VIEWING SKILLS:  AWARENESS OF TELEVISION AND FILM TECHNIQUES

Excerpted from Splaine, John."Critical Viewing: K-8" School Library Media Activites Monthly October, 1990 Keeley Library   May 18, 2000		 See also
  • Visual and Media Literacy
  • Showing a Video
  • Advertising Techniques
    		•
    "Movies and television programs are planned and programmed for an intended effect." Through camera angles, scripting, montages, and sequencing, producers of movies and television attempt to influence viewers.
    CAMERA ANGLES

    A camera tilted up at a person gives viewers the sense that the pictured person is powerful.
    A camera tilted down at a person gives viewers the sense that that the pictured person is subordinate, or more vulnerable.
     


    A camera picturing a person from the side suggests that the pictured person is not being direct.
     
     


    EDITING FOR EFFECT

    "A director can frame our attention through selecting a particular camera shot for the viewers to see.
    If the President is making a speech, and the  director can call for a "cut away" shot to someone who looks uninterested, the viewers will most likely get a different impression than if the cutaway is to a person who looks entranced and interested in what the President has to say."
     
    Film Genres Grammar of Television and Film
    Film, TV and Video Tips-How To Technical Issues in Film

    TECHNICAL MANIPULATIONS

    Directors use zooms, cuts panning, and other technical maniplations to keep viewers' attention. Lighting is also used to create mood and special effects.
    Close-up shots can make an individual seem more personable, strong, etc.  Distance shots can often make the individual seem small and vulnerable, surrounded by scenery or background detail.

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    Jane Constant, Reference Librarian
    Keeley Library, B.M.C.Durfee High School of Fall River
    September, 1978  to  June, 2001