Dynamic Parametric Shot Composition
Camera shots are often composed of a subject (human character) in the frame positioned and cropped to show a certain amount of the character from the head down.
The larger the character appears in the composition of the shot, the closer the audience feels to the subject, the smaller: the further away.
A common shorthand set of terms are used by directors and cinematographers to describe a composition of a shot which is useful to easily describe the position, tilt, and lens angle of a camera. Some terms you'll commonly hear are: Medium Shot, Close up, Wide Angle, Establishing shot, etc.
Additional specific terms can be added to further specify the type of shot. The greatest in the vertical tilt of the camera. So a director might say that they want a medium low angle shot, or a bird's eye extreme close up. This would dictate the vertical position of the camera pointing at the subject to get the desire vertical tilt of the camera.
Simply: User wants Medium Shot: Camera moves and changes lens to make a medium shot. If they want it low angle, they select it, and the camera moves automatically.
In Shot Generator, the user has created a scene layout with a camera. If the user wants to compose a specific camera shot, they have to move the camera to the desired position, tilt it, change the camera lens and repeat until they get the desired shot composition.
Because Shot Generator is a computer program with the information about the position of the objects in the scene and the ability to perform 3d mathematics, we should be able to provide some simple user interface for a user to select the shot type they want, and shot generator positions the camera and sets the lens automatically.
Function ( ShotType, VerticalAngle, HorizontalAngle, Subject (OR 2 TWO FOR OTS), FixedLens? )
- Extreme Close Up (ECU)
- Very Close Up (VCU)
- Close up (CU)
- Medium Close Up (MCU)
- Bust (Bust)
- Medium Shot (MS)
- Medium Long Shot (MLS)
- Long Shot / Wide (LS)
- Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
- Establishing Shot (ES)
- Over The Shoulder Left (OTS-L)
- Over The Shoulder Right (OTS-R)
- Bird's Eye
- High
- Eye
- Low
- Worm's Eye
Which character should be the focus? Closest character facing the camera, OR the currently selected character
Do no change the camera lens, only move the camera
The size and framing of the subject is mostly dictated by the distance between to the subject and the camera, and the angle of lens. Using those two levers, you can use different combination of lens and distance to achieve a very similar shot composition: see examples.
Distance, shouldnt be too far away from the character, shouldnt be too close either
The result should always be a standard camera lens unless the camera lens is locked.
The vertical eye line should always be in the top 25-30% of the frame. If there is enough space, provide a margin for the head. If the frame is ELS or ESTABLISHING SHOT the vertical eye line doesnt need to be in the top 25%, the objects should be vertically centered.