Always look at a shot and ask “how can it be different and seen from a unique perspective?”

 

Think about the OPENING and CLOSING image of the film

 

Look for interesting geography in an otherwise ordinary location (ARRIVAL)

Snap zooms / Slow zooms“Zoom” dolly (Jeff Bridges intro in THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT)

 

Jump cut (on music) to same location but different time of day (Aida scene in “Maria” in the rain)Try to show something new in each setup/shot/cutFilm subject in mirror then continue off mirror (THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT)Slow zoom in on Paul Newman in closing arguments scene (THE VERDICT)Enter into a “busy” master shot on one character(s), show the space and world, then settle on another (M:I GHOST PROTOCOL)Long lens on someone entering a room/scene, then follow them to wherever they land — establishes/builds tension. (see 1st scene of A BRIDGE TOO FAR)Long lens figure at a vistaHard cut on music but on same composition (QUEENS GAMBIT after she’s had sex with Russian classmate)Split-field diopterUse of color, composition and geometry (opening credits to UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG)Sense of omen and dread - Vincent pacing behind Brad in PULP FICTION (hamburger scene)Racking from what’s outside a window to a reflection in the glassSevere Dutch anglesMaster/Establishing shot on medium-long lens and with actual and elements moving through frame (opening shot APOCALYPSE NOW)Jump cutsCU/Inserts on quotidian detailsKeep focus on the listener in a dialogue (speaker de-fo)Have a shot morph into another composition via camera movement/change of planeCamera mounted to car door, door opens (KILLING THEM SOFTLY)Negative spaceVery shallow focusConstant foreground elements (and slow reveals)Creeping along the floor (in fg) towards something or someoneWide angle “pull away” from scene (walking time women’s prison in BABYLON BERLIN)Slave the camera to an object (e.g., a gurney like in BETTER CALL SAULl)Vanishing reflections (last scene in NARCOS MEXICO season 2)Set camera above eye line (ceiling in f.g. in THE IRON CLAW)When editing: dialogue over non-speaking shot for a cut or two before returning to normal (to put audience a little off-balance)Finch-ian camera language (move when actor moves only)Shoot through multiple doorwaysDistorted foreground elementsHard flares. Example: start on a flare and dolly in or out to reveal the subject (NARCOS MEXICO season 2, EP 5 opening)Walk into/out of focus planeShots that resolve into revealing another detail pertinent to story, narrative or character.Novel uses of Dutch angleHand held (after lots of steady shots)