Classwork: Technical Elements

Here is a summary of what we have been learning in class. We learned about different types of Technical Elements in media. This blog post was done entirely by me (Kristine).

Camera

A camera captures images, and different shots and angles show emotion, size, and perspective.

Camera Angles

Effects

Long Shot: Shows the full subject and setting.

Extreme Long shot: Shows the subject from afar.

Medium Shot: Balances subject and setting, often used for conversations.

Cowboy Shot: Focuses on the face or details, shows emotion or importance.

Close Up: Focuses on the face or details, shows emotion or importance.

Extreme Close Up: Highlights tiny details and intensity.

POV: Shows a characters perspective, creates immersion.

Over the Shoulders: Shows one character from another's viewpoint,  creates connection or tension.

High Angle: Makes the subject appear powerful or dominant.

Dutch Angle: Creates unease or tension.

Establishing Shot: Provides location and contact, often helps set a scene.

Here is a video of what my teacher gave us to get a better understanding of Camera Angles:

Camera Shots

Fixed	Camera remains static	Calm, peace, normal
Push in	Camera moves slowly toward subject	Brings the audience closer, more involved, getting more serious.
Pull out	Camera moves slowly away from subject	Takes audience away from the action, leaving a character. Detaching from subject
Pan	Side to side, camera fixed	Reveal information, mirrors natural head movement of the audience.
Tilt	Up and down, camera fixed	Same as pan, just a different direction
Dolly	Camera moves around freely	More immersive, we are moving inside the subjects world, we feel part of the action
Tracking	Camera moves around on tracks	Similar to dolly, but smoother.
Crane	Taken by a camera mounted on a jib/crane that moves up and down.	Reveals the epic size of the setting, landscape.
Handheld	Camera is shakey	Very natural, immersive. High energy
Zoom	Zoom	Brings audience closer to budget. Draws our attention to something.

Heres a video I made of my understanding of different camera shots:

Sound

Sound in media includes dialogue, music, and effects to create mood, tell stories, and add realism.

Type of Sounds

Description	Effect
Diegetic sound	Sound that can be heard by the characters within the media text.	Add a sense of realism. Reveal information to characters (and then audience)
Non diegetic sound	Sound that can only be heard by the audience.	Enhance meaning, create an emotional response in the audience
Trans diegetic sound	Sound that transitions from one to the other.	Creates a link between the audience and the world. More immersive

Heres a video of what my teacher gave us to get a better understanding of Sounds:

Sound

Non-Diegetic Tones

	Description	Effect
Melodic	Positive and pleasing connotations	Enhances a positive scene. Create positive emotions in the audience.
Discordant	Harsh and unpleasant connotations.	Enhance negative scenes.  Create suspense, tension, anxiety
Contrapuntal	Has an opposite tone to the on-screen visuals.	Adds deeper meaning to scenes. Insight into the character's thoughts. Maybe they seek pleasure in doing bad things.

Here are music videos that best represents these type of Non-Diegetic Tones:

Melodic

Discordant

Contrapuntal

The idea of this music shows how its upbeat, happy music contracts with its dark and serious lyrics.

Mise-en-Scene

Refers to the arrangement and design of visual elements within a framework or a scene.

Here is a video of what my teacher gave us to get a better understanding of Mise-en-Scene:

Editing

The process of selecting and arranging footage to create a cohesive and engaging story. 

Long Take vs Short Take

Here is a comparison of how Long Take and Short Take editing looks like:

Continuity vs Non-Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing	Non continuity editing
Straight cut (cut) Eyeline match  Shot /reverse shot Cutaway / Insert  *Match cut	Cross cut (parallel cut) Flash back Flash forward Jump cut  *Match cut

Reflection: Classwork like this is my favourite because we get to discuss the technical elements used in the visual world. My favourite part is finding examples, as I find it really interesting to explore and analyse them. However, when it came to music videos, it was more difficult to find clear technical elements since they are less commonly presented as examples online, so I had to find them on my own I also completed this after the submission date and added more details, which took extra time during my free time. Overall, I found this task relatively easy since I had done something similar last year, and I am satisfied with the final results, especially with how quickly I was able to find suitable examples.