Chapter 2 Discussion Questions 1-5

1. Explain the meaning of the term visual grammar.
Visual grammar is the reconstruction of events from raw material shot in the field, rather than on the re-creation of events. And in television, just as in theatrical filmmaking, photographic reconstruction works best when it embodies a sense of continuity or consecutiveness to help heighten the viewer's sense of experience.
2. List the three basic shots in motion picture photography and describe their functions.
Long shot, medium shot, and close-up. The long shot provides a full view of the subject. The medium shot brings subject matter closer to the viewer and begins to isolate it from the overall environment. The close-up shot isolates the subject entirely from its surrounding environment.
3. Explain how the three basic v can be joined to achieve a sense of continuity or consecutiveness in a scene.
These basic shot functions together in sequence in a manner roughly equivalent to how the eye works. Whenever we first encounter a situation, we normally make a visual overview to acclimate ourselves to the surroundings. When we first walk into an airport, we see the crowds of passengers and long rows of ticket counters(long shot). Once we have taken in the full view and oriented ourselves, we begin to inspect the environment more closely, through medium and close views, for an overhead TV monitor that displays flight departure information. For detailed visual inspection, we may walk closer to the monitor for very close-up views.
4. What considerations help determine when a shot or the image size of a subject should be changed in a visual story?
One should use camera perspectives to determine how they want the shot or image to be. The zoom shot can be used to focus in on a specific subject and the aerial shot can be a shot from above that is of course, farther away and not as specific.
5. Explain why it is so important in film and television to have action in virtually every scene.
Action flows across the edits from one shot to another to create the illusion that viewers are watching a continuous, uninterrupted action. Sequences help a viewer feel he or she has experienced an event because they represent the activity much as eyewitness observers would experience it.