Cinematographic Techniques

Well I dont know when they started shooting during the night but in the old days, they were shooting night scenes during the day and just added a black filter to the lense. If you take for exemple the bridge ob the river kwai that was release in the 60's during night scenes you can see that they have shadows because they were shot at day. It was just an intresting fact. I think scenes were darker before because of the camera. They had issues capturing light as of now, even in the dark cinema cameras excell at that task.

Yeah that's true. Another movie that did day for night is On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but in this section, you can see day change to night in the different shots:

a topic about deus ex machina?

Things to look for when analysing a movie

Actors:
Check for blocking, how the actors moves in the space, interract with each other. Check also the eye lines- where are the character looking? Ask yourself what would you do differently if you were the director.
Lighting:
Note everything about lighting. What type of light were used. Is the light warm or cold. Note the shadow location and try guessing why were they present. Is it low-key or high-key, is there a lot of contrast or not. Identify the type of light you see. Is it bouncing light, reflected lights, soft light, hard light, etc... Guess what equipement was used to achieved that particular look. Try with a pen and paper to recreate the overall outline of where would you place the lights, reflectors and other lighting related object in the space of the scene to achieve the visual aspect of the scene.
Editing:
Count the number of shot in the scene. Once done, divide that number by the running time of the sceene to get your Average Shot Lenght (ASL). Note wich type of cut it was and what it add to the scene. Ask yourself why did they cut at that particular frame. Did the cut convey meaning? If yes how and which feeling. Does the feeling fit the scene? Try taking the scene and re-edit it. If you were the director how would you have done it.
Camera angle:
Look at what type of shot you have. For the sake of the experiment, limit yourself to three at first. Once used to it, you'll be able to increase the number. Begin with the Long Shot, Medium Shot and Close-Up. Ask yourself why they chose those shot sizes. What those sizes allow you to see (what is framed) and what can you not see (what is beyond the frame). For exemple, during a close-up, you are unlikely going to see a second person in the frame which makes it more personnal, etc... You should also look for the angle of the camera itself. Is it a Low Angle Shot or a High Angle Shot and why. Can you, with the angle of the camera, understand power dynamics. And again, if you were the director what would have you done.
Camera movement:
First of all, is the camera moving? If not why? If it is moving, is it fast or slow, hand held or stable, What gear did they use -crane, steadycam, dolly, etc...- and why did they move it in that partiular way? Imagine the scene with a static shot or with a different movement. Imagine being on location and having to decide how to move the camera.
Sound design:
Turn off the visual. By now, you know by heart the visual of the scene so close your eyes or look away and note which sound you hear. Note them all and then check which one are louder. Then once done multiple time, turn on the visual and check if they're sound that were not mixed and why were they not present.
Music:
First of all, is there music? If not, why? What would happen if there were music. You can edit the scene and had the music to it to see. If there is music, turn off the visual once more and note which type of music it is. For exemple is it country, Jazz, Blues, etc... Note also the feeling you live. Does it make you sad, happy, stress, etc... Does the feeling of the music match the feeling of the scene. Ask yourself would you have had music or not. If yes what type of music?
Color:
Finally, try to see what the color says about the movie. Is the overall tone unsettling, is it cold or warm, is it scary or welcoming, saturated or not, is there a recurrent color or things that pop out, etc... You can also colorgrade the scene yourself trying to convey different meaning just by the use of color.

That's a great basic primer, Oliver. I'm sure I'd learn a lot by analyzing movies in that manner. Especially since today, there are so many poor movies, that spending time trying to figure out their shortfalls might make the experiences better..

Yeah but it takes time. Today was the first time I tried step by step to analyse a scene and a single scene of 4 minutes took me 2 hours. Now I hope with time I'll get used to it and it will go faster but on the meantime, it is a kind of pain in the ass

I take it that you're a film student, or perhaps just an interested layman?

I will study movie thus year but not at film school. It will be at a university. But what is a layman?

If Doc doesn't mind I'll answer that. A layman is someone who's interested in a subject but not pursuing it professionally. It's not derogatory. So in this case a layman would be someone interested in film theory but not actually pursing it as a career.

Yes, that's it exactly, CR. Cheers...

So as a hobby or is it more than just a hobby?

Another technique which a lot of people consider really cheesy nowadays is the freeze frame. You see it a lot in older movies, and it hasn't seemed to age well.

But, one movie I thought where the freeze from does not look so cheesy is here, at 4:38 into the clip:



Unless I am wrong and it still looks cheesy...