I knew the basis of what film coverage was when I started this course due to doing Film3 last year. However, I understood it in its most simplest form. That is that coverage meant having enough footage to cover the scene. Is this scene covered? I was thinking purely about the function, efficiency and ultimately giving the film editor options.

Ive now come to understand the coverage is equally about creating something visually interesting and dynamic. Coverage creates the flow of a film and can convey emotions and tensions. Bunnel talks of decoupage (coverage) as the ‘cinematic embryo’ of film meaning that it’s the element that brings the medium to life. You may have a great script and great actors but without decoupage you are left with theatre, not film.

I’ve learnt that you can have enough shots to cover a scene but to achieve good decoupage you want ideal segments. A shot by itself hardly means anything, it’s when it’s strung together with a variety of shots that makes it have meaning. This leads me to something I’ve increased my understanding of greatly throughout the last few weeks. That is the idea of creating filmic space. What makes a shot special is its spatial and temporal relationship with other shots that build the scene. Through this we create a 3d space in the viewers head in where they have an idea where the characters are positioned in relation to each other. I’ve learnt how to do this without distracting the viewer and damaging the ‘filmic space’

The studio so far has definitely greatly ehanced my understanding of film coverage. Looking forward I would like to learn how to cover more complex scenes. For instance I was wondering how cover a scene with say 10 people sitting around a round table. How do I create spatial map in the viewers head where everyone is sitting and how do I ensure I don’t cross the line? Maybe this is something I will explore in a future blog.

Over and out,

Luke