Chapter 2 - The Simple Sequence:
Variations

Relativity | The Extreme Long Shot | The Extreme Close-up | The Full-Figure Shot | Summary

RELATIVITY

Having looked at the sequence in its simplest, most rudi­mentary form, we turn now to the problem of adding variety and interest. The long shot, the medium shot, and the closeup are all relative. Translated, this means that the distances which separate the long shot from the medium and the medi­um shot from the closeup in an interior sequence such as visit­ing Mr. Prospect, would he different from the distances involved outdoors in photographing a parade where the LS from the rooftop might be hundreds of feet distant, the MS of the marching ranks from the sidewalk might be fifty feel away, and the final CU as much as twenty feet removed.

Long distances between shots do not necessarily typify out­door sequences. The distances involved in shooting a parade do not apply in shooting an outdoor sequence of the neigh­bors' kids playing hopscotch on the sidewalk.

Nor are all indoor sequences restricted in distances between shots. The LS, MS. and CU are vastly different between film­ing a graduation exercise in a school auditorium and doing a sequence of Junior building a model airplane in the play­room.

An indoor sequence like the graduation exercise, moreover, would call for greater distances between shots than an out­door sequence showing Mother rocking Baby to sleep in the garden.

Relativity applies as truly to the simple, solid facts of photo­graphy as it does to the abstruse world of mathematical physics. The point to remember and the crux of the whole matter is that relativity depends strictly on the personal preference of the cameraman and what he wants to emphasize in his movie.

Two camera fiends—Roscoe and Ross—set out to shoot the same sequence, the heart-warming one of looking over a new car. Roscoe takes his LS from outside the dealer's display lot, showing the dealer's sign and numerous cars. Next, he moves onto the lot for an MS in which one particular automobile—a four-door sedan beside which stands a pretty girl and her escort—is centered on the screen, although there are parts of other ears showing and the locale is still identified as a dealer's lot. In his CU, the sedan dominates the scene completely. Roscoe feels lie has achieved his objective, that of showing the car he intends to buy.

RELATIVITY
(Two treatments of the same story)

Above—Roscoe's  Sequence Long  Shot Medium   Shot

Closeup
Right—Ross' Sequence Long   Shot Medium   Shot Closeup

Ross feels differently. To him, what makes the sedan most attractive is its handsomely designed front. lie is going to feature that. Ross ignores Roscoe's long shot. "I'm not shoot­ing film to give the auto dealer publicity," he mutters. Instead, he shoots his LS from where Roscoe took his medium shot. and this—as we have seen—suffices to establish the locale. He takes his LS from where Roscoe took his closeup, and for his CU, moves in and fills his viewfinder (and the audiences screen) with the front of the car.

Roscoe and Ross have shot relatively different sequences, both perfectly acceptable. Good continuity was applied in each case, even though the stories differed in emphasis.

Every knowing cameraman, by the way, will use an actor or actors (good-looking ones are always desirable!) to give life and appeal to a scene even though they are not the true subject of the movie. Furthermore, the actors in the case given, by appropriate position, attitude or gestures, can draw the eye to the front of the car, the point of interest Ross wishes to indicate to his audience.

THE EXTREME LONG SHOT

Thus the simple sequence develops and its basic elements reveal themselves to be flexible and clastic. The elasticity can be considerable. The long shot, for instance can become very long, producing the extreme long shot or "ELS." which gives a far distant vine of the area in which action takes place.

Extreme   Long   Shot

Long  Shot

A true ELS of a parade would be taken from an airplane flying overhead. An ELS taken on the ground would be so far removed from a subject—such as a piece of statuary in a park —that the latter would be just barely recognizable for what it was, with plenty of surroundings—a lake, trees, people sitting in the sun—to give a good idea of the locale.

The extreme long shot is also known as a location shot. It is so far away that it does not matter if there is action going on or not, because it is too remote to pick up specific details.

The Extreme Closeup

Equally, the closeup can contract to the extreme closeup. The "ECU," sometimes called an insert, is a closeup of a smalldetail.

Closeup	Extreme Closeup

Suppose you shoot a sequence of Dad giving Mother a ring for her birthday. You have moved in with long and medium shots to a closeup of happy Mom wearing a very handsome ring. Your audience—especially the women in it—would like a closer look at the gift. So Mother holds out her hand and yon bring the camera very close for your Ed'. When projected, this shot shows the audience part of Mothers hand and the ring in all its sparkling detail looming big on the screen.

Relativity of subject matter applies to the insert, too. If you are photographing a locomotive in a station, a shot of one of the huge wheels becomes as much of an ECL as Mother s ring.

The Full Figure Shot

What of the medium shot? It cannot go to any extreme in the direction of long shot or closeup without falling into the category of one or the other. Compared to them, it is pretty limited in range. Very often it takes the form of the most limiting of all motion-picture shots, the full-figure shot. The full-figure shot is self-explanatory, and needs no definition. It is relative. It may be made of an adult or child, elephant or a dog, a tennis player or an inanimate object like Grant's Tomb.

The full-figure shot usually has a little head-and-foot room to show a trace of background, whereas in the ordinary MS. the lower portion of the figure is frequently cut off once the LS has established it.

three examples of the Full-Figure Shot

Summary

The LS, MS. and (,'L are strictly relative. Distances between them are determined by the nature of action and location, by the cameraman's personal preference, and by what he wants to emphasize to his audience.

The basic elements are elastic. The long shot may stretch to the extreme long shot, or location shot; the closeup may contract to the extreme closeup, or insert. The medium shot, however, has little range and becomes very sharply limited in the full-figure shot.

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