Cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film. Cinematography is closely related to still photography but it is about recording movement. Cinematography or recording of acting and mise-en-scene on film can be pretty straight forward—just following action to tell the story or it can use all kinds of artistic techniques to add various emphases to what you are seeing on the screen.

Cinematography uses its own visual language consisting of shots of various lengths, camera angles, use of light and color. For example slow motion often is used to create a certain mood or make the audience notice certain details in the scene. Camera angles are there to emphasize certain relationships between people or people and objects. (For example, in the 1935 film Triumph of the Will by a Nazi German cinematographer Lenny Riefenstahl, Hitler is shown from a very low angle to show his grandeur and superiority; he stands tall above the adoring crowd.) So cinematography is HOW the film is shot.

1. Pay close attention to the length of shots in the film. Is there a recognizable pattern? Are long takes used? To what extent?. For what purpose?.

2. Pay close attention to the length of shots. Does the film use a lot of extreme long shots or extreme close-ups? In what instances are these shots used? For what purpose?.

3. Keep track of camera angles other than eye-level shots. If there are high and low angle shots, determine for what purpose they are used. What does the angle convey about the character or an object in the frame, whose point of view does it reflect?

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1 Long and short takes are recognizable in the film Long shorts are used to focus on the theme of th... View the full answer