Ep3: Film Blocking

Filmmaking Techniques - Film Blocking Tutorial and Techniques - Featured - StudioBinder

Ep4: Camera Movement

Filmmaking Techniques - Camera Movement - Directing the Camera - Featured.- StudioBinder

EPISODE 1

Film Tone: How to Set the Mood

How to use lighting, exposure, and art direction to create a tone and voice for your project.

Film Tone Example - Moonrise Kingdom - Visual Storytelling

FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES: EPISODE 2

Film tone in a nutshell

In this first episode on Visual Storytelling we take a detailed look at the three main elements that affect tone in anything you're filming: Exposure, lighting, and art direction. 

Not only can these individually manipulate the tone of your project, but it's often the relationship between the three that really makes a scene pop and conveys a unified voice.

Give it a gander to learn how some of the masters (like Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg) did it, and how you can as well. 

The Trident of Film Tone

Lighting

The first thing you need to do is decide  how much light you're going to put in the scene. If you're shooting outside, you might not have much control over this. If you're on a soundstage, you have total control. This can affect the contrast,  brightness, and the overall mood of your scene.

Exposure

Next, you need to decide how much light you actually let in the camera. That's exposure. Whether you choose to overexpose something (think: Waking up in a UFO after being abducted, someone stepping outside for the first time in years), or underexpose something (think: The Corleone family in the Godfather series), or just properly expose the subject. All of this affects the tone of any scene.

Art Direction

Now you need to consider what the physical space actually looks like. Are we in a low-rent, cheap office space in Scranton, Pennsylvania? A high-rise New York apartment with a wall of windows? All this coincides with story, but imagine if The Office had been in a bright, sunny, modern office. That's a totally different show. That's a tonally different show. 

Grab your FREE Film Tone Worksheet

Before you go into production, make sure you have a unified film tone set for every scene with this free worksheet.

Visual Storytelling - Tone Worksheet

Download your free film tone worksheet.

Establish your tone. Find your voice.

Just enter your email address and we'll send you the film tone worksheet!

Read more about storytelling and film tone

Dan Harmon Story Circle Can Help You Shape a Better Story - Featured - StudioBinder

Cravin' more? We knew you would. Take a look at our deep-dive guide to the story circle. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT:

  • The eight steps and how to apply them to your script
  • The universal language of storytelling
  • Helpful story circle examples 

Interested in the classic archetype that inspired it all? Check out our breakdown of Campbell's Hero's Journey. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT:

  • The in-depth twelve-step process
  • Examples of major films that use the Hero's Journey
  • How YOU can apply the Hero's Journey to your script

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