Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Whether you're just learning how to frame a shot or simply looking for a refresher, the third edition of Grammar of the Shot gives you the tools you need to build a successful visual story that flows smoothly and makes sense to your audience.

Understand the basic building blocks essential for successful shot composition, screen direction, depth cues, lighting, screen direction, camera movement, and many general practices that make for richer, multi-layered visuals. Expand your visual vocabulary, help jumpstart your career in filmmaking, and watch visual examples and further instruction on the companion website, www.focalpress.com/cw/bowen.
Designed as an easy-to-use reference, Grammar of the Shot presents each topic succinctly with clear photographs and diagrams illustrating the key concepts, and is a staple of any filmmaker¿s library.

* A simple and clear overview of the principles of shooting motion pictures¿timeless information that will improve your work

* The companion website offers video instruction and examples to bring the book's lessons to life

* Together with its companion volume Grammar of the Edit , Third Edition these books are exactly what the beginning filmmaker needs

New to this edition:

* A full chapter devoted to lighting

* More script coverage, complete with a sample script

* Suggested exercises and projects for you to practice your skills

* End-of-chapter quizzes to test your grasp of key concepts

* New visual examples

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. xi)
• Introduction (p. xiii)
• Chapter 1 The Shots: What, How and Why? (p. 1)
• What to Show Your Audience? (p. 3)
• Choosing Your Frame (p. 4)
• Aspect Ratio (p. 5)
• Further Exploration - A Brief History of Aspect Ratios (p. 5)
• Further Exploration - Why We Might Like Widescreen so Much (p. 7)
• The Basic Cinematic Building Blocks - An Introduction to Shot Types (p. 8)
• Long Shot/Wide Shot (p. 8)
• Medium Shot (p. 8)
• Close-Up (p. 10)
• The Extended Family of Basic Shots - The Powers of Proximity (p. 11)
• Extreme Long Shot/Extreme Wide Shot (p. 13)
• Very Long Shot/Very Wide Shot (p. 14)
• Long Shot/Wide Shot/Full Shot (p. 15)
• Medium Long Shot/Knee Shot (p. 16)
• Medium Shot/Waist Shot/Mid (p. 17)
• Medium Close-Up/Bust Shot (p. 18)
• Close-Up (p. 19)
• Big Close-Up (UK)/Choker (USA) (p. 20)
• Extreme Close-Up (p. 21)
• Why Do We Even Have Different Shot Types? (p. 23)
• Pulling Images from the Written Page (p. 25)
• Scripts and Script Breakdown (p. 25)
• Shot Lists (p. 25)
• Storyboards (p. 26)
• Phases of Film Production (p. 27)
• Let's Practice (p. 28)
• Chapter One - Review (p. 30)
• Chapter One - Exercises & Projects (p. 30)
• Chapter One - Quiz Yourself (p. 31)
• Chapter 2 The Basics of Composition (p. 33)
• Simple Guidelines For Framing Human Subjects (p. 35)
• Headroom (p. 36)
• Subjective Versus Objective Shooting Styles (p. 38)
• Look Room/Nose Room (p. 40)
• The Rule of Thirds (p. 42)
• Camera Angle (p. 45)
• Horizontal Camera Angles (p. 46)
• Vertical Camera Angles (p. 54)
• The Two-Shot: Frame Composition with Two People (p. 62)
• The Profile Two-Shot (p. 62)
• The Direct-to-Camera Two-Shot (p. 65)
• The Over-the-Shoulder Two-Shot (p. 66)
• The Dirty Single (p. 68)
• The Power Dynamic Two-Shot (p. 69)
• The Three-Shot (p. 70)
• Wrapping up the Basics of Composition (p. 72)
• Chapter Two - Review (p. 73)
• Chapter Two - Exercises & Projects (p. 73)
• Chapter Two - Quiz Yourself (p. 74)
• Chapter 3 Composition - Beyond the Basics (p. 75)
• The Illusion of the Third Dimension (p. 76)
• The Use of Lines (p. 78)
• The Horizon Line (p. 78)
• Vertical Lines (p. 80)
• Dutch Angle (p. 82)
• Diagonal Lines (p. 82)
• Curved Lines (p. 87)
• The Depth of Film Space - Foreground/Middle Ground/Background (p. 89)
• Foreground (p. 89)
• Middle Ground (p. 90)
• Background (p. 90)
• Depth Cues (p. 92)
• Overlapping (p. 92)
• Object Size (p. 92)
• Atmosphere (p. 93)
• The Camera Lens - The Observer of Your Film World (p. 95)
• Primes vs Zooms (p. 95)
• The Prime Lens (p. 96)
• The Zoom Lens (p. 97)
• Lens Perspective (p. 97)
• Lens Focus - Directing the Viewer's Attention (p. 101)
• Pulling Focus or Following Focus (p. 103)
• Chapter Three - Review (p. 106)
• Chapter Three - Exercises & Projects (p. 107)
• Chapter Three - Quiz Yourself (p. 107)
• Chapter 4 Lighting Your Shots - Not Just What You See, but How You See It (p. 109)
• Light as an Element of Composition (p. 110)
• Light as Energy (p. 112)
• Color Temperature (p. 113)
• Color Balance of Your Camera (p. 114)
• Natural and Artificial Light (p. 114)
• Correcting or Mixing Colors on Set (p. 115)
• Quantity of Light: Sensitivity (p. 116)
• Quantity of Light: Exposure (p. 117)
• Quality of Light: Hard Versus Soft (p. 121)
• Hard Light (p. 121)
• Soft Light (p. 122)
• Contrast (p. 124)
• Low-key Lighting (p. 124)
• High-key Lighting (p. 125)
• Color (p. 126)
• Basic Character Lighting: Three-Point Method (p. 128)
• Contrast Ratio or Lighting Ratio (p. 130)
• Motivated Lighting - Angle of Incidence (p. 130)
• Front Lighting (p. 131)
• Side Lighting (p. 132)
• Lights from Behind (p. 132)
• Lights from Other Places (p. 133)
• Set and Location Lighting (p. 135)
• Controlling Light-Basic Tools and Techniques (p. 137)
• Light...and the Light Years of Learning (p. 138)
• Chapter Four - Review (p. 139)
• Chapter Four - Exercises & Projects (p. 149)
• Chapter Four - Quiz Yourself (p. 141)
• Chapter 5 Will it Cut? Shooting for Editing (p. 143)
• The Chronology of Production (p. 144)
• Matching Your Shots in a Scene (p. 146)
• Continuity of Performance (p. 146)
• Continuity of Screen Direction (p. 147)
• The Line - Basis for Screen Direction (p. 159)
• The Imaginary Line - The 180 Degree Rule (p. 151)
• "Jumping the Line" (p. 154)
• The 30 Degree Rule (p. 155)
• Reciprocating Imagery (p. 157)
• Eye-Line Match (p. 160)
• Chapter Five - Review (p. 160)
• Chapter Five - Exercises & Projects (p. 162)
• Chapter Five - Quiz Yourself (p. 163)
• Chapter 6 Dynamic Shots-Subjects and Camera in Motion (p. 165)
• Subjects in Motion - Blocking Talent (p. 155)
• Presentation Speed - Slow Motion and Fast Motion (p. 167)
• Slow Motion - or Overcranking (p. 167)
• Fast Motion - Undercranking (p. 167)
• Camera in Motion (p. 168)
• Handheld (p. 168)
• Pan and Tilt (p. 169)
• Shooting the Pan and the Tilt (p. 173)
• Equipment Used to Move the Camera (p. 175)
• Tripod (p. 175)
• Dolly (p. 176)
• Steadicam (p. 180)
• Cranes and Such (p. 181)
• Chapter Six - Review (p. 182)
• Chapter Six - Exercises & Projects (p. 182)
• Chapter Six - Quiz Yourself (p. 183)
• Chapter 7 Working Practices and General Guidelines (p. 185)
• Slate the Head of Your Shots (p. 186)
• Communicating with Talent (p. 188)
• Safe Action/Safe Title Areas (p. 190)
• How to Manually Focus a Zoom Lens (p. 191)
• Always Have Something in Focus (p. 192)
• Control Your Depth of Field (p. 194)
• Be Aware of Headroom (p. 196)
• Shooting Tight Close-Ups (p. 198)
• Ensure an Eye Light (p. 200)
• Try to Show Both Eyes of Your Subject (p. 202)
• Be Aware of Eye-Line Directions in Closer Shots (p. 204)
• Follow Action with Loose Pan and Tilt Tripod Head (p. 206)
• Shooting Overlapping Action for the Edit (p. 208)
• Continuity of Action (p. 208)
• Matching Speed of Action (p. 208)
• Overlapping Too Much Action (p. 209)
• Storyboards and Shot Lists (p. 210)
• Aim for a Low Shooting Ratio (p. 212)
• Frame for Correct "Look Room" on Shots that Will Edit Together (p. 213)
• Shoot Matching Camera Angles when Covering a Dialogue Scene (p. 214)
• Ways to Cross the 180 Degree Line Safely (p. 216)
• Place Important Objects in the Top Half of Your Frame (p. 218)
• Be Aware of the Color Choices Made Throughout Your Project (p. 219)
• Keep Distracting Objects out of the Shot (p. 220)
• Beware of Continuity Traps While Shooting a Scene (p. 222)
• Use the Depth of Your Film Space to Stage Shots with Several People (p. 224)
• In a Three-Person Dialogue Scene, Matching Two-Shots can be Problematic for the Editor (p. 226)
• Zooming During a Shot (p. 228)
• Motivate Your Truck-In and Truck-Out Dolly Moves (p. 230)
• Allow the Camera More Time to Record Each Shot (p. 232)
• Allow Actions to Complete Before Cutting Camera (p. 234)
• Use Short Focal Length Lenses to Reduce Handheld Camera Shake (p. 235)
• Beware of Wide Lenses when Shooting Close-Up Shots (p. 236)
• Shooting a Chromakey (p. 238)
• Shooting B-Roll, 2 nd Unit, and Stock Footage (p. 240)
• Shooting a Talking Head Interview (p. 242)
• During Documentary Filming, Be as Discreet as Possible (p. 244)
• Chapter Seven - Review (p. 245)
• Chapter Seven - Exercises & Projects (p. 246)
• Chapter Seven - Quiz Yourself (p. 247)
• Chapter 8 A Few Words of Advice (p. 249)
• Know the Rules Before You Break the Rules (p. 250)
• The Reason for Shooting is Editing (p. 251)
• Your Shots Should Enhance the Entire Story (p. 252)
• Involve the Viewer as Much as Possible (p. 253)
• Take Pride in the Quality of your Work and your Set Etiquette (p. 255)
• Know Your Equipment (p. 256)
• Be Familiar with Your Subject (p. 257)
• Understand Lighting - Both Natural and Artificial (p. 258)
• Study What Has Already Been Done (p. 259)
• In Conclusion (p. 260)
• Appendix A Helpful Resources for the New Filmmaker (p. 261)
• Appendix B Essential Crew Positions for Motion Picture Production (p. 265)
• Glossary (p. 267)
• Index (p. 289)