What is the lens language of photography?

Language of the lens——We can usually see the photographer’s intention through the pictures captured by the camera, because we can feel what the photographer wanted through the lens from the subject and the changes in the picture. The content of expression is the so-called 'my lens can speak', which is also commonly known as 'lens language'. Most beginners are still in the stage of "learning to speak" as babies, so they are unable to express what they want to say clearly through "words", and even speak incoherently and incoherently, which makes people confused. So as long as you understand the "lens language", you can "speak meaningfully and freely" and express what you want to express clearly in a few words, so that people no longer feel incomprehensible. The above uses 'language' as a metaphor to explain that photography is like speaking. The beauty of the words is secondary, and the most important thing is to make people understand. Therefore, you need to express an event through the lens so that others can easily see what your video is expressing. For example, if you shoot the door of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, everyone will understand it as soon as they see the picture. And some people are just afraid that you will not be impressed. They will take pictures once on the left and then on the right. This is like an old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease who keeps repeating the same thing in your ears. Do you think it's annoying? There are also many people who, when shooting still life, such as flowers, utensils, pictures, etc., have beautiful but not very vivid subjects, but the camera stops for a long time. This is like using a long speech to explain something that can be expressed clearly in a few words. Of course you won't have the patience to listen any more. Similarly, in the world of images, although the way of expression is different from ordinary speech, the purpose is the same, so when you shoot, imagine it as if you are telling a story. This way, your mind will not be empty and you will not know what to shoot. What pictures and content.

"Ran"---a subversion of the lens language

After watching Akira Kurosawa's film "Ran", I was so depressed that I had difficulty breathing for a long time. Although this film was adapted from Shakespeare's "Lee" I have long been familiar with the tragedy of "My King", but when the ending came, I was still heartbroken.

The emotions are so strong, but the camera is so calm, so calm that I can’t bear it!

The scenes in "Chaos" subverted the rules of language I had learned before.

Almost all the shots in the film are long shots and full shots, like the wise eyes of an old man, watching the story from a distance and calmly. The deception, narrow-mindedness, selfishness and other ugly sides of human nature are all nakedly exposed under this tolerant gaze.

In our experience, when a character bursts out emotionally, close-ups should be used to emphasize the performance, which not only expresses the character's clear emotions, but also implicitly expresses the director's subjective feelings, so that the audience can also reach an emotional level. unified.

"Chaos" does not.

It is almost impossible to find a medium shot, let alone a close-up.

You can't see the actors' expressions, which makes you feel that the tragedy is happening in front of the camera, but the gloomy heart is hidden under life.

In our experience, when the story reaches its climax, a tense rhythm must be created through the editing rate of the shots and the jump of scenes to achieve the unity of internal rhythm and external rhythm.

"Chaos" does not.

The long shot always looks straight, the characters move slowly, the camera has almost no external movement, and its scene difference also determines that there is no scene jump.

Even the cruel and heroic war scenes are still long shots, fixed shots, long shots, and panoramic shots.

Such a slow and calm statement.

Such lens language created a strong contrast in the audience's psychology, making it difficult for me to vent my emotions through the lens, and I suppressed them again and again, and then accumulated them again and again.

In the end, when victory came, the third prince was shot by a cold arrow and died in Lao Wang's arms. Lao Wang, who had narrowly escaped death, burst into tears.

As the tragedy reaches its climax, the camera still watches calmly from a distance.

I couldn’t see Lao Wang’s expression, I could only hear the wail of grief.

At this time, the emotions that had been accumulated for a long time finally broke out under the calm camera. I couldn't cry, but I almost fainted because of difficulty breathing.

Reduce all camera and editing techniques to a minimum, abandon external performance, and give way to story, emotion, and the audience's inner thoughts.

General rules and methods of lens assembly

We all know that no matter what film or television program it is, it is composed of a series of lenses assembled in a certain order. The reason why these shots can be continued so that the audience can see from the film that they merge into a complete unity is because the development and changes of the shots must obey certain laws. We will explain these laws in detail in the following content. Narrative.

(1) The combination of shots must conform to the audience’s way of thinking and the rules of film and television performance.

The combination of shots must conform to the logic of life and the logic of thinking. If it doesn't make sense, the audience won't understand. The theme and central idea to be expressed in a film and television program must be clear. Only on this basis can we determine which shots to choose based on the audience's psychological requirements, that is, the logic of thinking, and how to combine them.

(2) The change of scenes should adopt a "step-by-step" method

Generally speaking, when shooting a scene, the development of "scenery" should not be too drastic, otherwise it will not work. Easy to connect. On the contrary, the "scenery" does not change much, and the shooting angle does not change much, and the resulting shots are not easy to assemble. Due to the above reasons, we need to adopt a step-by-step approach to the development and changes of the "scenery" when shooting. Gradually changing lenses at different visual distances can create smooth connections and form various montage sentence patterns.

·Progressive sentence pattern: This narrative sentence pattern refers to the transition of scenery from distant view and panorama to close-up and close-up. Used to express emotions and plot development from low to high.

·Backward sentence pattern: This narrative sentence pattern goes from near to far, indicating high to low and depressed emotions. In the film, the expression ranges from details to all.

·Circular sentence pattern: It combines forward and backward sentences. From panorama - medium shot - close shot - close-up, and then from close-up - close shot - medium shot - long shot, or we can also use it in reverse. Express emotions from low to high, and then from high to low. This type of sentence pattern is generally more commonly used in film and television feature films.

When combining shots, if you encounter the same camera position, the same scene and the same subject, you cannot combine them. Because the scenes shot in this way have little change, the sub-frames look the same, and when connected together, it seems like the same shot is repeated endlessly. On the other hand, if two shots with little change in camera position and scenery are connected together, as long as the scenery in the picture changes slightly, it will cause jumps in people's vision or it will seem like a long lens has been cut off many times, which may cause The feeling of "foreign film" and "revolving lantern" destroys the continuity of the picture.

If we encounter such a situation, in addition to reshooting these shots from scratch (this can solve the problem for program films with a small number of shots), for other shots with the same camera position and scenery that last for a long time For some film and television films, reshooting seems to be a waste of time and money. The best way is to use transition shots. For example, shoot from different angles and then assemble and connect, intersperse subtitle transitions, so that the performer's position and movements change before assemble and connect. In this way, the assembled picture will not have the feeling of jumping, discontinuity and dislocation.

(3) Shooting direction and axis rules in lens assembly

When the subject enters and exits the screen, we need to pay attention to the general direction of shooting and shoot from one side of the axis, otherwise When the two images are connected, the main object will "collide".

The so-called "axis law" refers to whether the shot has "axis jumping" phenomenon. When shooting, if the position of the camera is always on the same side of the subject's motion axis, then the direction of movement and placement of the picture will be consistent, otherwise it will be "axis jumping". Axis jumping pictures will not be used except for special needs. Others cannot be connected.

(4) The shot combination should follow the rules of "action follows action" and "static follows static"

If the actions of the same subject or different subjects in the picture are coherent, you can Action follows action to achieve the purpose of smooth and concise transition. We call it "move after motion" for short. If the movement of the subject in the two pictures is incoherent, or there is a pause in between, then the combination of the two shots must be after the subject in the previous picture has completed a complete action and stopped, and then the one from still to The first movement shot, this is "quiet after quiet". When combining "static after static", the moment of stopping at the end of the previous shot is called "falling angle", and the moment of stillness before the movement of the next shot is called "starting frame". The time interval between starting frame and ending frame is about one or two seconds. The combination of moving lenses and fixed lenses also needs to follow this rule. If a fixed shot is to be followed by a panning shot, the panning shot must start with a starting angle; on the contrary, if a panning shot is to be followed by a fixed shot, then the panning shot must have a "falling angle", otherwise the picture will give people a jumping visual feeling. . For special effects, there are also shots that are still and moving or moving and still.

(5) The length of time for lens assembly

When we shoot film and television programs, the length of the downtime of each lens is first based on the difficulty of the content to be expressed. It is determined by the audience’s receptive ability, and secondly, factors such as picture composition must also be taken into consideration. For example, due to different scene selections in the screen, the content included in the screen will also be different. Pictures with large shots such as long shots and medium shots contain more content, and the audience needs to see the contents of these pictures clearly, which requires a relatively long time. Pictures with small shots such as close-ups and close-ups contain less content. , the audience only needs a short time to see clearly, so the stay time on the screen can be shorter.

In addition, other factors in a picture or a group of pictures also restrict the length of the picture. Just like the brighter parts of a picture can attract people's attention than the darker parts. Therefore, if the picture wants to show the bright parts, the length should be shorter, and if the picture wants to show the dark parts, the length should be longer. In the same picture, the moving parts attract people's visual attention before the static parts. Therefore, if the focus is to show moving parts, the picture should be shorter; if the focus is to show static parts, the duration of the picture should be slightly longer.

(6) The unity of tone and color in lens assembly

Tone refers to the black screen. The scenery on the black screen, no matter what color it is, is represented by many different shades of black and white tones composed of different soft and hard tones. For color pictures, in addition to a tone problem there is also a color problem. Whether it is black and white or color picture assembly, the tone and color consistency should be maintained. If two shots with strong light and dark or color contrast are connected together (except for special needs), it will make people feel stiff and incoherent, affecting the smooth expression of the content.

(7) The rhythm of shot assembly

The subject matter, style, style of film and television programs as well as the environmental atmosphere of the plot, the emotions of the characters, the ups and downs of the plot, etc. are the overall rhythm of film and television programs. in accordance with. In addition to the performance of the actors, the switching and movement of the lenses, the coordination of music, the time and space changes of the scenes, etc., the rhythm of the film also needs to be assembled and assembled to strictly control the size and number of the lenses. It can be completed by sorting out and adjusting the order of shots and deleting redundant details. It can also be said that the assembly rhythm is the last component of the overall rhythm of the educational film.

When dealing with any plot or group of scenes in a film program, the rhythm issue must be dealt with based on the content expressed in the film. If fast-paced camera changes are used in a quiet and peaceful environment, it will make the audience feel abrupt and psychologically unacceptable. However, in some scenes with strong rhythm and exciting people, various impact factors should be taken into consideration to make the change rate of the shots consistent with the psychological requirements of the young audience, so as to enhance the excitement of the young audience and achieve the purpose of attraction and imitation.

(8) How to assemble and connect lenses

In addition to using optical principles, the lens and screen assembly can also be directly switched between lenses through connection rules to make the plot more interesting. More natural and smooth, below we introduce several effective assembly methods.

·Connection: A series of two or more connected shots showing the actions of the same subject.

·Queue connection: A combination of connected shots but not the same subject. Due to the change of the subject, the appearance of the subject of the next shot will make the audience think of the relationship between the upper and lower pictures, which serves as echo, contrast and metaphor. The role of foil. Often it can creatively reveal a new meaning.

·The combination of black and white grids: to create a special visual effect, such as lightning, explosion, flash effect in photo studio, etc. When assembling, we can replace the required shiny parts with white frames, combine a number of black frames at the moment when various vehicles are connected, or use black and white frames to intersect when appropriate. Helps strengthen the rhythm of the film, enhance the atmosphere, and enhance suspense.

·Two-stage lens assembly: It is an assembly method in which a close-up shot directly jumps to a panoramic shot, or a panoramic shot directly switches to a close-up shot. This method can make the development of the plot change from movement to stillness or change in stillness, giving the audience a strong sense of intuition, forming sudden changes in rhythm, and producing special visual and psychological effects.

·Flashback shot combination: Using flashback shots, such as inserting shots of characters recalling past events, this combination technique can be used to reveal the inner changes of the characters.

·Same shot analysis: Use the same shot in several places. When using this combination technique, it is often due to the following considerations: either because the required picture materials are not enough; or because a certain shot is intentionally repeated to show the black hair and memories of a certain character; or to emphasize a certain character. The unique symbolic meaning of a picture is used to express the audience's thinking; or it is to create a connection between the beginning and the end, so as to give people a complete and rigorous feeling in terms of artistic structure.

·Stitching: Sometimes, although we shoot outdoors many times and the shooting time is quite long, the available lenses are very short and cannot reach the length and rhythm we need. In this case, if there are shots with the same or similar content, we can combine the available parts among them to achieve the necessary length of the program screen.

·Insert shot combination: switch in the middle of one shot and insert another shot showing a different subject. For example, a person is walking on the road or sitting in a car looking out, and suddenly a shot representing the person's subjective line of sight (subjective shot) is inserted to show what the person unexpectedly sees, his intuitive feelings, and a shot that evokes associations.

·Action combination: Use the coherence and similarity of actions and momentum of characters, animals, vehicles, etc. as a means of switching shots.

·Close-up shot combination: The last shot ends with a close-up of a certain part of a character (head or eyes) or an object, and then starting from this close-up, the field of view is gradually expanded. to show the environment of another episode. The purpose is to unknowingly change the scene and narrative content when the audience's attention is focused on a certain person's expression or a certain thing, without causing a sudden and inappropriate feeling.

·Scenery shot combination: Use the scenery shot as a transition between the two shots. There are shots with the scene as the main part and objects as the foil, which can show different geographical environments and scenery, and also It expresses the change of time and seasons, and is also a lyrical expression technique based on scenery. On the other hand, it is a lens that focuses on objects and the scenery as a foil. This kind of lens is often used as a means of lens conversion.

·Sound transition: Use commentary to transition scenes. This technique is generally more common in science and education films. Use voice-over and voice-over to alternate scenes, like some phone scenes. In addition, singing can be used to achieve transition effects, and various contents can be used to change scenes.

·Multi-screen transition: This technique is called multi-screen, multi-frame, multi-frame and multi-screen. It is a new technique in modern film and television art. Dividing the screen or screens into multiple parts can allow dual or multiple plots to go hand in hand, greatly compressing time. For example, in the phone scene, when the call is made, there are people on both sides. After the call is made, the caller's drama disappears, but the caller's drama begins.

The lens assembly techniques are diverse and are created according to the creator's intention and the content and needs of the plot. There are no specific regulations or restrictions. In the specific post-editing, we can try our best to adapt to the situation, but do not deviate from the actual situation and needs

Supplement:

I guess you need to write a paper again, but There is no ready-made lens language for taking photos, but the principles of photography and photography are the same. You can adapt and organize them yourself and it will be almost the same.