Camera shots and angles.

In week 2, we learnt about different camera angles and what they mean. Here are my notes i took, with added annotation.

Different Shots.
Close up. (CU)
A close up usually shows a person or object in the frame. it shows part of the person or object in detail. An example of this would be a frame containing the characters face, or a frame containing writing in a book. In a close up view, it is easy to see the small details, such as facial expressions and minor things you would not be able to see in a long shot view.

Extreme close up. (ECU)
An extreme close up is used in a film to show small details in a scene. It might be used in a thriller to reveal small clues, for example having an extreme close up of a persons hand reaching for a gun. You would not be able to see the persons face, just their hand - this would create mystery.
Mid Shot. (MS)
A mid shot view is from just below the waist to just above the head. This view allows you to see the facial expressions in clearly as well as the actions and pose they are doing. In a thriller, this shot could be used to see a victim running away from somebody.

Long sh

ot. (LS)

A long shot is a frame where you can see the persons whole body. This would be useful for someone walking or moving.

Extreme long shot. (ELS)

In an extreme long shot you are able to see the whole characters body, and quite a lot of the surrounding environment/scenery.  This shot is important if the subject is changing locations, because it allows the audience to see where the subject is. It lets the audience know where the video is taking place.

Over the shoulder shot. (OS)/(OTS)

In  a film or video, an over the shoulder shot is taken from behind the character focusing on what is in front of the character. This shot is often used when two people are having a discussion, this enables us to place the characters in their setting, or point of view.

There are many other different shots. The 'inbetween' views, and other shots. For example:

MLS - medium long shot, which is in between long shot, and mid shot. From the top of a persons thighs to their head.

MCU- medium close up, a cross between close up and mid shot, A persons upper torso, shoulders and head.

2 shot: a shot with 2 people in. This is a good way to introduce a convocation.

Different Angles.  

Birds-eye view.

This view is taken from directly overhead makes the subject look like their being watched. It puts the audience in a God-like position, looking down on the action.

High-angle shot.
This shot is taken from a high angle, looking down at the subject. It makes the subject seem small, vulnerable, or powerless.
Eye level.
The camera shot is taken from eye level, which is a fairly neutral shot. It allows us to see the characters and what they are doing. Is angle is used a lot in most films. It doesn't take power away from the character, or doesnt add power either. it is neutral

Low-angle shot.

This show is taken from a lower angle than the object, looking upwards at it. This can make the object seem heroic or important, or if the camera is from a persons perspective, it can make that person seem inferior. 

Worm-shot view.

This view is taken from a very low angle, as if the camera was the 'worm'. It might be used if somebody is talking past and the camera is on the ground looking upwards. This could create mystery, as you would not be able to see the persons face very well. 

Canted.

This is when the camera or frame is tilted to the side. It can create a distortion to the view. An example could be if somebody was being chased by a zombie. 

Camera movement. 

Pan: this is the movement which scans horizontally. It is often used to pivot, and follow the direction of a person walking.
Tilts: A movement which tilts vertically. It could be used when introducing a new character.
Dolly shots: also known as Trucking or Tracking. It is when the camera moves alongside the action. For example attached to a car, plane or person.
Hand held shots/point of view (POV): this movement can sometimes be 'julty' and inconsistent. It is held by a character or someone in action. It can often give the effect as if you are taking part in the action.
Crane shots: A dolly shot in the air.
Zoom lenses: when the camera magnifies the image while on record. This can be to emphasize a feature of the frame or shot.
Ariel shot: A shot usually taken looking down from a helicopter. You can zoom in or out of the scene to add effect.

Se7en - video tagging.

This is a part of the conventions of a thriller lesson we had a few weeks ago.
We watched the opening of the thriller Se7en and discussed what it was about the opening that made it a thriller film. Using iMovie, we split the clip up, and analyzed it. We didn't have long to do this, therefore our groups video tagging video is short. Enjoy :)

Audience Expectations of Thrillers

When somebody goes to watch a thriller, they would expect to see certain things in the film or they would have particular expectations..... for example, they would NOT expect to see any kind of UFO or Spaceship, because those are the types of things you would see in a Science Fiction film. They would NOT be expecting to see flowers, cupcakes, and princesses, because those types of films would (commonly) be labelled as 'Chick Flicks'.  Therefore, i was posed the question of "What makes up a thriller?" and "What are the audience expectations of a thriller?"

After doing some research of my own, and some internet surfing, i found a list of things an audience would expect to see in a thriller film:

• a death
• shaddows
• the hero, and the bad guy, the 'cool' guy
• tense music
• some sort of relationship
• to be kept on the edge of my seat
• confusing
• dark cunning plans
• night time shots
• light bulbs
• guns or knives
• sound effects
• a twist in the story line
• unexpected events
• excitement-adreleline/thrills
• scary bits
• creepy parts
• depth in the plot
• intriguing moments
• build up in the story line, or in a scene

As well as most of the above, there are two main things that make up a thriller overall....and that is suspense and mystery. Without either of those two concepts, the movie would definitely not be a thriller! 

9-Frame Analysis.

We were asked the first week to do a 9-frame analysis of a thriller movie. I chose to analyse Shutter Island, as i knew it was a good film to analyse.

SHUTTER ISLAND


The first frame of the film is the title screen. The white and grey writing is a good contrast to the black background. The gradient of the writing also has the 'discoloured' look to it. This could help set the genre of thriller.
This frame is a front-on-view of the ship. It is a long shot (LS) view of the ship coming out of mist. This has a good effect as the it builds anticipation of what might be coming out of the fog.

1) In the next frame you can see somebody hunched over,but only half of their body, as the wall is in the way of their head. the camera then changes to a close mid-shot, over the shoulder view into a mirror so you can see the characters face. It is still dark in the restroom, but there is a light source coming from the left of the screen. Its daylight not artificial light.

 2) The next frame is a mid-shot (MS) of the character turning around. His talking to himself. You can see his surroundings and his in a restroom of the ship. You can tell this because of the small round window where the light was coming through, and because of the small shelves, and sink.

3)Frame 5 is a Close up of him looking out the window side view. you can see his face and outside the window. He whispers to himself, and carries on staring out of the window. From seeing him talking to himself, this could mean he is mentally unstable, and could foreshadow what happens at the end of the film.

4)He quickly moves, you can then see a close up of him washing his hands in a small basin, and the camera moves upwards (pedestal movement) with a front on view of the character. He then splashes the water over his face, and walks out of the room.

5)The shot then changes, and its a LS view of him putting his jacket on and walking out of the toilet. The camera focus changes from being focused on the hanging chains to the character in the background. The camera pivots and follows the direction his walking in (pan). 6)While he walks, he pulls the rest of the jacket on.

7)The next frame is a mid-shot view of him coming through a metal doorway, into the daylight outside.

8) The camera flashes from him as a mid-shot frame, to another man standing outside by the edge of the ship in LS view.

9)And then back to him as mid shot view. His expression has changed to a slightly more angry or sinister expression.

To watch Shutter Island, the link below is where I took the pictures from:

http://www.solarmovie.eu/movie/playlink/id/310722/part/1/

Monday 26th September 2011

There are 3 techniques often used in movies/clips to make them look good. 

One of these techniques is called 'Match of action'. This is when the action continues from where it left off, this happens when the camera angle changes, but then the action is still continuing. An example would be when someone is walking and the camera angle changes, but the person is still in the same place where they were before the camera changed angles, .... i.e. they didn't go back to the beginning of the path and shoot the new angle, they paused until the camera was ready for them to continue. 

This makes the film clip flow better, so its not 'jumpy' or 'julty'. 
You can see a video example of this on the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR3LXTIKfTM

The second technique we were told to research about was called 'Shot reverse shot'. A shot reverse shot is when for example, one character is looking at another character (off screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Because the characters are shown facing opposite directions, the audience/viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. 
Click on the link below for a video example of 'shot reverse shot': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLkUHZ1qips (the video is not the same as the link i have, because it wouldn't let me upload the link) ... ?  
(**forward the video on my blog to 0:55 seconds.) 

The third technique we looked at was the '180 degrees rule'. This rule meant that when a character looks at somebody there is an invisible line which goes from one characters eyes to the others. When filming two people talking, when you jump from one shot to another, you cannot cross this line. If you cross the line from one character to another the scene will not flow as smoothly, and won't look like the two characters are talking to each other but instead to another person. Say for example, a car exited the screen from the right.... you would expect in the next frame for it to enter from the left. Leaving from the right and entering from the right will create a similar sense of disorientation as in the dialogue example.
If the rule were to be broken, then this would confuse the viewer, and won't have as big as effect on the movie as it would have if it were filmed properly.
Here is a clip that shows the 180 degree rule: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14&NR=1

Genre Conventions

Lesson aims:

- to know the concepts of a thriller film

DEXTER.

We started this lesson by watching a few opening credits to thriller movies or thriller TV series. Mainly focusing on one TV series called Dexter. Not knowing what this series was about, we all had to write down why we felt it was a thriller and not a romance or comedy series...etc. 

The opening TV clip showed a man going through his morning routine, starting with shaving his stubble, making breakfast, and getting dressed. Although this sounds relatively normal, the director of the short clip filmed and edited it in a way to make it grimly unnatural. The first example being the main character (male) in the clip being woken up, not by an alarm clock, but by a gnat/insect sucking blood from his arm. The man then swats the insect against his skin, squashing it. 

The next frame of the clip was the title. A very slightly distorted font of 'DEXTER' came up in red on the cream coloured background, next to the title came a blood spatter. This was a tell-tale sign of the TV series NOT being a romance or comedy. The reason for this being that blood is a sign of pain, or murder, and those two concepts are not in the genre's of comedy or romance but usually thriller or horror (which we also discussed in lesson the differences between). 

The next few frames of the opening credits clip were of the male shaving his stubble. We did not see the mans face, but were shown a close up of the blade against his neck, and a few droplets of blood dripping into the sink from where he must have cut himself. This clip as well as his cutting the meat, breaking the egg, grinding the coffee beans, gripping the coffee filter handle, cutting the BLOOD orange, gripping the floss around his fingers and many more short actions are shown in a slow and forceful way, rather than doing it casually without forceful effect. 

The opening credits for Dexter had hidden meaning in the everyday morning routine. After the man had finished his breakfast and made himself some coffee and orange juice he then flosses his teeth. Which admittedly not many people do, however the way he wraps the floss tightly around his fingers, which maybe suggests strangling somebody with rope. The same hidden effect happens when he ties the laces for his shoes. There is also another more prominent message in the clip, and that is the element of death or murder. At many points in the opening credits, we see blood. For example at the beginning when the insect is extracting blood from the mans arm, when the man cuts himself while shaving, when he cuts the BLOOD orange, and also when he has his breakfast, there is some sort of red substance on his plate, probably being ketchup. 

The sound effects of the actions the man does has a big part in how we feel about the action. An example being when he shaves his neck the editor emphasises the scraping noise against his skin, making me grimace. And as well, when he frys his meat, it isn't a gradual noise getting louder, it hits the pan making a loud sizzling noise.

The music in the background is a simple tune of jingles from some sort of chime, a few bongo type drums  and other percussion instruments, in a slow to mid pace, making the music sound casual. As if he did that routine every morning. 

The clip ends with the man putting on a fresh white T-shirt and revealing his face, looking into the camera for the first time. He then looks again at the camera while walking and nods, as if he was a normal 'passer-byer'. Not being able to see his face for the whole of the clip up until the end gives off the mystery to who this man is. It gives us suspense so we will keep on watching.

This ending suggest that most of the mans forcefulness and murder plans are behind closed doors, and perhaps the majority of people in the TV series do not know that he is a murderer. 

Many of the aspects of the Dexter TV series are in most Thriller movies and series. Below i have attatched the brainstorm of what makes up a thriller genre. 

>>>>   https://bubbl.us/?h=a4aad/138c6f/670.Pr6PJh5Gs