Magnitude and Convention

Magnitude

Before shooting a scene, it is most important for the movie maker to know whether to shoot the for a large theater projection or for a small television screen. The medium in which the film is showcased is taken into consideration when filming because a film that was shot for the big screen can lose effect when shown on a small television screen, and the reversal could also be true. To me, this sounds like something that can be very frustrating for directors and editors. When the movie is first released, for the most part, it will be shown on a large theater screen, but eventually it will go to DVD. So, when shooting a scene both mediums will have to be taken into consideration and the director and the editor would have to work closely in order for the movie not to lose too much of its effect when edited for the small screen. Some movies are made for the big screen and just lose the grandeur on a small screen. I notice this mostly with action films. When there are car chases and explosions, the bigger the better!

Convention

As the audience, we have become accustomed to many antics and elements often used in movies that we would not accept in reality, but find that it is OK in film. There are conventions used by filmmakers that we will not question or think twice upon, such as, when music starts to play we do not look around for the orchestra, or when a movie is shown in black-and-white we do not question where all the color went. We simply accept that these are the conventions used in film.