Cinematic Space
In this chapter you will learn:
- What cinematic space is.
- How the illusion of motion pictures is created.
- What the essential tools of filmmaking are.
When you think of space, what comes to mind?
Perhaps you envision a cold, dark void and alien planets. Or maybe you see room to stretch out in, a place to breathe and create and make something new.
Cinematic space is where every film lives.
It’s a place where you decide the rules, and you control what happens.
It is a space where a person can hear the thoughts of the people around them. It is a space that allows two people to be emotionally tied even though they are separated by tremendous physical distance. It is a space that allows a character to step through a door at home and find themselves in the middle of the Gobi Desert.
Cinema is not reality. It is a manufactured construct, a simulacrum, but one that an audience willingly engages with.
Your job as a filmmaker is to manipulate the cinematic space in the way that best fits the story you are telling.
You will do this through the manipulation of every element of filmmaking, including where you put your camera, how you fill your frame to create shots, and how you edit your shots together. All this and more is a manipulation of the cinematic space.
Keep reading to learn how!
