Giving Shots Purpose

Time and time again, I've seen shots in films and games that have no real purpose or focus. You should be able to justify each shot as to what it's for, and what it's trying to do to tell a story.

I'll start with the example of a simple establishing shot. Often, I see a shot like this;

Although it establishes the location, if we cut to a shot of the character right after, the viewer would have no idea where in this city we are supposed to be. Plus, there is no singular focus to the shot. What's the point? Where does our eye go?

In the next example, our focus is in the center of frame, and we push through the city to reveal a bright blue swimming pool and then our hero swimming in it. Now we know where exactly we are, and what the focus is.

Always think of shots in terms of what would you, the film maker, want to show the viewer to tell the story. Always think in terms of clear focus. Could you tell the story in a series of stills without needing dialogue? If you can't, try to simplify your shots into beats that have distinct purpose. Here's a scene from "The Road", that is powerful and requires no dialogue.

In the first few shots, we see that the setting is a dead forest surrounding a road. Two characters emerge from a large, pointy overturned stump. The color is bleak and dark, and the characters are wearing coats. The feeling is cold, death and despair.    

 Following the set-up, we see that the road the characters are traveling on is in very bad shape after a landslide. They have a shopping cart full of supplies, are having a hard time traversing the decaying road, but are warm with each other. Obviously they are on the road to leave this desolate land, are friends or family and have everything they own with them.

 Showing the characters off to the side, and small in frame, signifies their weakness. The surroundings show there is no life. Thousands of dead trees in the water show that something awful and abnormal has happened. 

 The characters pull out a ripped map to show the road that has been established and where they are. A tree falling in the background confirms that the world is dying around them.

Finally we see a hint of civilization, but the gas station is abandoned, and all gas is gone. More than a simple forest fire, something is seriously wrong with the world.

 The characters scavenge through a town trying to find supplies, but the only thing they find is a little piece of bone with some rotten meat on it. It looks like a great find to them, and the older man gives it to the boy to eat. Obviously he cares more for the boy than himself, and that survival is almost impossible in this dead world.

So, there's just one example of a powerful scene that required nothing but simple and powerful images strung together in a sequence. If you add sound and motion, it could be even more powerful, but the foundation is there. If you build your foundation on dialogue, the scene will be flat.