Introduction

There are ten million film makers in America today. Most of them are amateurs, but the number who migrate to pro­fessional ranks grows constantly as television enlarges its demands for motion pictures of all kinds.

Whether he shoots for fun or profit—for a family circle or a television station—the experienced film maker knows that getting correct focus and exposure are only the first steps in using a movie camera.

He wants to tell a movie story. He will not do so if he shoots all over the place in a series of correctly exposed but pictorially unrelated scenes. To tell a movie story, he must put together a wide variety of shots so as to achieve a smooth, meaningful, visual flow. In short, he must understand his medium as well as his camera; he must know pictorial con­tinuity.

Pictorial continuity is the indispensable framework of every soundly constructed motion picture, whether it is a Holly­wood epic, TV film, newsreel. documentary, cartoon or home movie.

Without it. any movie, no matter how elaborately or ex­pensively made, is amateurish; but with it, the raw beginner can achieve a professional touch.
It is the answer to how to shoot a movie story.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE SIMPLE SEQUENCE

The   Long   Shot     The   Medium   Shot       The Close-up

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