Establishing new locaitons

W

wheatgrinder

Hi all,
In my script my character is on a "longish" journey. I have several KEY stops along the way where some action occurs.

My question is this: As the director, do I need establishing shots for each new location along the road?

My gut says I should establish each new location, what does yours say? What does your experience tell you?

One method I can imagine uses the POV of the actor..

...
Actor rounds bend in road
Cut to actor POV of old barn (wide establishing shot)
Actor steps into frame and walks towards the barn..
...

Since I have several locations along the road, are there any other techniques to lead into establishing shots that would work?

Thanks
 
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You're asking as a director, not a writer, right?

Shoot establishing shots. If you find you don't need them
when you are editing, don't use them. But if you're sitting
in the editing room and feel something is missing and you
don't have the shots.....
 
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Thanks directorik..

Yup as director.

I think Im getting the idea about "coverage" and "shooting for edit." But I am woefully inexperienced..

I thought that these three lines, my text only story boards, were good for directing shots..


  • Actor rounds bend in road
  • Actor POV of old barn (wide establishing shot)
  • Actor steps into frame and walks towards the barn..

But I can see now that they are still one step away from being a shot list... sorry for being premature.. :blush:

Change this discussion to usual and unusual establishing shots.

  1. In the language of film, is there a common syntax for appropriate establishing shots?
  2. How to convey different moods via the establishing shot?
  3. Should the establishing shot prepare the viewer for whats coming?
  4. What are some classic establishing shots that I, and every director, should know?
 
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I’m an intuitive director and editor. I’ve read very few books on
the subject and I’m terrible at intellectualizing the process so
I’ll leave the discussion to others.

I can’t tell you why. I don’t know the “language of film” as well
as many. Especially people who have gone to school. But I do know
when it feel wrong. And I know when it feels right. I can’t write
out a list of the different moods, but I know when watching a
movie what feels wrong to me. And I do it by trying it. I put in
an establishing shot, I take it away, I put it back in, I take it
out. I watch the scene and feel if it works or isn’t needed.

Sometimes an establishing shot prepares the viewer for what’s
coming, sometimes it’s better to do a scene and then establish
where you are. I’m sure there is some study on this.

Number 4:

The opening of “Star Wars”.
The first shot in “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Pretty much all of the establishing shots by Massimo Dallamano for
“A Fistful of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More” and Tonino
Delli Colli for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “Once Upon A
Time in the West” are classic.
Watch “Silverado”.
That iconic establishing shot of Father Merrin standing at the
bottom of the steps of the MacNeil house in “The Exorcist”
 
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I would get several (Static, Tilt down to, Pan over to, and even slow zoom in on) initial establishing of locations (Buildings), but also some establishing of the general landscape, like shots with the tree line and sky.

You just never know which one will feel right or when you might need a shot that somewhat visually represents a turning of the page or next chapter in the story or “Meanwhile” or passage of time, or just sets a tone that feels right.

I liked Scoopicman’s The Black Crystal for its use of landscape establishing shots.
Some are used as passage of time, like someone driving- establish landscape-back to driver as he arrives at a location, but others just fall under that what feels right thing.

It might be cool to watch some scenes of various films that have similar action to what you are going for, and see how they cover it and why. Also, a book or post or articles on general shot continuity might give you some ideas too.


-Thanks-
 
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I agree that it's better to have too much footage than not enough.

I think a good establishing shot would be a long shot of a long road, and the person walking/driving, and slowly fade from a wide to medium, medium to closeup.

Get all the shots you can, don't do what I've done and say "that would make a great shot....I'll get it later"...no, get it NOW, or you won't get it later....:D

Maybe also a collection of town signs that could be used as part of a montage to indicate the long journey?
 
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Hey Tinalera,
You gave me this vision this working with one shot, for someone walking..

At a cross roads, the intersection in the lower third of the frame..
Our actor walks in from the interesting road on the left, turns and walks towards the camera,
the camera moves back to let the actor pass, panning to keep the actor filling in the frame.
As she passes she stops, in profile, lifts her hand to shield her eyes and gazes down the road..
she continues walking on, the camera pan follows,
ending after 180 deg turn where we are left looking at the actors receding back whose track now takes her out to the right edge of the frame,
revealing an establishing shot of the small town with the road leading into it.



Did I sell it? Did you see it?

I had the actor come in from the side to keep from having to wait so long to get to the rest of the shot..
Alternative would be just have her walk in from the long road, but that could take a while, maybe a great opening with credits shot.. ???? (or cut in and out to somebody watching or some other action happening IN the town.. )


(question: Are my above comments "directing" or "cinematography" related?)
 
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You might also do something like

Character walks down road towards the camera-
Dissolve to: Shot of the trees and moon (If its night)-
Tilt down to: Character passes (walking away from) camera headed toward a building or location in the distance.

The Dissolve is passage of time, the moon and trees maybe a feel for the area (Or time or isolation), but can also be the wide re-establish you can go to between the character walking toward then away from the camera, and also establish the new building or location in the shot as well.


-Thanks-
 
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Thanks Buddy!
I like your suggestion as it looks pretty easy to execute. The dissolve for time isolation just seems right (funny how that works)

I know its been talked about in another thread (passage of time) but would your idea work if the first shot was in the day and the second shot was in the night?
 
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For day to night is a good question, and undoubtedly has many ways to pull it off,
but I personally don't think it would look right in the form of the other series of shots I suggested.
(Too much time passage and light to dark in the dissolve, but depends how its done of course. )

One way might be:
Wide Shot: Your character sets out on their path-
Pan Over To: A field (shadows grow in time lapse as the sun sets)-
Dissolve To: A shot of the moon-
Tilt Down From: The moon to reveal your character.


Another way might be:
Character walks straight at camera till it blocks out the shot.-
Quick Fade To Black:-
-Crickets Chirp-
Fade In To: Shot of the moon-
Tilt down From: The moon to reveal your character.

-Thanks-
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Hey Tinalera,
You gave me this vision this working with one shot, for someone walking..

At a cross roads, the intersection in the lower third of the frame..
Our actor walks in from the interesting road on the left, turns and walks towards the camera,
the camera moves back to let the actor pass, panning to keep the actor filling in the frame.
As she passes she stops, in profile, lifts her hand to shield her eyes and gazes down the road..
she continues walking on, the camera pan follows,
ending after 180 deg turn where we are left looking at the actors receding back whose track now takes her out to the right edge of the frame,
revealing an establishing shot of the small town with the road leading into it.



Did I sell it? Did you see it?

I had the actor come in from the side to keep from having to wait so long to get to the rest of the shot..
Alternative would be just have her walk in from the long road, but that could take a while, maybe a great opening with credits shot.. ???? (or cut in and out to somebody watching or some other action happening IN the town.. )


(question: Are my above comments "directing" or "cinematography" related?)
Click to expand...


I saw it, you sold it, and I like it! I like the idea of changing direction, think that works well. Buddy has some good ideas too with the passage of time.

I think the long wait works well for an opening credits shot, maybe throw odd stuff in to show that time is passing and not a static frame(of course, if you REALLY wanted to get creative, you could make work the shot so it looks like a movie title screen shot, and when the person walks by it's like "Oh wow, this part of the scene".

Good ideas all around though!
 
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