What is screen space in film?

2 years ago

7 minutes

A portion of space, as if cut out by a screen frame. The image on the screen may occupy only the screen area, i.e. it is limited by the screen frame or, as they say, framed; it has a certain size, and, finally, it can be seen in this or that foreshortening. A work of painting has all of these attributes. But there is a very important difference between a picture or a drawing and the images on the screen, the latter are not constant, they appear and disappear. In addition, the images on the screen are moving, and the movement has an extension in space and time.

Since screen space is only a reflection of real reality, then, when we use such concepts as “real” and “imaginary” in relation to cinematography, we, of course, mean conditionally real and conditionally imaginary. Already in the films of the silent period one can see various ways of including episodes of imaginary and dreamlike space into the real artistic space. In sound cinema, the combination of the real and the unreal becomes one of the essential dramaturgical and pictorial techniques. At the same time the authors, taking into account the peculiarities of the viewer’s perception, with the help of image and sound allow to distinguish the real from the unreal screen space. The aesthetic peculiarities of creating such types of unreal space as dreamlike, fairy-tale and virtual remain beyond the scope of the research. The main attention is paid to the artistic treatment of the episodes, representing the imagination of the hero in the films of the twentieth and early twenty-first century. The situations imagined by the characters are seen here as a visualization of escapism, the human desire to escape from reality. A characteristic stylistic feature of the imaginary in these cases is irony and playfulness. As screen art develops, the techniques of combining screen chronotopes denoting the real and the imaginary become more frequent and more diverse.

What is off screen space in cinematography?

Basically, the difference between field and off-field in cinema (and to some extent in photography as well), is that we call off-field all the actions that occur outside what the camera is framing at that moment (sound and image). While field is what happens in front of the camera and the viewer sees it physically. Based on these definitions we will continue moving forward.

Before going further into typologies, it is worth defining two concepts: the frame and the out-of-frame. The frame (in photography or painting) is the delimitation of a portion of reality that is determined by the type of plane we use. That is to say, the lines that border that space, what is inside that space is what is known as the field. Consequently, what is outside the frame will be out of the field.

Now, once the frame has been delimited and knowing that the field is what is seen inside the frame, we will explain the two types of out-of-field that exist in cinema: in relation to space and in relation to sound.

In cinema, it is common for characters to freely enter and exit freely in and out of the field over and over again. In this sense, there is a widely used resource which is the off-field look or off look. Thus the character who is inside the field, throws a glance at the elements that are located outside, thus creating a certain curiosity and mystery in the viewer.

It is a resource widely used in horror films, since the viewers cannot see what the character sees, creating an atmosphere of intrigue. Therefore, we see that the use of out-of-field is useful to awaken imaginations and questions of the viewers.

As for out-of-field sound, it should not be confused with sound added in post-production that has nothing to do with the story. In other words, out-of-field sound is diegetic sound (that which the characters can hear). That is, a narrator’s voiceover would not count in this category.

Therefore, the source that generates the sound must be in the same place in the scene even if we cannot see it. It could be a character in the off-stage speaking to another character in the on-stage scene. Also, as we can see in the example, we hear footsteps that are inside the story (the protagonist hears them) but we do not see the source of the sound.

What is film space?

Space in cinema is a complex reality that involves the exterior and the interior of the image, the creators and the receivers, the material construction and the immaterial processing of the film.
Let us begin with the space to be filmed. The setting of the scenes begins with the design of the space that can take shape through locations (existing spaces that will be incorporated into the cinematographic action) and scenographic constructions (architectural realizations of interiors and exteriors). Both resources have space/time setting values (referential setting), psychological-dramatic (which contributes with connotations and facilitators to the action) and symbolic (which serves as a key to the action).

Locations and scenographies are, in fact, the way to represent and signify both external and internal reality. Consequently, the scenography can be imitative of reality, trying to reproduce it as faithfully as possible, placing itself in time and styles, or it can be symbolic – referential, suggesting a scope and / or time that exceeds the known reality. Some examples of “Barry Lyndon” by S. Kubrick.

Another important dichotomy is , fixed static space and mobile static space which is performed with a ward and who is involved in manipulating, speeding up, slowing down, distorting or freezing the image. fixed static space implies that the camera and image are stationary, like a photograph. Mobile static holds the camera stationary, but the figures it focuses on are moving, the action taking place in a fixed plane.

Another might be descriptive or dynamic space. Expressive dynamic space. in descriptive, the camera moves with the character and the viewer accompanies it; the camera accurately reproduces what is happening. In expressive movement, the camera decides what is to be seen and how, not the character, as part of the narrative development of the film.
Another is “Flat Space vs. Deep Space,” , where space can be represented as a place in which figures appear uniformly or as depth, with a background and foreground.

Another example is “Unitarian space vs. fragmented space.” : in the former only one action develops, while in the fragmented there are situations, placed in the same image, occurring at the same time, but different from each other.
Another example is “cohesive space” vs. : the organic is connected and unitary; the inorganic is disconnected and dispersed.

What are the 6 off screen spaces?

Space that is part of a film *scene but is not visible onscreen. Six areas of offscreen space may be identified: those on each side of the frame, those above and below the frame, the space behind the film set, and the space behind the camera.

How do horror films utilize offscreen space?

In the horror genre, placing action offstage or offscreen often serves to heighten the dramatic force of a scene. The Grand Guignol theatre in Paris made much use of this technique; in 1901’s Au tėlėphone, the violence is presented at the remove of a telephone connection.

What is onscreen and offscreen space?

off-screen space? In the simplest form, onscreen vs. off-screen space would be a matter of what is happening within the frame or what is happening outside the frame. Thus, onscreen space is what we can see taking place on the screen and off-screen space is what we cannot see.