Writing Cinematically: Your Story From the Best Possible Angle

I felt the pulse before paying my cover. 

The heat, the swaying bodies, the colorful lights, breaths full of more than I could name, these sensations hit all at once. The floor was alive with more people than this old, downtown club had ever seen in months. They were here to hear the voice that touched their souls and the strange instrument that accompanied her. 

No one knew or cared who either of them were or why they were there. The people had their music, and that was all they needed. I pretended to take my place among them, urging myself closer to the stage.

It was the horn player I saw first. Some kind of horn, it had to be. She caressed it like a lover, moving her fingers with abandon, never staying on one note too long. Her hair stayed obediently back, not daring to interrupt or fall into her eyes, which only opened to briefly meet those of the singer, or her concentrated brows. The singer’s rich tones spoke my language, but it was as though I was hearing each word for the first time. She danced, reached out to the crowds, bound them together, and set them free.

Their sound was exquisite. The horn and voice were conversing, as if something was left unresolved and their music was the only way to figure it out. 

In a few minutes, I had nearly forgotten why I was there until I was jostled around by a few of the dancers who had no idea they’d provided me with a nearly perfect vantage point. A man with luminescent white, slicked-back hair, an immaculate skin-tight suit, large sunglasses, and a conspicuous smirk swirled a wine glass in his hand that he likely had no intention of drinking.  

Instinctively reaching down to my pocket, I activated a small recording device before making my way towards him. I knew exactly what he was there for, and I was going to make him fall. 

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You know you enjoy a book when you can imagine every scene and impress your image of the characters and setting. Every form of storytelling, including books and movies, relies on a person’s perception.

The question becomes, “How can writers appeal to the senses, make them see and feel what I or the character sees and feels?”

No one will know your story as well as you do, and your audience will not have the same experience of your story as you, the author. When you write your book, you can make your case. When your book is in the hands of your audience, their experiences shape what your story becomes over time.

Storytellers have endeavored to appeal to the senses for as long as they have existed, and with the advent of film, we have given one of those methods a name. 

To “write cinematically” is to use writing to shift perspective on a scene, to show your audience what you want them to see. Roy Peter Clark uses camera angles to describe this technique. 

For example, an establishing shot, to a writer, would be a vivid description of a setting, something that shows the tone the story is supposed to take. This point of view lets your audience know what the author’s world looks and feels like. 

A close-up, on the other hand, can get close enough to a character to scrutinize their face, close enough to an animal to pinpoint unique markings, or close enough to a part of the setting that’s significant to the story. 

In this list of camera shot types, CineSalon shows how different camera angles in film are often used to match how the subject of the shot is portrayed.  Consider the over-the-hip shot:

“In this type of shot, the camera is placed in a position where a character’s hip can be seen in the foreground. This is usually used when one character is standing. The main character you want to focus on is sitting or kneeling. It is also best used to suggest a power imbalance between the two subjects.”

Now, translate this to writing. A child was framed for the misdeeds of his classmate, and he was sent to the principal’s office. The principal stands behind the desk, looking stern and delivering a lecture about practical jokes that the child barely hears. The child looks confused and terrified, not knowing how to defend himself, but certain he did not commit the crime. Looking at this scene through an “over-the-hip” shot, we get a full picture of the child’s face and posture, sitting helplessly. Like the child, we don’t hear what the principal is saying, but we recognize the power imbalance and we’re rooting for the child to find a way to defend himself in a way that the principal would understand. 

Practical Exercises

1. How many “angles” can you pick out from my nightclub scene? How do they influence the way you view the space and feel about the characters?
   

2. Take a scene that you’ve written or a scene from a book you enjoy. Pick out a shot type from CineSalon’s list, and try to re-write the scene using a different perspective. After re-writing the scene, how does your understanding of the story change?
   

3. Find a place to take some pictures. Take pictures from different distances and different angles. Zoom in, zoom out. What do you notice about each picture? Even the smallest crack in the sidewalk that you notice between one picture and the next can make a vital difference. Then, imagine a character there. They could be a character from your book or someone else’s book. What is that character’s perception of that scene, and what are they doing there? If you zoomed in, what would your character notice and how would they feel?

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