrandt-like look, with dark shadow areas predominating over light areas. Low-key lighting is associated with night, emotion, tension, tragedy and mystery. Film-noir films, as well as citizen Kane, are lit in moody low-key lighting, the dramatic look of the lighting being well suited to the black-and-white image. With high-key lighting, the lighting contrast is low and light tones predominate, making everything appears bright and cheery. High-key lighting is used for daytime scenes, comedy, straightforward material (like documentary interviews) and most studio television shows. Since high-key lighting has even distribution, it is useful for scenes where several cameras are shooting from different angles simultaneously or when an actor must be able to move freely without walking into areas of deep shadow.

    The terms high key and low key are sometimes confusing since the key light is actually lower in intensity relative to the fill light in high-key lighting designs. One means to distinguish the terms is to remember that actors in comedies are usually high-key personality types.

    The impact of a filmed image is as dependent on lighting as it is on framing, composition, camera movement or any other element the filmmaker may control. Lighting allows the viewer to see the scene and directs his attention, since the eye is naturally drawn to bright areas of the frame. The direction from which light strikes an object or a face also influences how the object is seen. Side lighting casts shadows that emphasize depth, dimension and surface texture, while frontal lighting tends to flatten, compress and smooth over features. Also, the quality of light in a scene sets a mood, just as changes in the sky evoke various feelings. Painters are often celebrated for the way they manipulate light and create particular moods. Andrew Wyeth, for example, evokes the gray, quiet feeling of the Maine landscape with extremely flat and even illumination. Rembrandt creates a much more dramatic effect by using a “chiaroscuro” style, in which pools of light and shadow are used to obscure as much as they reveal of a subject. Cinematographers too are frequently known for a particular “look” that they achieve through their lighting technique.

    In fiction filmmaking, lighting is usually a top priority. Lights are positioned painstakingly, consuming much time and expense. The director of photography is usually responsible for the lighting design, which is as important as his mastery of cameras and lenses. In documentary filmmaking, light is sometimes treated in an auxiliary way, less for its mood than for its exposure value. In such films, lack of time or control over the film subjects often makes careful lighting impossible. Many films are made entirely in available light, with no additional lighting introduced by the filmmakers. Artificial lighting is often needed to reduce the contrast of a scene so that it can be rendered properly on film.

    The shadows cast by a light source are determined by its hardness. Hard light, also called specular light, like direct sunlight on a clear day, is made up of parallel rays that produce clean, hard shadows that neatly outline the shapes of objects. The soft, or diffuse, light of a hazy or overcast day is less directional; it emanates from all parts of the sky at once. If it casts shadows at all, they are dull and indistinct.

    Hard light can be produced artificially with lensed or focused lamps that emit a clearly directed beam. The spotlights used to single out a performer on stage are extremely hard. Soft light is usually made by bouncing lamp light on a white or silvery surface that is often scoop shaped. Soft light creates a broad and even glow, not a beam of light.

    Because hard light casts distinct shadows, it is used to delineate shapes. It brings out surface textures and the contrast between areas of different color or tonal value, but when used alone it tends to be harsh. Hollywood often uses hard lights on male actors to bring out rugged facial features.

    Hard light can be produced with relatively compact lighting fixtures. The key light on a film set is usually hard, the key functioning as a primary source of illumination that casts bold shadows and gives the impression that the lighting in the scene comes mostly from one direction.

    Soft light relatively gentle and tends to smooth out features and textures. Traditionally, female actors are lit with soft light to disguise and facial wrinkles or imperfections. A single soft light off to the side can provide delicate modeling of curved surfaces such as the face, because of the way it “wraps around” the curve with gradual shading, hard lights would produce shading that is more sharp edged.

    Soft light fixtures are used on the set as fill lights to fill in the shadows cast by harder lights without adding more shadows of their own. Soft lighting has become increasingly popular in fiction filmmaking and television commercials. It is sometimes claimed that soft lighting looks more natural.

    When we talk about exposure range, we are referring to the length of the straight line portion of the characteristic curve. This is the brightness range of objects that can all be rendered with good detail. It’s important to have an idea of the useful exposure range of your film stock. Some stocks, for example, most color negative films, have such a great range that you can expose for a dim interior scene and expect to see some detail through a bright window visible in the background. Other stocks, like contrasty color reversal films, have much more limited ranges. With the same exposure, the window would most likely appear bleached out with these stocks.

    You can determine the exposure range of a stock by shooting tests, asking the lab or checking the manufacturer’s data sheet. Color negative has about a seven stop range; most reversal films have closer to five or six stops. With a reflected light meter, you can check the difference in f-stop between important light and dark areas in the frame. If the brightness range of the scene is too great for the film stock, it may be necessary to recompose the shot, add light, flash the film, change an actor’s costume or makeup or redecorate the set.

    Some people refer to the exposure range as “latitude”, technically, latitude is the film stock’s tolerance of exposure errors in a particular scene. The greater the range from bright to dark within the scene, the less latitude a stock has. With a typical subject, color negative can withstand exposure error of one or two stops, and sometimes more, and still produce a usable original. Contrasty reversal stocks may produce unacceptable footage if the exposure is off by a stop or more.

    Various stocks react differently to overexposure and underexposure. If it is necessary to choose between overexposing or underexposing some large or important area in the frame, the picture will generally look better if it is underexposed, (as long as some bright areas are visible). Unlike still photographs, film images are constantly changing, and the viewer’s attention tends to be focused primarily on the lighter tones, especially faces, underexposed areas that lack detail are therefore not as disturbing as they would be in stills.

    Slight overexposure or underexposure (about on half stop) may be used to produce, or avoid, various effects. Color reversal produces richer, more saturated colors when it is slightly underexposed. Color negative produces a less grainy image when it is slightly overexposed, however black-and-white negative becomes grainier.

    In brief, the filmmaker has the following means of controlling exposure at his disposal.

    1. Film speed. Aside from the choice of raw stocks, film speed can be altered via forced development (pushing) and sometimes via underdevelopment (pulling). A film that is properly exposed in the highlights but contains areas of underexposed shadow can sometimes be helped with flashing.

    2. The lens. The iris diaphragm is the primary means of exposure control. Neutral density filters can be used to avoid overexposure or for opening the iris to a selected f-stop (to control depth of field or maximize lens sharpness). Polarizing filters, and, in black-and-white, contrast filters can be used to alter the exposure of various elements in the scene.

    3. Shutter speed. Cameras equipped with variable shutters can be set to increase and decrease exposure time, but may affect the smoothness of motion. Changing the camera speed affect exposure time, but also affects the speed of motion.

    4. Ambient light. Light on the scene, or on selected parts, can be increased with artificial lighting fixtures or with reflectors that reflect sunlight. Neutral density and colored filters can be placed over lights and windows, and lightweight cloth nets can be used to cut down on the amount of light falling on a subject.

    When the camera moves through space, the viewer experiences the most distinctly cinematic of the motion picture shots. The moving camera is perhaps the most difficult and often the most expensive shot in the cinematographer’s vocabulary. These shots are called dolly, track or truck shots: when the camera moves in, it is called dolly in (or track in or truck in), when the dolly moves out, dolly out (and the like). If the camera moves laterally, it is called crabbing. A wheeled vehicle with a camera support is called a dolly or, if it can move later ally, a crab dolly. Most dollies are large, although there are fold-up versions that will fit in a station wagon. If the support can reach great heights, it is called a camera crane or boom. Industrial-type “cherry pickers” may be used to raise the camera up high for a static shot, but they do not have the proper dampening for ending a shot with the camera motionless. Dollies and cranes often require boards or tracks to be laid down to form a smooth running surface.

    There are substitutes for professional dollies, wheelchairs, shopping carts, children’s wagons, roller skates, a pushed automobile. In such cases, use air-filled tires for smoother motion. Large tires, especially when underinflated, give smoother dolly movements. Do not secure the camera rigidly to most improvised dollies. Handholding often insulates the camera from vibrations.

    When you need a tracking shot faster than what you can get from a dolly, use a motorized vehicle. An automobile, especially if it is equipped with a shooting platform, is extremely versatile. In general, the larger the car, the smoother the ride. Sometimes automatic transmissions are preferable, since manual shifting may create a jerky movement. Keep tire pressure low to smooth out the ride. The camera should be handheld to absorb automobile vibrations. It is easiest to achieve smooth camera movement if the car’s speed remains constant and most difficult if the vehicle goes from a stop into motion.

    Shooting in the same direction as the moving vehicle results in the motion appearing normally on the screen. Shooting at right angles to the direction of the vehicle makes the car appear to be going roughly twice as fast as it is. At intermediate angles, the speed is between these extremes. Wide-angle lenses increase apparent speed and long focal length lenses can decrease apparent speed. To determine how fast the vehicle will appear to move on the screen, take into account the lens focal length, the angle of shooting and the speed of the vehicle. You can film at higher camera speeds to smooth out unevenness in the vehicle’s ride.

    The handheld camera was first experimented with during the era of Silent Cinema, especially in the films of Dreyer, Clair, Vigo and Vertov and in various MOS sequences during the studio era of sound film such as James Wong Howe shooting a boxing sequence on roller skates. However, not until the early 1960s with the New Wave in France and the new documentary film (direct cinema or cinema verite) in the United States was the potential of the handheld camera realized. With the advent of handheld cameras, new access to locations, people’s lives and actors was obtained. Jean Renoir spoke of the heavy studio camera as an altar to which actors had to be brought as opposed to the camera that could go out into the world. Not only could the camera now capture new subject matter in new locations, but handheld shooting, at its best, imparted electricity to the image. Handheld shooting is often best in unscripted situations, whether a documentary or with improvised acting. The extreme mobility of this camera permits following the action, achieving a feeling of intimacy impossible in a tripod or dolly mounted camera.

    As discussed above, there are two ways to control the size of an object in the frame: change the distance of camera to subject or alter focal length. Does it make a difference if you move the camera closer to the subject rather than use a lens of a longer focal length? When you change focal lengths to enlarge part of a scene, it is like enlarging a detail from the image. Both foreground and background objects become larger to the same relative degree. In other words, if the focal length is doubled, all the objects in the frame double in size on film.

    On the other hand, as the camera is moved closer, the relative size of foreground and background objects increase at different rates. Objects closer to the camera become larger faster than objects farther from the camera. The building in the background does not increase in size nearly as much as the man in the foreground. If you move twice as close to an object, the object doubles in size on film, but object in the background increase less than half in size.

    Perspective may be thought of as the rate at which objects become smaller the farther they are from the camera. As the camera moves in toward the subject, the man increases in size at rate faster than that of the building, increasing the feeling of depth and making the man appear relatively far from the building. However, the perspective does not change if you alter focal lengths only. Although the image is magnified, the relationship between the man and the building does not change. By cropping out closer objects, the space appears flatter and the foreground and background seem compressed.

    By altering both focal length and camera-to-subject distance, the cinematographer can control perspective. Coming in closer and using a wide-angle lens exaggerate distances, while moving back and using a lens with a long focal length compress distances. An image is said to have natural perspective when the perspective appears similar to what one would see if standing at the camera position. Lenses of “normal” or medium focal length generally yield images of natural perspective.

    In still photography, a normal focal length is considered to be roughly equal to the diagonal of the film format. By this standard, a lens of about 12mm would be normal in the 16mm format and 7mm in super 8. In film, however, lenses of 25mm are considered normal for the 16mm format and 12mm for super 8.

    Lenses of appreciably shorter focal lengths than normal are called wide-angle or short focal length lenses. For example, lenses of 16mm or shorter are considered wide angle in 16mm. Lenses with a focal length appreciably longer than normal are called long focal length or telephoto lenses. Lenses longer than 35mm would be considered long focal length in 16mm. until recently, most designs of lenses tended to cluster around the normal focal length for each format. For example, a 16mm, 25mm and 50mm (or 75mm) set of lenses was standard in 16mm. there were few options in extremely wide-angle lenses. This is still true in super 8, but not in 16mm and 35mm.

我猜中了影帝和影后!

影帝: 西恩·潘 Sean Penn 《米尔克》(Milk)

影后: 凯特·温丝莱特 Kate Winslet 《生死朗读》(The Reader)

在其它奖项的预测中,猜对的奖项还有:

最佳男配角:

希斯·莱杰 Heath Ledger 《蝙蝠侠前传2：黑暗骑士》(The Dark Knight)

最佳动画长片:

《机器人瓦力》(Wall-E)

最佳艺术指导:

《返老还童》(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

最佳服装设计:

《公爵夫人》(The Duchess)

最佳影片:

《贫民富翁》(Slumdog Millionaire)

另外,让我感到意外的是《贫民富翁》今年这么热，竟然得了八个奖，除了最佳影片，还有最佳摄影、最佳剪辑、最佳改编剧本、最佳音响效果、最佳配乐、最佳歌曲、最佳导演。一点不给别人留余地，够猛。而可怜同样大热的影片《返老还童》只得了最佳艺术指导，最佳化装，最佳视觉效果，真可惜的。可怜的还有《蝙蝠侠6》、《虐童疑云》。

总之，随着第81届奥斯卡落下帷幕，也给精彩的2008年度画上圆满句号。欣赏、学习奥斯卡，2009年度要好好努力！

    在1月22日，第81届奥斯卡各奖项提名正式公布。基本上包括了08年内各大热门影片，当中也有许多黑马杀入。除了卖座大热片蝙蝠侠6没有获得最佳影片提名之外，其它都很正常。颁奖是在2月22日的柯达剧院举行，距提名正好一个月时间，正好趁这机会，可以把还没看过的几部片子补上。

    除了纪录片和短片没有片源之外，我看完了所有提名影片，感觉2008年的确是好片很多的一年，跟1994年有得一比。至少比去年强很多。如果要推荐的话，平时爱看商业片的朋友可以去看下《返老还童》，《蝙蝠侠6》，《钢铁侠》，《通缉令》，《地狱男爵2黄金军团》，《机器人瓦力》，《闪电狗》，《功夫熊猫》，《热带惊雷》。喜欢剧情片和描述人性的，可以看下《对话尼克松》，《摔跤手》，《贫民富翁》，《换子疑云》，《午夜巴塞罗那》，《公爵夫人》，《澳大利亚》，《抵抗》。思维成熟的，阅历丰富的，可以看下《不速之客》，《米克传》，《虐童疑云》，《姐姐的婚礼》，《冰冻之河》，《生死朗读》，《革命之路》，《无忧无虑》，《杀手没有假期》。

    下面是我个人预测，另外有些奖项，比如最佳纪录长片最佳纪录短片是没有片源，就不发表意见了。

最佳男主角
理查德·詹金斯　《不速之客》
弗兰克·兰杰拉　《对话尼克松》
西恩·潘　《米克传》
布拉德·皮特　《返老还童》
米基·洛克　《摔跤手》

其实这个奖是竞争最激烈的，当看完这五部片子后，会觉得真的很难选择。
《不速之客》这部片子让我想起《美国丽人》，都是以中年危机为题材，影片的叙述非常细腻，真的就好像男主角的生活会发生在自己身上，现实生活是平静且平淡的，要改变，除非有介入者，或是能持续追逐心中的梦想。
《对话尼克松》这部影片我曾经在博客上推荐过，看这部片子，可能会要先从GOOGLE，维基百科里了解一下历史背景，水门事件是非常复杂的，除去窃听的动作部说，它暴露了人性，总统也是人，也会犯错，美国政府也是由人组成的，也会犯错。这一点有幸在地球上还有好莱坞能说实话。（其实中国也有牛片，张艺谋的《活着》和田壮壮的《蓝风筝》，只不过被禁映了而已，其实都是各自的巅峰之作。）
《米克传》的西恩·潘，看完片子之后真会觉得他就是一个GAY，这大概是表演的最高境界了吧。我认为本届最佳男主角应该给他。真的，开场5分钟，就能征服观众了。说句题外话，西恩·潘导演的《荒野生存》很不错，顺便推荐一下。
《返老还童》其实这个中文译名不好，还是另一个本杰明巴顿奇事更贴切一些。影片真的是冲着全奖来的，那么多的提名，风光无限，可是奥斯卡向来有大热必死的规律，布拉德·皮特演的的确不错，只是相对于西恩·潘的突破来说，只能说是符合他的身价的表演，再说也不能谁长的帅就选谁吧。
《摔跤手》里的米基·洛克拿到任何一个电影节都是影帝级的。摔角这项运动我知道，但是没想到摔角手的生活是这样，影片从一开始就把我吸引住了，让我想到了很多，想到了演员的生活，北漂的生活，打工者的生活，很多很多。也让我想起了《百万美元宝贝》，都是能深深打动人的片子，都告诉了人们现实，就是努力了也未必成功，但不能放弃对刹那辉煌的追求！

最佳男配角
乔什·布洛林　《米克传》
小罗伯特·唐尼　《热带惊雷》
菲利普·西摩尔·霍夫曼　《虐童疑云》
希斯·莱杰　《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》
迈克尔·珊农　《革命之路》

这个是本届奥斯卡中最没有悬念的奖项，肯定是希斯·莱杰，除去怀念的因素不说，论表演也是理所当然得奖的啦，配角都盖过主角了。另外，《虐童疑云》里的菲利普也相当出色，太有实力了。 其他的提名都是陪练。

最佳女主角
安妮·海瑟薇　《姐姐的婚礼》
安吉丽娜·茱莉　《换子疑云》
梅丽莎·里奥　《冰冻之河》
梅丽尔·斯特里普　《虐童疑云》
凯特·温斯莱特　《生死朗读》

《姐姐的婚礼》中的摄影风格大概不少人很难接受，类似DV镜头的晃晃悠悠，其实不是剧组用不起减震器材，而是管这个叫超现实主义拍摄手法，据说是起源与欧洲的，好多欧洲片都这样，目的是为了增加真实感，华语片里《重庆森林》和《有话好好说》里都有这样的拍摄手法，娄烨的《苏州河》也是一样。娄烨真是可怜的娃，拍一个禁一个，还都是好片，真可怜，阿门。再插个提外话，前个月看了个《爱的发声练习》，给我恶心的，太能装情调、装小资了，奸情就奸情贝，还要批上爱情的外衣，简直是对爱情的亵渎，粉饰的好像很高雅一样，这牌坊立的，简直无言了。看看那可怜娃拍的《颐和园》，同样是裸戏，是感情戏，是很多条线，拍的真是太强悍了！
《换子疑云》是Clint Eastwood导的，这老先生真的是具有无比深度的导演，无论是选本子还是讲故事，都能把你的心抓住，而且看他的片子，绝对是能猜中开头猜不中结尾的。说了半天，这个奖项是最佳女主角，安吉丽娜·茱莉呢，符合身价，符合皮特老婆的身份。可是这个片子，编剧把剧本写的很细致了，都不太需要演员发挥戏路了。要得影后缺空间。
《冰冻之河》，这个片子因为一举获得了圣丹斯评委会最佳剧情片大奖才有了出路，这对于独立电影来说，已是最有分量的奖项之一。然后索尼经典就立即拍板要发行此片，并承诺将之投放院线。小成本也可以参加奥斯卡，因为这个片子小成本却是大质量，看的很揪心。对于这个提名也许就是给女主演最大的鼓励了！
《虐童疑云》这个片子看第一遍后会有观众问到底虐了没有啊？其实虐没虐，已经不重要了，人的态度才是重要的，人在对待问题时能否真正的客观，是一个问题，大多数人都会存在偏见。论表演呢，虐童疑云里真的是高手太多了，这次提名的一个女主角，一个男主角，还有二个女配角，全是戏霸级人物。怪不得《虐童疑云》被称为是演技教科书。强，实在是强。
《生死朗读》一百个人看会有一百种理解。如果给我一票，我会把最佳女主角投给凯特·温斯莱特。在生死朗读里把角色诠释的太完美了。人物的双重性演的太到位了，真的做到了“很傻很天真”。

最佳女配角
艾米-亚当斯　《虐童疑云》
佩内洛普-克鲁兹　《午夜巴塞罗那》
维欧拉-戴维斯　《虐童疑云》
塔拉吉·亨逊　《返老还童》
梅丽莎·托梅　《摔跤手》

我很看好维欧拉戴维斯能拿这个女配角奖，不知道能不能让她实现，7分钟，演7分钟完成一个梦想。

最佳动画长片
《闪电狗》Bolt，迪斯尼
《功夫熊猫》Kung Fu Panda，派拉蒙梦工厂
《机器人瓦力》WALL-E，迪斯尼

新浪票选上很多人都选功夫熊猫，可是，爱国归爱国，这次的对手是瓦力，史上最可爱的机器人主演史上最强的动画片，不拿奖才怪。《机器人瓦力》真的有资格！

最佳艺术指导
《换子疑云》，环球
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《公爵夫人》，焦点
《革命之路》，米拉迈克斯

这五部片子对于美术部门都是超大的工作量，而我一直认为美术水平是衡量一个国家电影行业成熟度的标杆，在造型与难度上，比较突出的是《返老还童》，《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，《公爵夫人》，不出意外的话应该是这三部其中之一。
对于《革命之路》，我得感慨一下，本以为《生死朗读》里凯特是故意扮老，可刚看《革命之路》的第一个场景，我的天呐，岁月啊，真无情啊，当年那么丰腴的小美女…，唉…人生啊。相比之下更残酷的是剧情，这部影片可以说是《泰坦尼克号》的“延续版，现实版，生活版”，看来爱情跟生活完全不是一回事，很恐怖，我觉得看完跟恐怖片似的。

最佳摄影
黛博拉·哈珀　《换子疑云》
克劳迪欧·米兰达　《返老还童》
怀利·普菲斯特　《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》
罗杰·迪金斯、克里斯·蒙吉斯《生死朗读》
安东尼·多德·曼托　《贫民富翁》

蝙蝠侠啦，再不给蝙蝠侠多冤呐！不过竞争者还有两个全奖杀手，要竞争呐，痛苦！ 

 最佳服装设计
《澳大利亚》，20世纪福克斯
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《公爵夫人》，焦点
《米克传》，焦点
《革命之路》，米拉迈克斯

澳大利亚的服装不错。革命之路里面那些成群的西装帽子也很震撼。 米克传的衣服得穿出GAY的感觉。公爵夫人的衣服做起来费力。返老还童跨年代，准备很多衣服。如果给我一次机会，我选公爵夫人。

最佳导演
丹尼·鲍尔　《贫民富翁》
斯蒂文·道德利　《生死朗读》
大卫·芬奇　《返老还童》
朗·霍华德　《对话尼克松》
加斯·范·桑特　《米克传》

《贫民富翁》和《返老还童》就不用评论了，几乎人人都看过，人人都记住了。
最佳导演是很重的奖项，但就艺术性，人性和内涵讲，返老还童，米克传，生死朗读都有资格。不过如果给我一票，我选返老还童。

最佳剪辑
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《对话尼克松》，环球
《米克传》，焦点
《贫民富翁》，福克斯探照灯

电影也是剪辑的艺术，剪辑真的很重要，个人认为蝙蝠侠，返老还童，贫民富翁都靠谱，如果只选一个，我选返老还童。

最佳化妆
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《地狱男爵2：黄金军团》，环球

这个奖如果不给《地狱男爵2黄金军团》，就太没天理了。推荐大家去看一下这一群有人性的怪兽吧，真是很可爱的片子。

最佳配乐
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《抵抗》，派拉蒙瞭望
《米克传》，焦点
《贫民富翁》，福克斯探照灯
《机器人瓦力》，迪斯尼

其实抵抗这片子真的不错，怎么就提名这个呢？不过也没法同情，因为我认为《机器人瓦力》有可能获奖。

最佳歌曲
《机器人瓦力》：[Down to Earth]
《贫民富翁》：[Jaiho]
《贫民富翁》：[O Saya]

不出意外肯定落于贫民富翁手中，毕竟印度背景的片子，歌舞都是强项。

最佳影片
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《对话尼克松》，环球
《米克传》，焦点
《生死朗读》，韦恩斯坦
《贫民富翁》，福克斯探照灯

最重的奖，记住，奥斯卡的最佳影片是颁给制片人的，不是给导演的，该奖项是奖励制片人眼光、洞察力和魄力的。
所以，返老还童或贫民富翁有可能获奖。

最佳音效剪辑
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《钢铁侠》，派拉蒙
《贫民富翁》，福克斯探照灯
《机器人瓦力》，迪斯尼
《通缉令》，环球

《通缉令》怎么沦落到这么惨！连最佳视觉效果都没有，至少钢铁侠还有视觉的提名，通缉令好可怜，一定要同情，同情，给个同情票吧！

最佳音响效果
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《贫民富翁》，福克斯探照灯
《机器人瓦力》，迪斯尼
《通缉令》，环球

蝙蝠侠，机器人，通缉令都不错。

 最佳视觉效果
《返老还童》，派拉蒙
《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》，华纳兄弟
《钢铁侠》，派拉蒙

视觉效果的话，应该给《钢铁侠》，很有当年《变形金刚》的范。而且真的很好看。

最佳改编剧本
埃瑞克·洛斯　《返老还童》
约翰·帕特里克·桑利　《虐童疑云》
彼德·摩根　《对话尼克松》
大卫·海尔　《生死朗读》
赛门·比尔弗伊　《贫民富翁》

这五部电影都是今年的好片，相当经典，如果选一个最有深度的（其实都挺有深度的），那就选生死朗读了。不过真的太难选了，五个片子，二个写爱，三个写人性的，还一个比一个深刻，美国编剧太强了。

最佳原创剧本
科特尼·亨特《冰冻之河》
迈克·李《无忧无虑》
马丁·迈克唐纳《杀手没有假期》
达斯汀·兰斯·布莱克《米克传》
安德鲁·斯坦顿《机器人瓦力》

我个人很喜欢《杀手没有假期》，让我想起了《阅后即焚》，都非常具有黑色幽默的喜感，纯西方幽默，超冷，我超喜欢，还有里面那只狗，那眼神演技真强，跟《澳大利亚》里那只狗有一拼。但如果论得奖的话，要么米克传，要么机器人了。另外，《无忧无虑》里那个驾校教练太经典了，太会演戏的男演员了，佩服！

    It is the lens mount on the camera that defines the range of lenses that can be accepted. Most super 8 cameras (the Beaulieu is an exception) and a few 16mm cameras (for example, the Canon Scoopic) have permanently mounted zoom lenses. Although this prohibits the use of other lenses, it allows for an accurate and sturdy mount.

    The C mount was at one time the most common 16mm lens mount. It is a simple screw mount that is not particularly strong nor designed for very close tolerances, and it is not desirable for zoom lenses, heavy lenses or very wide angle lenses. The Bolex Rx mount is a variant of the C mount that is specially designed to accommodate the change in back focus on the Bolex camera equipped with a behind-the-lens viewfinder prism. Prime lenses of less than 50mm and zoom lenses in Rx mount should only be used on these Bolexes and not on other cameras. The Arriflex standard mount is stronger, and the Arriflex steel bayonet mount is a further improvement. Lenses with the standard mount may be fitted on cameras with provisions for the bayonet mount, but not vice versa.

    Many of the more recently designed 16mm cameras have their own mounts (for example, CP, Éclair and Aaton) as do many 35mm cameras (for example, Mitchell, Panavision).

    Most cameras will accept only one type of mount. Adaptors often fit incompatible mounts, but they make the lens’ seating potentially less accurate. Lenses that require very accurate seating are liable to produce out-of-focus footage with a lens adaptor. Lenses of medium to long focal length generally may be used with adaptors with little worry. Adaptors allow most mounts to be fitted onto a camera that accepts C mounts, but you cannot adapt a C mount to a camera that takes, for example, an Arri or Aaton mount. The Éclair NPR accepts lenses of two different mounts in its turret, usually the Éclair CA-1 and the C mount. The Éclair ACL accepts C mount lenses as well as almost any mount through a series of adaptors that are very sturdy since they screw into a large thread on the body of the camera. Adaptors allow 35mm still photography lenses to be mounted on some motion picture cameras.

    Before the advent of high-quality zoom lenses, 16mm cameras often had turrets that would accept two or three lenses. The lens tube used for shooting, the taking lens, is rotated in front of the aperture, and a click or detent assures proper seating. You should take care that a wide-angle lens does not include in its field of view a long focal length lens mounted on the same turret. A divergent turret, like the one on the Arriflex S, permits you to mount a slightly greater range of lenses. When you rotate the turret, grasp the turret grips and never the lens. Although turrets are never as stable as single-lens mounts, the Arriflex S and Éclair NPR have very stable turrets.

    After the film is exposed to light coming through the lens the shutter must close to prevent the light from hitting the film. The film must be completely at rest before the shutter opens again for the next exposure. If the shutter does not block the light from the film when it is moving, the image on the film will be blurred. The simplest kind of shutter is a rotating disc with a section removed.

    A circle may be represented by 360°. The shutter opening is the number of degrees open in the disc. The 180° shutter, a half-moon in shape, is the most common.

    Exposure is determined by the intensity of the light that passes through the lens and the time or duration of exposure. The reciprocity law simply says: Exposure = Intensity × Time. Doubling exposure time is equivalent to doubling intensity. The halving and doubling of light intensity are measured in stops. Stopping down the lens on stop requires the doubling of the time of exposure to keep exposure constant.

    Standard film speed is 24 frames per second (fps). A camera with a 180° shutter admits light to the film half the time (the disc is half open) so the exposure time (the shutter speed) is 1/24×1/2=1/48 second (rounded off to 1/50 second). At 24 fps, shutters with about 180° openings can be assumed to have a shutter speed of 1/50 second. The general formula for any shutter opening and camera speed is:

    Exposure time (shutter speed) = 1/speed in fps × angle of shutter opening/360

    For shutter openings less than 180°, the shutter speed is faster than 1/50 second. For example, a 135° shutter at 24 fps yields a shutter speed of 1/24×135/360=1/64 (approximately 1/65 second).

    In general, the longer the time of exposure, the better. Short exposures increase the possibility of strobing. The longer the time of exposure, the less light needed for proper exposure. Shutter speeds shorter than 1/60 second under fluorescent light may result in a pulsing or flickering of the image.

    A shutter with precisely a 144° opening is sometimes used for filming a television image.

    On cameras equipped with a variable shutter, the shutter angle can be narrowed to change shutter speed. Some variable shutters may be shut down continuously, while others can only be shut down to certain angles.

    Narrowing the angle reduces shutter speed. A 90° shutter, for example, gives a shutter speed of about 1/100 at 24 fps (using the above formula for shutter speed). Closing the shutter reduces the exposure, allowing high-speed film to be used outdoors or allowing the lens to be opened to decrease depth of field or shooting at a selected f-stop.

    A variable shutter that can be closed down while the camera is running allows exposure changes in the middle of a shot. For example, when the camera moves from a sunlit to a shaded area within a shot, it is often necessary to change exposure. The iris diaphragm of the lens can be changed, but this would change the depth of field and may be more noticeable than shutting down the variable shutter. If the variable shutter can be shut down continuously to 0 degree with the camera running, in-camera fades and dissolves can be created.

    Decreasing the shutter angle makes the exposure for each frame shorter and freezes motion more effectively. The increased sharpness of each frame is advantageous for making still enlargements from movie frames and for motion analysis but often causes unwanted effects in the moving image. Strobing or skipping may occur when there is any camera or subject movement. If the movement is too fast, the eye is not able to integrate successive frames and the image seems to skip rather than move continuously, causing the viewer eye strain. Skipping most often appears in pans, especially pans across strong vertical lines. The higher the image contrast or greater the image sharpness, the more likely that strobing will occur. Fast shutter speeds also increase the likelihood of strobling. In general, it is safer not to close down the shutter for exposure control if there is any camera or subject movement.

    A phenomenon related to strobing, and frequently referred to by the same term, is often noticed when the wheels of a moving vehicle on the screen seem to be stopped or to be traveling in reverse. This occurs when the intermittent exposures happen to catch spokes at the same position in consecutive frames (thus, the wheels seem stopped) or catch them in a position that causes the wheels to appear to be spinning in reverse.

    On cameras with a variable shutter, always check that the shutter is open before every day’s shooting. If someone else has used the camera, the shutter opening may have been narrowed. Some cameras have devices to warn you that the shutter has been closed. On others, like the Éclair NPR, you must rotate the turret to check the position of the shutter.