← Close reading of visual/oral text (English 3.9)
2 The close-reading toolkit: what to look for, shot by shot
Work through these five layers for every key shot
- 1. Camera. Shot size, angle, movement, focus (deep/shallow), lens distortion, duration of the take.
- 2. Mise-en-scène. Setting, props, costume, colour palette, blocking (who stands where), what is deliberately excluded from frame.
- 3. Lighting, key/fill ratio, direction, colour temperature, shadow placement, practical vs motivated light.
- 4. Sound, diegetic/non-diegetic, score, silence, sound bridges, volume shifts, whether sound leads or follows the cut.
- 5. Editing, cut rate/pace, cut type (match, jump, cross-cut), what the cut juxtaposes, rhythm relative to the music.
| Detail | What it typically does |
|---|---|
| Shallow focus isolating one face | Cuts the character off from their environment: visual loneliness |
| A slow push-in during a line | Tightens pressure; signals the line matters |
| Cutting on movement vs cutting on stillness | Smooth continuity vs jarring interruption |
| Sound bridge over a cut | Links two spaces/times: often implies causation |
| Sudden silence after dense score | Vacuum effect; forces the viewer to lean in |
| Character framed off-centre / edge of frame | Instability, marginalisation, something missing |
| Cool vs warm palette shift within a scene | Emotional turn made visible before it is spoken |
| Handheld vs locked-off camera | Subjective instability vs detached observation |