Introduction to Computer Graphics and 3D - Introducing Maya 2011 - page 24

Convincing art creates a sense of change or arc for the audience. This adds an impor-
tant dimension to your work. When the viewer feels you have something to say, your
work becomes that much more touching.
Basic Film Concepts
In addition to the design concepts used in framing a shot, you'll want to understand
some fundamental filmmaking concepts.
There's nothing more important than having a solid, manageable, and achievable plan for
your conceptual goal. Almost everybody in production lays out this plan in advance of the
principle photography. You can't run into the street with someone else's expensive camera
and not know what you're going to shoot. CG takes time. Put together a good plan, and
you'll be set for a good production.
Planning a Production
Understanding the paradigm that conventional filmmakers use for their productions will
give you a good structure for planning, creating, and managing your own projects. Most
narrative films are broken into acts, which comprise sequences made up of scenes, which
in turn are made up of shots. By using a similar layout in the scripting and storyboarding
of your own short, you'll find that the entire production process becomes easier and the
effect of your film is stronger.
Narrative films are typically divided into three acts . The first act establishes the main
characters and the conflict or struggle that will define the story. The second act covers
most of the action of the story as the hero attempts to overcome this conflict. The third
act concludes the film by resolving the action in the story and tying up all the loose ends.
Acts can be deconstructed further into sequences , which are groups of sequential
scenes that unite around a particular dramatic or narrative point.
A scene is a part of a film that takes place in a specific place or time with specific char-
acters to present that part of the story. Films are broken into scenes for organizational
purposes by their locations (that is, by where or when they take place).
Don't confuse the filmmaking concept of a scene with the word scene in CG terminology. The
latter refers to the elements in the 3D file that make up the CG.
Scenes are then broken into shots , which correspond to a particular camera angle or
framing . Shots break up the monotony of a scene by giving different views of the scene
and its characters. Shots are separated by cuts between each shot.
Shots are defined by angle of view, which is the point of view (POV) of the camera.
Shots change as soon as the camera's view is changed.