The Language of the Lens explores the expressive power of the camera lens and the storytelling contributions that this critical tool can make to a film project. This book offers a unique approach to learning how lenses can produce aesthetically and narratively compelling images in movies, through a close examination of the various ways lens techniques control the look of space, movement, focus, flares, distortion, and the "optical personality" of your story's visual landscape. Loaded with vivid examples from commercial, independent, and world cinema, The Language of the Lens presents dozens of insightful case studies examining their conceptual, narrative, and technical approaches to reveal how master filmmakers have harnessed the power of lenses to express the entire range of emotions, themes, tone, atmosphere, subtexts, moods, and abstract concepts. The Language of the Lens provides filmmakers, at any level or experience, with a wealth of knowledge to unleash the full expressive power of any lens at their disposal, whether they are shooting with state-of-the-art cinema lenses or a smartphone, and everything in between.

* Become an eloquent visual storyteller through effective and expressive choices for each and every shot in your film with hundreds of full-color examples from your favorite blockbusters in this easy-to-reference guide * Types of shots covered include close-ups, long shots, over the shoulder shots, group shots, zoom shots, pan shots, dolly shots, tracking shots, and more * The 2nd edition has been comprehensively updated with new movie examples of various shots featured, a new chapter on The Overhead Shot, expanded sections on aspect ratios, rule of thirds, shooting formats, and updated organisation into parts on sizes conventions and dynamics.