Chapter 6 - The General Rule

A Real “Must” | Outwitting Jumpy Action from the Flank | Angels | Lens Changes | Summary

A Real "Must"

So vital to smooth continuity is the avoidance or minimiz­ing of jumpy action that we are going to do something we haven't done before—lay down a hard-and-fast rule which must be followed.

We call it the general rule, because it is applied to all the shots of a motion-picture sequence, without exception, consistently. generally.

The general rule slates: When shooting a new scene. change the size of the image, or change the angle, or both.

We dislike the word "must"; the technique of pictorial con­tinuity is so highly flexible, so much depends on the imagina­tive spark of the individual photographer, that we prefer to use the word "should even when we strongly feel something ought to be done. But there is no such qualification as "should" for the general rule. As its name unmistakably im­plies, it is used everywhere; it must be and can be.

It can be done by you as cameraman while shooting a se­quence, or by you as cutter when editing the film (by using cut-ins and cut-aways—but remember that you, as the cutter cannot put into the film something you as the cameraman left out when the picture was shot, so take those extra shots!)

Why all the fuss about a change of image size or of angle with every new shot? The reasons are two: the first is the fact that this simple operation always makes it possible to cover up any jump in the action because the audience's attention will be taken up by the "something different, something new" created by the change; and the second reason is variety, to achieve which the general rule is the basic, unfailing means.

Outwitting Jumpy Action From The Flank

All this to-do about the general rule's covering up jump\ action will not, we hope, cause you to hesitate about applying it. Truth is, you have been using it from the very beginning: you have been changing the size of the image every time you moved from the long shot to medium shot, from medium shot to closeup. You did it in the sequence on Cousin Robert in the study of overlap.

Overlap eliminates jumpy action by overpowering it with a frontal attack, so to speak. The general rule outwits it by a deceptive play around the flanks. The best solution is a "com­bined operation" where both overlap and the general rule can be employed, such as in the sequence of Cousin Robert smoking his cigar. But let us take a case where overlap is im­possible—where the action cannot be controlled and where there is only one camera at work—to see how the general rule can be most useful and most necessary.

You have certainly seen the work of a cameraman who starts to shoot a scene, stops the camera in order to save film until something more interesting develops, then starts shoot­ing again without changing position or lens. The result is an inevitable jump between shots which is hard on the audience's eye and classifies the cameraman immediately as an akward novice.

Take, for example, that frequently photographed sequence of a child climbing the steps of a slide. Proud Dad began to shoot when little sister Betty was clambering up the first few steps; as she moved slowly from step to step. Dad began to wonder whether his film would last until she got to the top. so he stopped the camera when Betty was about halfway up. Then, as she got to the final step, he started his camera again Without changing position and caught her as she triumphantly scrambled over onto the top of the slide.

On-screen, to all appearances, Betty has literally jumped from the middle steps to the top rung. It is a remarkable per­formance, but rather disturbing to the audience even though the sequence be entitled "Child of Superman."

Now you shoot the sequence the right way. by applying the general rule. You'll find that you can be just as economical with Dad's film. Here's how you do it.

You start with Betty on the first steps, and you stop your camera as before, when she has reached the half-way mark. But instead of staying in the same position for your next shot. you move in for an MS—make it a full-figure—as she con­tinues her climb. Finally, a closeup catches Betty's gleeful expression as she comes up the last step. You can reestablish as Betty pulls herself onto the slide itself.

The General Rule

No change of image	Long Shot
Size of Angle	Medium Shot Clo
Change of image size only	Close up

In this example you change the image si/e by enlarging it \\ hen you move the camera closer to the subject with the MS and the CU. In the RS you would change the image size by pulling back and decreasing it.

You can see how a change of image size creates a different scene, gives you something right at the beginning to attract the audience's attention so that it will overlook a jump in the action. Although it is aware that Betty has traveled some dis­tance between the original LS and the RS, its eye lias not been irritated, nor has its sense of logic been disturbed. The new approach the camera has taken toward its subject by a change of image size stimulates the audience, whose imagination cheerfully carries it through the unimportant action the camera has chosen to ignore.

The "something different" provided by the general rule, that variety which gives novelty to each shot and stimulates audience interest afresh, is a quality some cameramen con­sider even more important than the fact that the rule can cover up a jump in the action.

They contend that variety soothes the audience's eye which is bound to tire if it looks at the same scene too long. Equally important, they believe the constant change to some­thing different and interesting gives the motion picture a snap and movement it must have to be really good.

At any rate, regardless of which you consider the more im­portant, you have two excellent reasons why you must use the general rule.

Angles

Changing the image size is one way of putting the general rule into operation. A change of angle can smooth over a jump in the action or provide variety just as effectively, at times even better.

Angles provide infinite opportunities for attaining that "something different, opportunities which can be tremen­dously exciting and dramatic. Consider just one minor ex­ample—Betty making that epic stair climb. Instead of just changing your image size, you change angles with every shot in the sequence. Your LS again is the same, but the MS is taken from the side looking up. and the CL' is slightly off from a ninety-degree angle at eye level, while your final RS is a reverse angle. There is no question but that you have greatly increased the interest and animation of the sequence.

There is no need to make a choice between changing image size and changing the angle when shooting a new scene. There is no conflict, for the two work hand in hand and one improves the other. The two should be used together whenever possible. Remember the words of the general rule: When shooting a new scene change the size of the image, or change the angle, or both.

Lens Changes

So far you have changed the image size only by moving to­ward or away from your subject. But you can also change image size back and forth, make it larger or smaller, without moving your camera— by putting on a lens of a different focal length.

Such lenses are either long (telephoto) or wide-angle: the former enlarges the image size, the latter decreases it. The regular 16mm camera (so called because it uses 16mm width film) is supplied by the manufacturer with a 25mm or one-inch lens for its standard image size. A long lens of 50mm brings the camera halfway to the subject (doubling the size of the image), while a four-inch lens brings it four times as close.

On thi' other hand, a wide-angle lens such as the 15mm re­duces the size of the image by almost half. Obviously, a 12 or 10mm lens reduces the image size even more.

The zoom lens combines the functions of the normal, the wide-angle and the long lens. A typical range of a zoom lens for a 16mm camera is from 17mm wide-angle to 68mm tele-photo.

The 8mm and 35mm cameras have similar lenses producing similar effects. These additional lenses, known variously as supplementary, accessory or special lenses, are not usually part of the standard equipment of most non-professionals. There are few pictures which cannot be shot without them, but their usefulness in the operation of the general rule makes them worth a note on proper handling. The chief caution to bear in mind is their unusual effect on perspective.

The General Rule
(Change of Image Size and Angle)

Establishing   Shot
Medium  Shot
Closeup
Reestablishing   Shot

A long lens, for instance, pulls the background unnaturally close to the subject, flattens the perspective, and requires you to be very careful of focus. When two or more subjects are in line, a long lens foreshortens the distance between the nearer and farther objects, as you will see very clearly if you use a long lens in ,i shot from behind home plate taking in both the pitcher and the batter in a baseball name. When the pitcher hurls the ball, his outflung arm seems to come within inches of the batters face. Such a shot is essentially a stunt, and does nothing in itself to further the aim of good continuity.

Still, there are times when a telephoto lens is a great help It can be a real boon when you are faced with the problem of shooting objects at tremendous distances, such as a majestic mountain peak from across a valley. The standard lens will give you an extreme long shot while the long lens will enable you to come closer without moving the camera.

Employing a long lens is just about unavoidable when photographing action from a position where movement back and forth is difficult, such as shooting a football game from the stands, or in eases where the action moves too quickly—as in a horse race—to give you time to change position from LS to MS. But here again you must be careful about the use of the long lens. A head-on CL of horses taken with a long lens gives them the appearance of just bobbing up and down—not running ahead  at all!

Their greater power of magnification makes telephoto lenses excellent for inserts, especially if close approach to the subject is impossible, as is often the case in zoos, museums, or exhibit halls. And even when a subject is accessible, it may be poss­ible to get the picture only if one keeps one's distance and uses a long lens. When photographing wild life a close approach might scare the subject away, and this applies equally to human beings—whether children or politicians—whose aware­ness of the photographer often makes them freeze in self-consciousness or else "mug" the camera to the ruination of a natural picture.

Sometimes the matter of accessibility works in reverse. In­stead of being too far away, you find yourself too close for a standard lens to take in all you want to photograph. Physical limitations within doors or outdoors on a narrow street, may make it impossible for you to back off far enough to get every­thing in. The solution to this problem is the wide-angle lens, which gives your camera a much greater breadth of vision. If any of these supplementary lenses comes close to being con-sidered a "must,   it is the wide-angle.

As a last word on supplementary lenses, bear in mind that they an1 not indispensable for telling a movie story. Don't use them to excess as the cameraman who is too lazy to move often does: don't go "lens-happy."

Summary

The one rule of pictorial continuity that can and must invariably be used is the so-called general rule, which states: When shooting a new scene, change the size of the image, or change the angle, or both.

Image size can be changed by moving closer to or far­ ther away from the subject, and this is accomplished through the LS, MS, CU, and the reestablishing shot.

The general rule covers up jumpy action by distracting the audience's attention through the addition of something different to the new scene, and also enriches the motion pic­ture by injecting variety.

Angle changes provide  infinite  ways  of   applying the general rule.

Image size can also be changed by use of supplementary lenses such as long lenses which enlarge the image size, wide-angle lenses which decrease it while enlarging the angle of vision, and zoom lenses which combine these functions.

Supplementary lenses can be very convenient at times, but remember they are not indispensable for telling a movie story.

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