TCF340/BordwellThompson/Cinematography (Discussion)

1. What is depth of field?
2. What is aspect ratio?
   • What are the aspect ratios of Day for Night, Shakespeare in Love and Monster's Ball?
3. What is focal length?
4. Define these terms and provides examples of when these techniques might be used:
   • Shallow focus
   • Deep focus
   • Widescreen
     • Anamorphic
     • Masked
     • Letterboxing
     • Pan-and-scan
   • In terms of focal length:
     • Wide angle
     • Telephoto
     • Variable focal length lens (what's another, more common name for it?)
5. In the Monster's Ball scene we viewed, what narrative functions does the cinematography serve? Be sure to consider deep/shallow focus, focus shifts and framing in the third shot.

Shot three from the Monster's Ball scene begins.

Shot three from the Monster's Ball scene continues.

Bibliography

1. David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction, 8th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007).

External links

1. Cinematography illustrations
2. Monster's Ball frame grabs