Cinematography commonly known by its abbreviation "cinema" is an art that is responsible for transmitting images or frames quickly to give the sensation of movement. In order to carry out a cinematographic work, it is necessary the intervention of other elements, both technical, economic and creative, such as photography, writing the scripts, setting up the scenes, handling the cameras, directing the sound, the production of the work, among other elements.
What is cinema
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Most people have the wrong idea of conceiving that the concept of cinema is completely different from the concept of cinematography, however, it is important to know that both terms are totally identical, as the definition of cinema is due to the abbreviation of cinematography. This artistic technique consists of the ability to capture, save and transmit images in circulation, supplied by an auditory support. This process is regularly undertaken with a video camera and is related to technical and creative photography.
The definition of cinematography is also explained as a moving plastic art and, after its birth, it began to be considered as “the seventh art”. Furthermore, its various forms of expression are centralized in a single work, which is the film. The architecture is visualized in the sets of the filming, the sculpture is manifested through digital animations, the painting is reflected in the colorimetry and color grading of images, the music is incorporated thanks to the soundtracks, the dance can refer to the musicals and the literature can be found in the script of the play.
The concept of cinema is also related to the ability to tell stories through image representations in which frames are captured in a rapid and progressive way, creating illusions of movement. However, from a different point of view, the definition of cinema refers to the rooms or spaces where films are developed for a specific audience in which they have a conditioned space made up of a production screen and an audience.
Cinema and its derivatives play a very important role in the contemporary world and in the idea of communication that is usually used regularly, because everything is filmed and reproduced by other people leagues away and even years later. Cinematography reproduces videos of deceased people and projects events that occurred in any other part of the world.
To obtain the definition of cinematography, analyzes and investigations of its historical evolution were carried out, carrying out certain photographic and creative experiments, in which various approaches such as sociology, psychology and politics were also covered.
In another order of ideas, we can say that a concept of film refers to the process that leads to a particular show, in which photographic technology is used to develop a sense of movement and in which audio recordings accompanying These images help in the construction of informative, aesthetic and audiovisual experiences.
How to make a movie
During the creation of a film it has to go through several phases that last a certain time and these are pre-production, production and post-production. Throughout the pre-production, all the necessary preparations are executed to start the filming of the film, the first step is based on the development of a script, in which in addition to the scriptwriter, the executive producer can participate and thus obtain the best possible result. Next, a casting is carried out to select the actors who are going to play the main roles in the film.
At the same time, all the necessary procedures will be carried out for the opening of the shoot, such as financing the project, the selection of the space where it will be recorded, the contract of the technical staff that will work on the film and the preparation of the storyboard. who will direct the recording. Once all these steps have been completed, it is time to start the production phase, leading to the filming of the film. This has to try to adjust as much as possible to the dates that were established in advance in a calendar, to take advantage of the time and money invested.
In the course of this project, a large number of film professionals intervene and it is where everything that resides from the previous phase takes place. Contrary to what many people think, the performances are not recorded in the same order that they will obtain in the final footage, but are organized according to the disposition of the actors, the rental time of the filming sets, the archetype of the locations that appear, etc.
Once the necessary material has been recorded, the post-production phase begins, in which the meaning of everything that has been done so far is awarded. In this way, in the editing studio, the most appropriate scenes are manipulated, selected and ordered from all the footage that is available, until we proceed to what will be the final editing that will reach the screens. At this time, the resonant element is added to the film and the soundtrack is introduced along with the scenic effects that require it.
In the same way, the possible voices that interpose in the film are recorded in off and if necessary, the dialogues of scenes that are not entirely pleasant are repeated. Once all the content has been completed and joined, the final version of the film is in hand and therefore activities that contribute to its promotion are started, to make the work known to the public and to specialized presses. After that, copies of the film are distributed to all cinemas for its premiere and to make it reach the viewer.
Elements involved in the making of a movie
To summarize everything mentioned above, it is noted that the elements of cinematography are:
- The direction is carried out by the director, who is responsible for the filming of the film in all its stages, it is also the one who controls that the script is carried out properly.
- The script, which is defined as the work plan that is carried out during the filming, containing the dialogues, the music and the elements that make up part of the final assembly.
- The filming, which involves the participation of the actors and puts into practice everything the script says.
- The montage, which is known as the mixture of images and sounds that are created for the final product that will be viewed by the public.
- The edition, which is part of the montage and corresponds to the technicians who use the appropriate audiovisual programs.
- Lighting, which is what improves the environment and the way the public will perceive the images.
- The human team, which is made up of each of the actors, technical teams, production teams and general assistance teams.
- And finally, pre-production, production and post-production, which are the phases where the challenges and the tasks that must be solved are really found, for example, the budgets that are studied in pre-production for auditions and the search for locations., the filming of specific sequences in production and the material obtained in the filming during post-production.
History of cinema
The history of cinema dates back to 1895, when the Lumière brothers developed the first projection of moving images, inventing what is now known as the cinematograph and having as a precedent the kinetoscope of the businessman Thomas Edison. These characters had manufactured a camera that managed to record the images in circulation, but that still did not have the ability to reproduce them and although they did not have enough confidence in the technical and artistic potential of this new artifact. Over time, these screenings managed to attract the curiosity of many viewers.
The origin
Cinema was developed from a scientific perspective long before its artistic and commercial expectations were recognized. One of the main scientific advances that drove cinematographic progress were the objections of Peter Mark Roget, in which he published an important work entitled "The persistence of vision as it affects objects in motion" in which it is established that the human eye retains images for a fraction of a second after the individual stops holding them in front of them. This finding prompted several scientists to conduct research to patent the principle.
The first motion pictures
The first to present the first film in the history of cinema were the Lumière brothers and it was filmed in Paris around the year 1895, with the name of "The exit from the factory" being recorded with a cinematograph in which some laborers working in a French factory. After making numerous presentations in scientific associations and universities, the Lumière brothers held a commercial screening of the films that were shot in Lyon in which they demonstrated the daily life of the city.
Plots and great characters
The appeal of what cinema is not only based on the creation of sensational visual effects, as it also depends on the narrative that the story contains. One of the most effective ways to develop a suggestive plot is to go to the most important component that contains the magic, the distraction. On this occasion, films are presented that totally transformed the direction of the story and the tone, providing an unforeseen, but pleasant amazement.
"Soylent Green" is a plot by Richard Fleischer, played by Charlton Heston that recounts the experiences of a New York police officer who carries out the investigation into the murder of the director of a food-producing company in an era of overcrowding and practically, of the end of time. Another of the great films in the cinema was "The sixth sense" and it is about a psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, who tries to help a young man terrified by the gift of perceiving dead people, who turned out to have been murdered a year ago and who for that reason he can see it.
The evolution of cinema so far
The Lumière brothers started what is cinema with the invention of the cinematograph, later Burton Wescott and Daniel Comstock managed to transform black and white cinematography into a color one. This finding, based on the kinemacolor method, could record images in shades of red and teal, using only one lens. This was demonstrated with the debut of "The gulf between" in 1917. Subsequently, it went from silent cinema to one in which sounds are attached to projected images.
The technical progress that made this possible was the vitáphone and this allowed to record soundtracks and even spoken texts on discs that were later reproduced together with the film. Two decades later, a filming system was developed that today is known as the Cinemascope, which receives wide images that are obtained by compressing a natural dimension within the standard 35mm scheme. Its purpose is to achieve a ratio between 2.66 and 2.39 times wider than high, thanks to the anamorphic lenses that were used in projection machines.
Later, the development of the multiplane camera allowed animation works to be added that were endowed with three-dimensional effects, allowing the images to look more realistic. Later, the four-dimensional cinema was created, recreating the physical conditions that are displayed on the screen such as rain, fog and other effects. In the same way, Disney and Pixar excelled in the use of computer-generated graphics.
Film genres
Films in the cinema usually belong to a genre characterized by having a previous model, be it theatrical, literary or filmic, which they imitate but always within a predetermined channel. Some types of films can be commercial, independent, animation and even documentary and thanks to technology these can be viewed in an online cinema, allowing you to appreciate each of the film releases in its various genres.
Commercial cinema
It refers to films that are created by film industries, aimed at large audiences and with which an economic return is generated as a fundamental reason. Most of the films screened in quality cinemas belong to this category, because they are promoted by various campaigns of. An example of this kind is the golden age of Mexican cinema, since it has been a period in history that became the center of commercial films for all of Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world.
Indie movies
These films have not been screened by major film studios and it is not like in commercial cinema, because this category usually has low-budget productions. In addition, they address controversial topics to analyze those forgotten circumstances that are often taken for granted. The quality cinema that this rank possesses is reflected in the film hits such as “I would like to be a millionaire” by Danny Boyle, “Run away! by Jordan Peele, "The Black Swan" by Darren Aronofsky, among others.
Animation cinema
It is a method that provides a perception of movement to figures, drawings, people, computerized images and any other object that can be imagined, photographing or using small changes of position so that the human eye can capture this process as real movement. Currently, technology has allowed an online movie billboard to exist that has the best in animations so that people can enjoy this category from the comfort of their homes.
Documentary film
This group is not like in animation cinema, since it is based on images that are taken from reality, presenting particular stories and building on the archive and memory of different cultures to be shown in different ways. The large number of these films allow a historical investigation of what was filmed and future perspectives. An example of this hierarchy is one of the great documentaries of Mexican cinema known as “Olimpiadas de México” released in 1969 and directed by the filmmaker Alberto Isaac Ahumada.
