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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Shots: What, How and Why? | |
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| What to Show Your Audience? | |
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| Choosing Your Frame | |
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| Aspect Ratio | |
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| Further Exploration - A Brief History of Aspect Ratios | |
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| Further Exploration - Why We Might Like Widescreen so Much | |
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| The Basic Cinematic Building Blocks - An Introduction to Shot Types | |
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| Long Shot/Wide Shot | |
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| Medium Shot | |
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| Close-Up | |
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| The Extended Family of Basic Shots - The Powers of Proximity | |
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| Extreme Long Shot/Extreme Wide Shot | |
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| Very Long Shot/Very Wide Shot | |
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| Long Shot/Wide Shot/Full Shot | |
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| Medium Long Shot/Knee Shot | |
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| Medium Shot/Waist Shot/Mid | |
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| Medium Close-Up/Bust Shot | |
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| Close-Up | |
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| Big Close-Up (UK)/Choker (USA) | |
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| Extreme Close-Up | |
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| Why Do We Even Have Different Shot Types? | |
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| Pulling Images from the Written Page | |
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| Scripts and Script Breakdown | |
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| Shot Lists | |
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| Storyboards | |
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| Phases of Film Production | |
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| Let's Practice | |
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| Chapter One - Review | |
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| Chapter One - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter One - Quiz Yourself | |
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| The Basics of Composition | |
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| Simple Guidelines For Framing Human Subjects | |
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| Headroom | |
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| Subjective Versus Objective Shooting Styles | |
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| Look Room/Nose Room | |
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| The Rule of Thirds | |
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| Camera Angle | |
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| Horizontal Camera Angles | |
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| Vertical Camera Angles | |
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| The Two-Shot: Frame Composition with Two People | |
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| The Profile Two-Shot | |
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| The Direct-to-Camera Two-Shot | |
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| The Over-the-Shoulder Two-Shot | |
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| The Dirty Single | |
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| The Power Dynamic Two-Shot | |
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| The Three-Shot | |
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| Wrapping up the Basics of Composition | |
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| Chapter Two - Review | |
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| Chapter Two - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Two - Quiz Yourself | |
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| Composition - Beyond the Basics | |
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| The Illusion of the Third Dimension | |
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| The Use of Lines | |
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| The Horizon Line | |
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| Vertical Lines | |
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| Dutch Angle | |
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| Diagonal Lines | |
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| Curved Lines | |
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| The Depth of Film Space - Foreground/Middle Ground/Background | |
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| Foreground | |
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| Middle Ground | |
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| Background | |
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| Depth Cues | |
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| Overlapping | |
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| Object Size | |
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| Atmosphere | |
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| The Camera Lens - The Observer of Your Film World | |
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| Primes vs Zooms | |
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| The Prime Lens | |
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| The Zoom Lens | |
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| Lens Perspective | |
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| Lens Focus - Directing the Viewer's Attention | |
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| Pulling Focus or Following Focus | |
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| Chapter Three - Review | |
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| Chapter Three - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Three - Quiz Yourself | |
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| Lighting Your Shots - Not Just What You See, but How You See It | |
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| Light as an Element of Composition | |
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| Light as Energy | |
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| Color Temperature | |
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| Color Balance of Your Camera | |
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| Natural and Artificial Light | |
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| Correcting or Mixing Colors on Set | |
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| Quantity of Light: Sensitivity | |
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| Quantity of Light: Exposure | |
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| Quality of Light: Hard Versus Soft | |
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| Hard Light | |
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| Soft Light | |
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| Contrast | |
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| Low-key Lighting | |
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| High-key Lighting | |
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| Color | |
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| Basic Character Lighting: Three-Point Method | |
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| Contrast Ratio or Lighting Ratio | |
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| Motivated Lighting - Angle of Incidence | |
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| Front Lighting | |
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| Side Lighting | |
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| Lights from Behind | |
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| Lights from Other Places | |
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| Set and Location Lighting | |
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| Controlling Light-Basic Tools and Techniques | |
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| Light…and the Light Years of Learning | |
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| Chapter Four - Review | |
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| Chapter Four - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Four - Quiz Yourself | |
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| Will it Cut? Shooting for Editing | |
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| The Chronology of Production | |
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| Matching Your Shots in a Scene | |
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| Continuity of Performance | |
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| Continuity of Screen Direction | |
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| The Line - Basis for Screen Direction | |
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| The Imaginary Line - The 180 Degree Rule | |
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| "Jumping the Line" | |
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| The 30 Degree Rule | |
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| Reciprocating Imagery | |
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| Eye-Line Match | |
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| Chapter Five - Review | |
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| Chapter Five - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Five - Quiz Yourself | |
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| Dynamic Shots-Subjects and Camera in Motion | |
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| Subjects in Motion - Blocking Talent | |
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| Presentation Speed - Slow Motion and Fast Motion | |
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| Slow Motion - or Overcranking | |
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| Fast Motion - Undercranking | |
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| Camera in Motion | |
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| Handheld | |
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| Pan and Tilt | |
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| Shooting the Pan and the Tilt | |
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| Equipment Used to Move the Camera | |
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| Tripod | |
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| Dolly | |
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| Steadicam | |
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| Cranes and Such | |
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| Chapter Six - Review | |
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| Chapter Six - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Six - Quiz Yourself | |
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| Working Practices and General Guidelines | |
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| Slate the Head of Your Shots | |
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| Communicating with Talent | |
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| Safe Action/Safe Title Areas | |
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| How to Manually Focus a Zoom Lens | |
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| Always Have Something in Focus | |
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| Control Your Depth of Field | |
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| Be Aware of Headroom | |
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| Shooting Tight Close-Ups | |
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| Ensure an Eye Light | |
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| Try to Show Both Eyes of Your Subject | |
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| Be Aware of Eye-Line Directions in Closer Shots | |
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| Follow Action with Loose Pan and Tilt Tripod Head | |
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| Shooting Overlapping Action for the Edit | |
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| Continuity of Action | |
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| Matching Speed of Action | |
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| Overlapping Too Much Action | |
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| Storyboards and Shot Lists | |
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| Aim for a Low Shooting Ratio | |
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| Frame for Correct "Look Room" on Shots that Will Edit Together | |
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| Shoot Matching Camera Angles when Covering a Dialogue Scene | |
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| Ways to Cross the 180 Degree Line Safely | |
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| Place Important Objects in the Top Half of Your Frame | |
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| Be Aware of the Color Choices Made Throughout Your Project | |
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| Keep Distracting Objects out of the Shot | |
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| Beware of Continuity Traps While Shooting a Scene | |
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| Use the Depth of Your Film Space to Stage Shots with Several People | |
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| In a Three-Person Dialogue Scene, Matching Two-Shots can be Problematic for the Editor | |
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| Zooming During a Shot | |
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| Motivate Your Truck-In and Truck-Out Dolly Moves | |
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| Allow the Camera More Time to Record Each Shot | |
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| Allow Actions to Complete Before Cutting Camera | |
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| Use Short Focal Length Lenses to Reduce Handheld Camera Shake | |
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| Beware of Wide Lenses when Shooting Close-Up Shots | |
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| Shooting a Chromakey | |
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| Shooting B-Roll, 2<sup>nd</sup> Unit, and Stock Footage | |
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| Shooting a Talking Head Interview | |
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| During Documentary Filming, Be as Discreet as Possible | |
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| Chapter Seven - Review | |
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| Chapter Seven - Exercises & Projects | |
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| Chapter Seven - Quiz Yourself | |
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| A Few Words of Advice | |
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| Know the Rules Before You Break the Rules | |
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| The Reason for Shooting is Editing | |
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| Your Shots Should Enhance the Entire Story | |
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| Involve the Viewer as Much as Possible | |
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| Take Pride in the Quality of your Work and your Set Etiquette | |
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| Know Your Equipment | |
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| Be Familiar with Your Subject | |
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| Understand Lighting - Both Natural and Artificial | |
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| Study What Has Already Been Done | |
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| In Conclusion | |
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| Helpful Resources for the New Filmmaker | |
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| Essential Crew Positions for Motion Picture Production | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Index | |