Shot Size and Coverage

One of the chief tasks of any director is determining how to shoot the action and dialogue that is in the script. This is one of the first steps towards translating what would otherwise be a literary story into an audio/visual story. Too often, the director will give up control of this vital storytelling task and hand it over to the cinematographer. Instead, this should be a cooperative effort between the two positions, led by the director's vision.

As mentioned previously, one helpful approach to this is the use of a Lined Script Markup for Coverage. However, before we dive into that, we need to back up and look at some basic terminology to lay our foundation for such pre-production work. And, before that, we must step back even further and simply imagine how the words in the script will translate into action in a physical space. This is called Blocking.

Blocking

Blocking can be defined as the determination of how characters will interact with each other and the physical space within which a scene occurs. At its simplest, blocking could entail two character sitting across a table from each other for the entire duration of a scene. However, the opportunity to direct character movements throughout the scene opens up a whole new world of denotative choices that can help us convey narrative intentions.

The way characters orient themselves in relation to other characters and to the location can convey significant meaning, even without dialogue. For example, a character may turn away (or even walk away) from the person they're talking to. This could convey a desire to end the conversation or a lack of respect for the other character.

As such, the first step in determining effective blocking is to identify what narrative intentions exist within the scene that we hope to convey to the audience. Then we can determine how our blocking might help achieve this. Watch the video to the right if you're interested in a more detailed analysis of how blocking can convey meaning.

HowHitchcockBlocksaScene.mp4

For Video 1, though, it's enough to recognize that we need to know where our characters will be at various points throughout our scene. In the How To video assignment, this entails identifying how your character will move throughout the space and interact with it in order to complete the task. Once we have this more specific idea of what we're shooting we can then move on to answering the question of how we will shoot it.

Above is a rudimentary, hand drawn blocking diagram that shows a character entering through a door. Another character sits at a desk. As the first character crosses the room and sits, the character at the desk turns to face them.

The simplest way to plan your blocking is to draw an overhead diagram of the location you're shooting in. Include any key set pieces or props such as furniture or doors and windows, etc. Then, add in your characters using circles and arrows to show their movements, if any. You may also want to consider utilizing multiple overheads of the same scene if the movement becomes too complex.

There are a number of tools available for creating overhead blocking diagrams. Photoshop and Illustrator work well, especially if you're already familiar with them. Shot Designer is an example of software made specifically for creating these types of diagrams. There is a free demo version available here: https://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/shot-designer.html

These blocking diagrams then provide a template from which you can plan both your camera angles and your lighting (called camera and lighting overheads, respectively)

Once we have a good sense of the space we'll be shooting in and how our action will unfold within it, it's time to turn our attention back to how we're going to shoot it.

Above is a basic blocking diagram made in Shot Designer. To the right is the same diagram with camera positions and shot descriptions added.

Coverage

The shots that you use to shoot a scene are known as Coverage. The term comes from the idea of how you will be sure you 'cover' all of the actions that take place so that they can be shown in the film. The most basic approach to coverage is to shoot a wide enough shot so that everything that happens in the scene is visible in the same shot. This is actually how many of the first films were covered, drawing on the principles of the more common theatrical productions of the day. However, it didn't take long until filmmakers began to explore the idea of using multiple shots, in a variety of sizes, to tell a story.

As film language developed over time, terminology began to emerge that defined various types of shots that could be used to shoot a scene. Watch the following video for an introduction to common shot sizes and some of the common names they're known by. As pointed out the in the video, these names and definitions can vary to some degree, so keep that in mind moving forward.

The How To video assignment will help you practice capturing a variety of these shot sizes and cement their general definitions in your mind. Knowing what types of shots are available to you as a filmmaker is essential to the process of determining what coverage you will use to shoot your scene in an intentional way that successfully conveys essential information and narrative intentions (subtext) to the audience. The common shot sizes we'll be working with are as follows:

EWS - Extreme Wide Shot

WS - Wide Shot

MWS - Medium Wide Shot

MS - Medium Shot

MCU - Medium Close Up

CU - Close Up

ECU - Extreme Close Up

OTS - Over the Shoulder - can utilize be various shot sizes but always has shows both characters, one's face and the other's shoulder/head

Insert - could be different shot size, but indicates closer coverage of specific action rather than dialogue.

Knowing what shots you could shoot is the first step. The next is figuring out which ones you should shoot for a particular scene. There are a number of consideration to be made as you approach this question:

What information needs to be communicated to the audience? Are there specific people, props, or actions that must be seen on screen at particular moments in order for the plot to make sense?
Is there information that you intentionally wish to hide from the audience in order to create suspense or mystery?
How fast or slow do I want to be able to cut in the edit? Faster cutting requires us to shoot more coverage.
Whose point of view is the scene being told from? How can that be articulated through certain shots?
What narrative intentions (subtext) do you want the audience to feel/think as they watch the scene? How does this change at key moments (beats) within the scene? How can specific shots reinforce these connotations?

Watch the following video that discusses considerations for coverage within a scene. Pay particular attention to the clip of Alfred Hitchcock explaining Soviet Montage Theory and the example scenes that are analyzed in the second half. How did they use certain shot types to communicate narrative intentions? (There is some overlapping content with the previous video, so feel free to skip through anything you already feel comfortable with. There's also a brief overview of the 180 degree rule - this isn't specifically relevant yet, but we'll be discussing it later, so watching that now will be helpful).

The Lined Script

Armed with these ideas and terminology, it's time for us to return to our script and ask the question, "What shots will I use to cover each scene?"

One of my preferred methods for approaching coverage is to read the script for the scene I'm working on (with my blocking in mind) and then close my eyes and imagine the scene playing out in my head as if it were already a film. Usually, some specific shot ideas begin to come to mind. As they do, I add them to my Lined Script markup. This approach uses lines drawn vertically on the script to identify which shots will be captured and which portions of the scene they will cover.

This brings up an important element of filmmaking that isn't always obvious to the typical viewer: Most shots seen in a film start before the cut and end after the cut - that is, they cover more of the scene than they're actually used for in the final edit. Likewise, not all shots are captured for the entire duration of the scene. A Close Up (CU) of a character may only need to be recorded during a particular moment of the scene. Time (and money) can be saved by being specific about which shots you need for which parts of the scene.

Hypothetical example of a lined script markup - Knives Out. See the actual scene here

When adding shots in the Lined Script format, draw a line from where you intend to start recording the shot to where it finishes. Use horizontal lines to show where each shot starts and ends. An arrow indicates that the shot continues on the next page. Use a straight line when the subject of the shot is "on camera" and squiggly lines when they would be "off camera" in the edit (see the example above). Include a brief description of the shot size and subject as well as any helpful notes about camera movement or framing (see example above). Number each shot using the (scene number).(shot number) format. For example, the first shot of Scene 1 would be 1.1, etc. This is helpful because it distinguishes the shots from how they are captured on set using scene number and shot letter (1, 1A, 1B, etc) which is always based on the order the shots are captured in, not necessarily the order they appear in the script.

Two things to look for as you work on your lined script are areas of "thin" coverage - where there is only one or two shots listed as covering that portion of the script as well as areas of "thick" coverage - where there are far too many shots covering that portion of the script. If we have thin coverage, we may end up stuck in the edit and be unable to cut the scene together effectively (or cut around problems with the shots we did get). On the other hand, we can typically only use one shot at a time, so overshooting is a waste of time and resources - consider cutting out some shots from thick areas or identifying more specific portions of the scene that truly need the shots. Notice how in the example above, the only shot covering the first part of the page is the MS - this is an example of "thin" coverage - it would be best to add another master shot (perhaps a WS or MWS of the whole scene) so that we have at least two shots available to us in the edit during this part of the scene.

ALWAYS make sure you have overlapping coverage so that you don't accidentally end up with missing parts of the script or unable to cut on the action between two shots. This is a common mistake on student films that is easily avoided by planing ahead. The lined script makes gaps in coverage very obvious, so don't skip this part!

The Shot List

Once you've planned your shots using the Lined Script, you can translate them to your Shot List. This is a document that organizes your shots in a more formal manner that is easier to work from. A standard shot list provides the following information:

Shot Number - Scene Number. Shot Number (eg. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc) This should match your numbering on the Lined Script.
Shot Description - A brief description of the action it covers (eg. Marta looks at the vials).
Shot Size - Abbreviation of the general shot size (MS, CU, ECU, etc).
Angle - Identify the height of the camera - typically eye level, but could also be low or high.
Movement - Any movement in the shot (Static if no movement) - could include simple pan or tilt, but also includes dolly, track, jib, etc.
Camera Support - The planned equipment for holding the camera - typically Tripod (also called Sticks), but could include gimbal, dolly, jib, handheld, etc.
Lens - The focal length of the lens to be used - this requires some more information that we'll talk about next week)
Notes - any additional information pertinent to capturing the shot from a camera perspective. This could include blocking notes, identify key elements that need to be captured (reaching for gun), etc.

There is a template available on Moodle that you can use for your shot list.

The Storyboard and Shooting Schedule

With a completed shot list, you now have the raw material needed to create a storyboard and a shooting schedule. The storyboard will provide a visual reference for the shots you have in mind so that it is easier to communicate with crew members what you're thinking beyond a simple written description. If you're bad at drawing, an alternative is to create a "photoboard" by taking pictures of a person standing in a similar position in reference to a space. These don't have to be your actual actors or actual location and can give you a quick and easy way to test out different focal lengths and camera positions before the actual shoot.

The shooting schedule is discussed in more detail in the Pre-Production Module, so take a look at that if you need a refresher. The main thing is that you will re-order the shots from the Shot List into the order you will actually shoot them on set. This ordering is done with efficiency in mind and will rarely result in shooting the shots in order. You'll also estimate how long you think it will take you to capture each one so you can get an idea of how long the whole shoot will take.

In Summary

Planning which shots you will use to cover each scene in your film is a critical directorial task that goes beyond simply showing action to the audience and offers opportunities to reveal subtextual narrative intentions as well. Taking the time to understand these concepts and intentionally plan your shots will elevate your work and bring you one step closer to repeatable, professional work.

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