Camera angles

Camera angles are very important in how the audience views and sees and feels about the subject in the film. There are subjective shots and objective shots. Subjective shots are shots that are pretty much filmed from a subject’s point of view. A great example of this would be the 1947 film “Lady in the Lake” directed by Robert Montgomery, with Paul Vogel being the cinematographer which was one the first movies to be shot using this technique. The film was shot entirely from the main character view and he is very rarely seen in the movie except for a few mirror shots. It’s a very tricky technique to pull off and not been widely used in cinema, whereas objective shots are more common and are used in almost every movie. Objective shots aren’t filmed from any certain perspective within the frame but it is more commonly described as audience’s point of view. There are also many different types of camera angles and there are two ways in which it can be interpreted. Some would specifically only mean what angle the camera is from the subject, for example high angle and low angle. Others generally would focus on that and also focus on how the shot is framed and composed. The most basic being the long shot, medium shot and close up. An extreme long shot is widely used to establish a shot, giving the viewers a look at the surroundings and sometimes setting the mood, this is an objective shot. It’s not often seen in movies with any other use than that. Next is the long shot, which is usually used to show the whole subject from head to toe and still gives the viewers some idea of the surroundings. Medium shots are the most common in movies and usually cover from the knee upwards. It brings us closer to the subject and gives us a better look at the interaction the character has with surroundings and other characters. Close ups lets the views come close to the subject and gives them more detail into that characters emotions and personality. Close ups can also be used for inserts to highlight important things within the scene.

The eye level camera angle is the most commonly used in movies; it allows the audience to be level with the subject and makes them feel neutral and more comfortable with the subject. High angles however are more unsettling, it gives the viewers an idea that the subject is exposed, it gives the viewers the thought that something bad might happen. Alfred Hitchcock has used this technique in numerous of his films to create a feeling suspense. A low angle shots are placed below the subject and tilt upwards and is used to create the opposite effect of the high angle. It symbolises a sense of power and significance to the subject. The low angle shot also isolates most of the foreground and only part of the background can be seen, the subject dominates the screen and all viewers’ attention is on them. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a great example of this as he often uses the low angle when showing The Joker. The Dutch angle is not that commonly seen in movies but is basically when the camera is tilted. The tilt symbolises a feeling of unbalance and that is the feeling it tries to give to the audience.

CONTINUITY

Continuity is one of the hardest aspects of filming a movie and is vital in keeping the film as close to real as possible. The director, along with special crew members are hired to keep track of any continuity issues that they may see and get a reshoot done. Though bad continuity does not necessarily decide whether a film is good or bad as many successful films such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and many others have all had errors.

Cutting

Close-ups

Compositions

- 5 C's of cinematography

- the frame

- camera (settings, shutter speed, exposure, Depth of field)

- colour temperature

- lighting and colour (hard and soft light, 3point lighting)

- composition (framing, camera angles)

- Aspect ratios

- long shot, close up,.... (importance/meaning in film)

- establishing shot, tracking, panning, tilting

- camera lens

- stages of film

- cinematography styles

- film crew (focus on cinematography crew)

- Choose a few cinematographers & DoPs and talk about their work.

- References

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14