Whether it is a single shot or a multiple series of shots, in live action or anima- tion, any movement that is filmed needs to be silhouetted if it is to be easily and effectively communicated to an audience. Filmically, silhouetting does not mean that the figure is seen in shadow with a strong light behind it. Instead, it means that the broad dynamics of the character’s actions are clearly staged, for example, with arms moving in profile to the camera, rather than directly to and from the camera (where the body mass will partially or totally conceal it).
The fundamental principles of staging a character in a shot are two in number, size, and perspective. Essentially, the nearer the character is to the camera, the bigger they will be. The bigger they are, the more powerful and dominating they can seem. If a character walks towards the camera, or the camera moves towards the character, that character will clearly increase in size and be a bigger aspect of the overall picture (top figure). If the character walks away from the camera, or the camera moves away from the character, the character will get smaller and therefore increasingly less significant from an audience’s point of view (bottom figure).
The larger the subject is in the frame, the more power it has.
And the smaller it is, the less important it becomes.
If the character walks away from the camera at an angle to it, rather than simply straight away, there will be a reduction of height across and away from the scene, which is not quite so diminishing as if seen straight on. The same is true of a charac- ter walking towards the camera at a 45-degree angle. Plot the points at the top of the head and the bottom of the feet along this angled line of departure and there will be two converging lines that will meet at some point on the horizon.
The lines define the perspective of a scene (i.e., the further away objects are the smaller they will appear), and the place where these two perspective lines meet on the horizon is known as the vanishing point. This is even more evident with railway lines that head directly away from the point of view towards the horizon.
Here, the power lines at the top of the shot broadly define the angle of its perspective.
The vanishing point, where two perspective lines meet in the distance.
The angle of perspective can have a profound influence on the nature of the scene. It is not always recommended that characters walk directly to and directly from the cam- era. Indeed, it is not even advisable that they look directly at, or directly away from, the camera in general, as this is not as strong a staging as a slight angle is. Aesthetically, if the perspective of the action is slightly on one side of center or the other, that action will be more interesting to observe. This becomes even more important when two or more characters are interacting within a scene.
Elevation also influences the dynamics of perspective within a shot. The camera can either be apparently higher or lower than the horizon. A higher-than-horizon position will literally be looking down on a subject which, if the object in question is actually a character, it puts the camera (and therefore the audience) in a position of dominance over the character (above). This offers a great opportunity in story interpretation terms for the filmmaker. A camera elevation that appears beneath the horizon gives a view- point of looking up on the character (or object), which provides a sense of power to the character (below).
Keeping characters slightly off-center in a shot provides a more natural and interesting staging.
Therefore, in an argument between two characters, a dominant character might al- ways be viewed from a low camera position (looking up at them) while the weaker of the two might be looked down upon using a higher camera elevation. A hero might be viewed from below while the villain is looked down upon. This concept can be equal- ly applied to objects and locations. Looking up at tall buildings in a city suggests the city’s dominance of the viewer, or simply that we are seeing everything from a bug’s eye viewpoint.
low camera position.
Looking down on buildings can suggest a more majestic, god-like view of the city, or a giant’s view, or maybe just that of a pilot in a helicopter or a plane.
There are innumerable options that intelligent camera positioning and elevation can offer the conscientious filmmaker when they seek to paint a picture with their camera.
The higher and more exaggerated the perspective, the greater the feeling of dominance.
A few of the camera options for framing a two shot.
If two people are facing each other and talking, then there are a number of valuable positions that the camera can take: near or far, high or low, left or right.