[0:01] Today we're going to look at one of the most useful filmmaking strategies I've ever encountered
[0:08] It's a strategy that I first read about in Sidney Lumet's amazing book, 'Making Movies." Sidney Lumet calls it a 'Lens Plot'
[0:19] A Lens Plot is kind of like a stylesheet for your shots and lighting. It's a way to make sure that your shots all serve
[0:25] your story, as a whole.
[0:28] Many filmmakers take a moment-by-moment approach when creating a shot list.
[0:34] This line is dramatic, so let's cut to a close-up. This beat is funny, so let's keep the shot wide this moment is energetic
[0:41] So let's go handheld. The trouble is all this careful application of film grammar can amount to a whole lot of nothing.
[0:52] What we're going to look at is a strategy to help you make sure that your shot choices serve your overall story.
[0:59] So let's define exactly what we're creating here.
[1:04] There are three ways to approach the lens pot. There's the static lens plot.
[1:08] There's the narrative lens plot and last the elemental lens plot. So let's start with a static lens plot.
[1:17] This is the simplest lens pot a set of requirements or parameters that apply to your entire film.
[1:23] And sometimes it's referred to as the "look of a film."
[1:26] Wes Anderson for example has a specific look characters tend to be shot straight on or in perfect profile
[1:33] "Congratulations with Mr. Gustave."
[1:34] "They're gonna fight me for the son of a bitch.." And there's a lot of symmetry in the framing
[1:39] These rules are part of Anderson's static lens plot. They're consistent from one scene to the next.
[1:45] "Roosevelt, how's that lanyard coming."
[1:48] "Horrible."
[1:50] There are lots of elements that you can consider when you develop your static lens plot.
[1:54] Things like aspect ratio, color palette. Will you limit your shooting to only certain lenses?
[2:00] But the key to selecting them is to make sure that they serve the story you're trying to tell
[2:05] Here's an example
[2:08] When Spielberg made Schindler's List
[2:10] He made some critical creative decisions. One of the subtle choices that most people don't notice
[2:16] Is that Spielberg denied himself one of his favorite tools. The techno crane.
[2:23] There are no big crane shots in Schindler's List because it literally grounds the film you really
[2:33] Spielberg wanted to tell a story that felt grounded visceral and real
[2:37] Large mechanical camera moves would have gotten in the way. It was a storytelling choice. Not just an aesthetic one
[2:44] The static lens plot is a great starting point but there's more you can do.
[2:49] This brings us to the Narrative Lens Plot
[2:52] The key to the narrative lens plot is gradual change over time to reflect or support the narrative
[2:58] My favorite example of this comes from Sidney Lumet's classic 12 Angry Men. Pretty much, the entire film takes place in a jury room.
[3:05] "Say I would like to get started." Lumet wanted to emphasize the growing sense of entrapment
[3:10] So the earliest scenes in the film are shot with what he calls normal lenses 28 to 40 millimeters
[3:17] As the story progresses he shifts gears and uses longer lenses
[3:21] 50, 75 and eventually 100 millimeters. As your lenses get longer the background appears to come closer and closer
[3:28] The subtle effect over the course of an entire movie is that the walls seem to close in.
[3:33] The room seems to get smaller and smaller.
[3:38] That brings me to the final lens plot. The Elemental Lens Plot.
[3:44] Where you assign specific visual rules to individual elements such as a character or a location
[3:51] The clearest example I've seen is in Soderbergh's film Traffic.
[3:55] Where a complicated story unfolds in three different places with three sets of characters
[4:00] To help us keep them all sorted out Soderbergh gives each of the three locations its own unique
[4:05] look
[4:06] This wasn't just a color grading decision different locations in the story were shot on
[4:10] different film stock to ensure that they would have a distinct look when the film was cut together
[4:15] The elemental lens plot is really about making things clear
[4:19] Especially when you have similar characters lots of locations or a potentially complicated storyline
[4:27] So to figure out the look of your film create a lens plot ask yourself if your
[4:31] films look is static or if it evolves along with the story ask yourself if certain
[4:36] Characters locations or even trucks should have their own looks
[4:39] Jot down your notes and then connect it to your gear requirements
[4:42] Once you do that, they're ready to turn your lens plot into a shot list. Be sure to check out StudioBinder for that
[4:47] We have an entire shotlisting solution where you can breakdown your shots with lens info the equipment specs to make sure you're well
[4:54] Prepared for your production. When you're done, you can share your shot list with your team. So check it out
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[5:07] And if you're out there filming something, break a lens!