May 202013
The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition
This is the only book that combines conceptual and practical instruction on creating polished and eloquent images for film and video with the technical know-how to achieve them. Loaded with hundreds of full-color examples, The Filmmaker’s Eye is a focused, easy-to-reference guide that shows you how to become a strong visual storyteller through smart, effective choices for your shots. After a short introduction to basic principles, a variety of shots are deconstructed in the following format: W
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Magnificent! From a cineaste and filmmaker revealing the innerworkings of the cinematic experience,
As a person who is passionate about cinema, quite often I love having discussions with other fellow cineaste about various shots. May it be the jumpshots from Jean-luc Godard, the powerful images from a Rossellini film, utilization of symmetry by Rohmer and Varda, extreme long shots of Resnais, the wideangle shot by Pontecorvo, visceral shots of Mallick, Jarmusch’s two shot and just discussing shots that impress us.
For the budding filmmaker who is passionate about cinema, sometimes when you are working on your own short or independent film, it’s good to have resources out there that show you how others deconstruct cinema, may it be classic books by Bazin, Eisenstein, etc. Great cinema books but one may want something a bit more modern for today’s filmmaker that breaks down shots from these classic films to help us understand.
Not everyone goes to film school, nor do they have access to cinema aesthete. They are passionate about film, want to learn more about composition and shots. And if you want something easy to understand, didactic and straightforward, I can easily recommend “The Filmmaker’s Eye” by Gustavo Mercado.
Just reading his book, I had a smile on my face because the way it’s written, it’s user-friendly, it’s not cerebral or made to be academic, it’s like having a cool film teacher and discussing films and breaking it down. Films that are easily accessible and what I love about this book is that it utilizes images from those films to drive a point on composition. Well-written and just pretty much making it easy enough for those just deciding they want to be involved in cinema in some sort of aspect, can easily enjoy, read and learn from.
Mercado breaks down the books in the following chapters:
- Finding the Frame
- Principles of Composition and technical concepts
- Image System
- Extreme Close Up
- Close Up
- Medium Close Up
- Medium Shot
- Medium Long Shot
- Long Shot
- Extreme Long Shot
- Over the Shoulder Shot
- Establishing Shot
- Subjective Shot
- Two Shot
- Group Shot
- Canted Shot
- Emblematic Shot
- Abstract Shot
- Macro Shot
- Zoom Shot
- Pan Shot
- Tilt shot
- Dolly Shot
- Dolly Zoom Shot
- Tracking Shot
- Steadicam Shot
- Crane Shot
- Sequence Shot
You learn about each shot but also learn about aspect ratios, frame axes, the rule of thirds and Hitchcock’s rule.
JUDGMENT CALL:
I read a lot of cinema books, I watch a lot of cinema and I love talking with friends about the various shots used in a film. “The Filmmaker’s Eye” is wonderful book, especially for the filmmaker and Criterion Collection, KINO, Masters of Cinema, etc. film collectors who watch these arthouse, international or well-revered cinema and just love what the filmmakers and cinematographers have done in capturing the scene with the right shot.
Early on the book, even Mercado talks about filmmakers getting questions about shots and realizing that the audience have gotten something different than what the director intended. This was very good to read and to point out because people remember shots. For example, Mercado uses the Resnais 1961 film “Last Year at Marienbad” as an example of an extreme long shot, what a wonderful example! Especially for the panned shot using Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” as an example (just to note, Almodovar uses various shots in this film that are just magnificent), the medium long shot of Jean Reno and Natalie Portman in “Leon the Professional”, visual examples definitely help a book.
Rarely do you come across cinematography books that uses popular films to showcase examples. Many are in text or using independent video to show examples but Mercado uses large, high color photos to get his points across and this is wonderful. He’s passionate about cinema, various scenes from cinema and shares them with you. Detailed information of films from all over the world from various filmmakers and auteurs.
But it’s the information that truly matters and Mercado does deliver in explaining the various shots and going into depth about them. Once again, it’s not to academic and easy to follow. As Mercado humbly shares his favorite cinematography-related books with the reader as well, the fact is that he has written a magnificent book and this is probably one of the coolest books I have read in cinematic composition. Highly recommended!
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|An outstanding guide for filmmakers and photographers,
The Filmmaker’s Eye is a fabulous book conceived for filmmakers. The concepts can be applied to photography as well.
This beautifully illustrated book is nearly a complete, self-contained course in cinematic composition. The author explains terminology used in the book to the extent that it is an excellent resource for learning the basics of cinematic and photographic principles. For instance the explanation of depth-of-field explains the concept very well and then continues to give several methods to change depth-of-field.
The concepts that are presented are accompanied by well-documented examples from highly regarded movies. A thorough examination of the scene reveals the reasons a scene was shot in a particular way (“why it works”) and how shooting it in a different way would affect the final result.
You are shown many correct and time-honored ways to shoot a scene and then are taught why “breaking the rules” is not only permissible but essential in some cases to help you make your story more compelling. Just some of the shot types that are explored are.. establishing shot, medium shot, zoom shot, pan shot, tilt shot, tracking shot, Steadicam shot, crane shot, sequence shot, and others.
I cannot imagine how anyone reading this book could not walk away without a greatly increased understanding of cinematic composition. These concepts can be used by rank amateurs or hobbyists who use a basic camcorder as well as aspiring filmmakers. Many of these principles can be used by photographers. This book will help anyone working with Photography, Video or Film to tell more effective stories. It is an enjoyable learning experience and is an exceptionally well-written and engaging book.
I give this book my highest recommendation.
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|Cinematography,
As a professional cinematographer and camera operator I find this book to be a great reference. What differentiates it from other cinematography/framing books is the fact that it brings the reader’s attention to the logic behind framing rather than just teaching the “types” of frames like other texts. Although it teaches some basic rules such as the rule of thirds, Hitchcock’s rule, and the 180-degree rule, it actually goes into further detail and explains the logic of how basic cinematography framing has its own recurring visual language and conventions. In the book, there are actual frame grabs from renowned cinematographers used to exemplify and support what it teaches and how to break the conventions. The book is an absolute must have for aspiring cinematographers and filmmakers. All the technical information found in the book is a good introduction to teaching people framing for cinematography. It gets you thinking about of the art of cinematography. The only downside is probably the fact that it lacks information about raw video formats. However, that isn’t the point of the book and it is the most interesting and engaging framing/cinematography book I have read in a while. It actually makes you want to go out and shoot! The book also makes reference to current movies like The Matrix, Oldboy, Amelie, The Shawshank Redemption, Sid and Nancy, etc. All in all I give it four out of five stars.
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