Thinking in shots#
Week 4 — SLOP4555
A scene is one thing. A sequence is many decisions.#
On the page, a scene is one thing happening. On screen, it’s a sequence of decisions about what the audience is allowed to see, and when.
This week turns last week’s page into that sequence.
The shot vocabulary — and what each one is for#
| Shot | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Wide | place, distance, isolation |
| Medium | body language, relation between two people |
| Close-up | a decision happening on a face |
| Insert | one detail the story needs noticed |
Not variety for its own sake — every shot has to earn its place.
Composition and angle are an argument#
Where the frame’s edge falls says something about power, distance, intimacy. Blocking and camera movement are one decision, not two: where a body moves and where the camera moves have to agree.
Mamet’s test: the shot as argument#
Build the list through juxtaposition, not performance, narration, or camera movement. Mamet’s own example: cut face → cut fridge interior argues “hunger” — no line needed.
The filter for every shot: what does the character want in this moment, and will the audience see whether they get it, from this shot next to this one?
A shot list’s purposes can’t repeat — two shots with the same purpose means one of them is a safety copy, not an argument.
Five shots, one purpose each#
| Shot | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wide | how alone she is with the decision |
| 2 | Insert (screen) | audience learns the name with her |
| 3 | Close-up (still face) | she’s seen it, isn’t moving yet |
| 4 | Insert (hand) | the hesitation is the whole frame |
| 5 | Close-up, tilts with her hand to her face | acceptance and the line as one motion |
No repeated purposes — each cut argues something the last shot hadn’t yet.
Guided judgement: which pairing argues something?#
Beat: reading a text, setting it face-down — while a housemate’s visible in the background. Intention: concealment, not just finishing a text.
- Medium (housemate visible) → wide of the room: repeats what’s already shown. Coverage.
- Close-up (housemate drops out of frame) → insert of the phone, face-down: visualises the hiding. Argument.
Scoped to this beat, not a rule against wide shots — shot 1 above is a wide, and it’s doing real work.
The first storyboard: a legible thumbnail#
A frame, a rough figure, an arrow for movement. It doesn’t need to be good — it needs to be legible enough that someone else could stage the shot from it without asking you anything.
“Before It Stops”#
Breaking the closing scene into a shot sequence — her hand drifting toward the phone, stopping, then closing over it on the final ring as the camera tilts up with her hand to her face for “Hey”: which cut argues the hesitation, and which ones just get you there.
Not every shot in a sequence is equally important — the shot list is where you decide which one is.
This week’s task#
Break your scene into a numbered shot list — type, purpose, one line each — then sketch a rough thumbnail under every entry. Read the list to a partner without showing them the scene. If they can’t tell what a shot is doing from the number, purpose and thumbnail alone, merge or cut it.
What you leave with#
A first-draft storyboard: numbered, purposeful, no two shots doing the same job.
Week 6 expands this into the complete sequence Assignment 1 collects — keep this draft, don’t start over.