From the archives of Fresh DV comes the “CliffsNotes” version of The Five C’s of Cinematography:
Cameras don’t tell stories, people do. Since we can all agree this is the case, there is really only one thing you need to tell great stories… YOU. However, none of us are born knowing anything about the tools of the trade. In an effort to improve the one tool all storytellers have in common, their mind, a must-have addition to their library is Joseph V. Mascelli’s The Five C’s of Cinematography. I picked this book up a few years ago, and I have learned more from it than any other resource on the subject. I’ve been to courses, classes, looked to chat rooms online, and experimented by trial and error; but none of those things have come close to the pure undistilled story driven explanation of cinematography found in Mascelli’s classic book.
The five C’s, if you don’t know them already, are:
- Camera Angles
- Continuity
- Cutting
- Close-ups
- Composition
Read the article for a better idea of what each means and how you deliver on them. And read the book if you’re serious about cinematography. It’s as relevant now as it was when the post was published 2 years ago and when the book featured in the article was published over 15 years ago.
