from stage to screen 2

8/10/2019 From Stage to Screen 2

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Expressiveness of faces

Controlled from within by theactors and from without by

the makeupartists and thel ight ingartists

Light ing

Soft / harsh l ight ing:

manipulating a viewer'sattitude towards a setting or

a character; usedexpressively or realistically.

Back l ight ing (the haloeffect on the actors/actressshair)


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Groupings of actors

Acting spaces in the Elizabethantheatre:

Entrances and exitsthrough thetwo side-doors of the rear stage;

Three basic acting areas (front stage,rear stage covered by the Heavensand provided with the discoveryspace; the stage gallery);

The performance conventiongoverning the acting spacenon-representat ional.

The spoken text provided hints as to thelocation of the action and helped theaudience image what it might have

looked like.


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Settings and Props

In the Elizabethan theatres:

no stage designer: just a simply built stage construction with

furniture according to the needs and some props: treesmade of canvas and wood to signify a forest, grassy banks,prop dragons, an unpleasant looking cave to represent themouth of hell, the balcony at the rear and the wall of thetiring-house for a castle/ town wall.

Yet, no attempt to im itate real i ty in terms o f sett ingtheaudience invited to collaborate and to use their imagination

so as to make up for the inability of the stage to createrealistic images.


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Spatial arrangements and

relationships in film

E.g. being spatially in between

= being caught in conflict;

movements away and towards

another character = shifting

allegiance; rapid regroupings =

confusion; large movements

(battle scenes) / individualshots
http://www.cauti.ro/poza.mare.php?pid=309034&poza=1


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Settings and Props in Films

Realist/ expressionistsettings may reinforce orcounterpoint with action, character, themes, and

verbal styles. Propscarrying great symbolic weight that must

articulate and complement what is indicated explicitlyin the text: Not only do words and acts speak inShakespeare films. Thingsspeak. (Jorgens 1998:34) E.g. the book in the two film versions ofA Midsummer

Nights Dream (Noble 1996 and Hoffman 1999); the bicycleand the phonograph (Hoffman 1999); the umbrella, themotorbike and the puppet theatre (Noble 1996)


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Camera Techniques. Distance.

Establishing shot. Opening shot or sequence, frequentlyan exterior 'General View' as an Extreme Long Shot (ELS).Used to set the scene.

Long shot (LS). Shot which shows all or most of a fairlylarge subject (for example, a person) and usually much ofthe surroundings. stress more on the circum stances,less on the individual

Medium shots. (MS)Focus on the actor (up to the waist,better emphasizing hand gestures); the actor and thesetting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. Tightpresentat ion of the actors: e.g. 2 actors: two-shot; 3actorsthree-shot)

Shot/reverse shot: one character is shown looking (oftenoff screen) at another character, and them the othercharacter is shown looking back at the first character tocreate the sense that the two characters are facing eachother.

Close-up (CU).A picture which shows a fairly small part ofthe scene, such as a character's face, in great detail sothat it fills the screen. It abstracts the subject from acontext. emphasis on a persons feelings and reactions.


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Camera Techniques. Angle

(direction and height of the camera)

The camera is below

the characters level it suggests the

characters

importance

From above the action


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Camera movements

Zoom: actually, the camera does not move, it requires lens focusing.

Zoom in: from long-shot to close-up - the subject is magnified, andattention is concentrated on details previously invisible as the shot

tightens surprise, disconcerting effect Zoom out: from close-up to long-shot - revealing more of the scene as

the shot widens. Zooming in and then out creates an ugly 'yo-yo' effect.

Following pan: following a moving subject (space left in front of thesubject)

Surveying pan: slowly searching a scene (used to build climax oranticlimax)

Tracking: the camera itself is moved smoothly towards or away from thesubject (in contrast with zooming).

Track in: it draws the viewer into a closer, more intense relationshipwith the subject. Rapid tracking inexciting.

Track outemotional distance

Track back: diverting attention to the edges of the screen; it relaxes

interest


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Editing Techniques

Cut.Sudden change of shot from one viewpoint or location to another. Cutting may:

change the scene;

compress time; vary the point of view; or

build up an image or idea.

Jump cut.Abrupt switch from one scene to another which may be used deliberately

to make a dramatic point. Sometimes it is boldly used to begin or end action.

Cross-cut: from one line of action to another

Fade/dissolve:gradual transitions between shots Fade in: the picture gradually appears from a blank screen. Fade out: the

picture gradually disappears to a blank screen.

Dissolve: fading out one picture while fading up another on top of it, hence the

impression of merging suggesting differences in time and place; ripple

dissolves flashbacks in time.


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Formats

Shot.A single run of the camera or the pieceof film resulting from such a run.

Scene.A dramatic unit composed of a singleor several shots. A scene usually takes placein a continuous time period, in the samesetting, and involves the same characters.

Sequence.A dramatic unit composed ofseveral scenes, all linked together by theiremotional and narrative momentum.


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Montage and Narrative Styles

Subjective treatment: the vieweris treated as a part ic ipant(e.g. whenthe camera is addressed directly or when it imitates the viewpoint ormovement of a character). We may be shown not only what a character

sees, but how he or she sees it. A temporary 'first-person' use of camera asthe character can be effective in conveying unusual states of mind orpowerful experiences, such as dreaming, remembering, or moving very fast.Moving the camera (or zooming) is a subjective camera effect, especially ifthe movement is not gradual or smooth.

Objective treatment.The 'objective point of view' involves treating theviewer as an ob server. A major example is the 'privileged point of view'

which involves watching from omniscient vantage points. Keeping thecamera still whilst the subject moves towards or away from it is an objectivecamera effect.

Parallel development/parallel editing/cross-cutting.An intercut sequenceof shots in which the camera shifts back and forth b etween on e scene andanother. Two distinct but related events seem to be happening atapproximately the same time. It adds tension and excitement to dramatic

action.


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Montage and Narrative Styles

Montage/montage editing.

In its broadest meaning, the process of cutting up film and editingit into the screened sequence.

In its narrower sense, it may also be used to mean intellectualmontage - the juxtaposition of short shots to represent action orideas - or (especially in Hollywood), simply cutting between shotsto condense a series of events. Intellectual montage is used toconsciously convey subjective messages through the juxtapositionof shots which are related in composition or movement, through

repetition of images, through cutting rhythm, detail or metaphor.Montage editing, unlike invisible editing, uses conspicuoustechniques which may include: use of close- ups, relativelyfrequent cuts, dissolves, superimposition, fades and jump cuts.Such editing should suggest a particular meaning.


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Graphics

Credits = listing the main actors, the director,

and so on. normally shown at or near the beginning, whilst

those listing the rest of the actors and programme

makers are normally shown at the end.

frequently superimposed on action or stills, andmay be shown as a sequence of frames or

scrolled up the screen.


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Sound

Music establishing a sense of the pace of the accompanying

scene and dictating the rhythm of the cuts, reinforcing themood of the scene through its emotional colouring

Background music = asynchronous music whichaccompanies a film. It is not normally intended to benoticeable. Conventionally, background music acceleratesfor a chase sequence, becomes louder to underscore adramatically important action. Through repetition it can also

link shots, scenes and sequences. Foreground music= often synchronous music which finds

its source within the screen events (e.g. from a radio, TV,stereo or musicians in the scene). It may be a more credibleand dramatically plausible way of bringing music into aprogramme than background music.


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Sound

Non-musical sound: acoustical props like owls, clocks, cannons, tolling bellsbattles sounds, crowing cocks, thunder, etc.

Direct sounds(live sounds) - a sense of freshness, spontaneity and'authentic' atmosphere, though not acoustically ideal.

Selective sounds= the removal of some sounds and the retention ofothers. - used to make significant sounds more recognizable, or fordramatic effect - to create atmosphere, meaning and emotional nuance. Byamplification, it can become a subjective device, the viewer identifying withthe character. They could also contribute to creating the impression ofdistance or sound perspective.

Commentary/ voice-over narration: Commentary spoken off-screen over the

shots shown. The voice-over can be used to: introduce particular parts of a programme;

to add extra information not evident from the picture;

to interpret the images for the audience from a particular point ofview;

to link parts of a sequence or programme together.

The commentary confers authority on a particular interpretation, particularly if

the tone is moderate, assured and reasoned. In dramatic films, it may be thevoice of one of the characters, unheard by the others.


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Filming modes(according to the relative distance from the language and

conventions of the theatre)

The theatrical mode:

It has the look and feel of a performance worked out for

a static theatrical space and a live audience.

preference for medium or long shots stressing the

durational quality of time;

the frame acting as a kind of portable proscenium arch;

meaning largely generated through the words and thegestures of the actors.

no need for heavy cuts or rearrangements of the text.


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The realistic mode:

taking advantage of the cameras ability to show

things, people, places. screen realism(the mostpopular filming mode in Shakespeare films owing tothe audiences feeling that at bottom Shakespeare isa realist. Jorgens 1998: 19)

use of authentic costumes and settings;

requiring significant cuts from the original

Shakespearean text and scene sequences subjectivity of adaptation which focuses more on onlyone level of meaning.

shifting stress from the actors to actors-in-a-setting,hence the risk of the loss in focus, of the properemphasis on powerful and significant details.


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The filmic mode:

shifting the stress from the aural to the visual; the

aural is made visual, the poetic texture is turnedvisual poetry.

exploring through sounds and images theShakespearean subtext.

similarity with the realistic mode: the use of many non-

theatrical techniques (a great variety of angles,distances, camera movements).

emphasis on the artificeof film, on the expressivepossibilities of distorting the surfaces of reality.

from stage to screen 2

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