An understanding of screen grammar will assist you in making short corporate video productions that make sense visually to an audience who are accustomed to spending lots of time watching things on screens.
The film making process has a direct parallel with how we process our lives. Firstly, we experience events and then we store significant elements of the event in our memory. This can be likened to the shooting process in film-making when we record an event and then store it on film or digitally.
Secondly, in life, we review what has happened and project various meanings onto the memories we have of events, making it into a story of some sort that makes sense to us. In film-making, we edit this material to give it structure and shape and to make it more concise.
The third part of the process is that we tell these stories to an audience and we use the audience reaction to assess the validity of our interpretation of the event. In film making the parallel is obvious – we screen the film to an audience for a reaction.
There are certain elements of filming and editing that are packed with meaning of some sort which has been established over time as part of the film making tradition. They aren’t strict rules by any means. For example, traditionally, film has been edited to produce stories that follow a chronological order. However, some of the most innovative films have played with the concept of time e.g. Memento.
Here are some elements of screen grammar to be aware of when shooting your corporate video:
Shot
A shot is a framed view of your subject. It can be close or at a distance. It can give the viewer a sense that they are watching or waiting, staring or expecting or even confronting or enjoying what they see.
– A brief shot is like the quick glances we take when we are in a new situation and are trying to orient ourselves.
– Held shots are like the longer looks we give to things – which could be because we like them for example.
– A medium shot would show a person from the waist up approximately and would reveal some information about the surroundings.
– Long shots can be used to establish a place or situation.
Pan
This refers to when the camera pivots horizontally. In terms of human action this can be likened to taking in the surroundings. People associate this camera movement subconsciously with discovering and revealing or assessing, escaping, fearing and also expectation.
Tilt
A tilt is a vertical pivot of the camera and holds different connotations to the pan. It can be likened to assessing depth or height and is a great way to establish power dynamics on film e.g. by looking up to or down on someone or something.
Crane
This is when the camera travels vertically in parallel with the subject. It gives the sense of traveling with the subject. It can be used when someone sits down or stands up for example.
Dolly track
You use a dolly to help your camera travel smoothly horizontally. It is a technique with lots of possibilities such as traveling with, away from or towards someone or something. It can include traveling in front of someone or following them. The possibilities for meaning include being able to represent attraction or repulsion at the other end of the spectrum. By combining particular changes in direction you can change the meaning e.g. by advance towards a subject and then retreating from the same subject.
Zoom
Zoom is used to make objects grow bigger or smaller on the screen. Perspective doesn’t change during zooming in and out and so the main effect is that it gives the impression that you are looking more closely at something, or looking at it from a distance in the case of zooming out.
Cut
This is a term which refers to a switch between two images which therefore involves a juxtaposition. If you are looking at one thing and are then immediately looking at something else, there are a range of different potential meanings, depending on the context. E.g. it could be that the cut causes the viewer to compare the two shots, or it could be that the cut represents a simple transition from one place to another.
Montage
A montage is a series of consecutive shots which suggest some sort of progression and meaning throughout. For the viewer, watching a montage is like taking in a sequence of impressions and drawing some meaning from them; literally building up a picture. See the montage below from filmmaker Santiago Alvarez in 1965.
Rhythm
Rhythm refers to how the editor sets the pace of a film through cutting speed and using techniques such as repetition. It can give a sense of a situation being very fast paced or extremely relaxed and slow. It could involve switching between a fast paced or slow paced situation to add emphasis. This is very important for communicating the right tone and impression in your corporate video.
Dissolve
Dissolves involve one image merging into another one as a way of transitioning between two images. A dissolve can be of different lengths which gives a different sense of the transition to the viewer. The slower the transition, the more time the viewer has to reflect on the old situation while entering the new one.
Fade in
Fading in means that you start on a blank screen and then bring the viewer to an image. It could be likened to a transition from a relaxed state of mind to a situation (of any kind).
Fade out
The opposite to fading in, this involves going from an image in your film to an empty screen. The transition is therefore from some sort of circumstance to tranquility.
Some of these effects will need to be captured during the video production process i.e. with the camera, but dissolves, fades and cuts etc can be achieved in the editing suite. Editing software does now enable filmmakers to create effects like zooming post-production but the quality of these effects are generally better if captured on camera.
We hope that these examples of screen grammar will enable you to create a more appropriate atmosphere in your corporate videos; remember – you are after an emotional reaction in just the same way as film makers are.