Research: Cinematography (Ms Begum)

What is cinematography?
Cinematography looks at Different angles of which a shot framed at and also the movement of the camera. The audience will then build up a better opinion of the character and respond in different ways.

The Different Camera shots
There are many different terms used in modern day movies these days. Panning shot for example is where the camera moves across the screen often showing what is in view, this term is often used in films or TV shows to follow where someone is walking. Panning shot allows the audience to see what kind of environment the character is in, The Video below is an example of a panning shot.

Another term used is a Tilt shot, this is when the camera moves up or down at an object being photographed or is the main centre of attention. Tilt shots are often used to create more of an dramatic feeling than a normal straight shot would. For example, if someone is giving someone else a dirty look from head to toe a tilt shot will be used in a situation as that. The use of a tilt shot can influence how the audience will interpret the character in the frame.

A Crane shot, is a dolly shot but airborne. A crane is a large, piece of heavy equipment which is useful for moving left, right, up, down, zooming in on something or zooming out diagonally. If a crane shot is of a character or the people around the character it can make them seem insignificant and meaningless to the audience for example crane shots are often used in action films where the main character is walking through a crowd of people.

The Zoom shots are often used to capture emotion in a characters face, or to get away from something by zooming out. Zoom shots can decide how the audience may feel towards something they've just witnessed. For example a long shot of a crying child wont mean anything to the audience but when zoomed in and capturing the child's facial expression then the audience may start to feel sympathy towards the child. 

The Point of view is in other words known as 1st person where it looks like its from a personal view.This will also have the audience put themselves in that particular situation or imagine that happening to them etc. Point of view thriller scenes which has a Protagonist for example about to open a door or walk around a corner will often have low-key lighting setting and fast pace music to create tension and suspense amongst the audience. 

Close Up

Close ups shows very little background and mainly concentrates on a face or a very detailed Mise-en-scene which could be a object. Close ups magnifies the object or an expression on a person. by doing this close ups takes us into the mind of the character.

Se7en

Extreme Close up

Extreme close up is used to emphasize a facial feature, emotion or movement. For example a extreme close-up of a face for instance will show the mouth or eyes with hardly any background features depending on the angle is shot is taken from. The image below is a close up of harry potter, the audience can interpret that his facial expressions are motion less as there's a figure of  another man in his glasses lenses which suggest there must be a connections between the two.

Harry Potter

Mid Shot

A mid-shot is a shot of a character from the knees/waist up, most mid shots are normally used to show some detail of action. For example the mid-shot in the image below of John Mac Lane in Die hard, the Audience can immediately signal to the audience that he has been in some sort of struggle where he has either injured or killed another character.

Long Shot

A long shot allows the audience to see a full size image of the character from head to toes. it doesn't necessary has to be a character for example, a movie could have a long shot of a moon which then the camera zooms into the moon and zooms out of a persons eye. Long shots allow the audience to see the characters full body and also in some cases the surroundings that the character is in.

Camera Angles

High Angle

Not so extreme as a bird's eye view, high angles shot are taken when the camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give the audience a general overview. High angles make the objects/characters less significant or less scary.

 Psycho

Low Angle

Low angles are useful as they increase the height of a character and gives of a sense of fast motion at times. most low angle shots can sometimes give of of a sense of confusion and superiority. The background of all low angle shots tend to be the sky or a ceiling as they all lack detail adds to the disorientating effect.

Se7en

Filming Techniques

Hand Held

The camera moves with the person as the camera is hand held. Hand held cameras are often used in budget/amateur movie clips such as a school project. The audience may not like this as the camera operation could have shaky hands and ruin a good scene.

I learned the combinations of different camera features and how with a variety of different movements can you get the most out of a shot. I also learned how the name cinematography came about from where it origins from. 

When working on my own thriller i will be using Close ups, Mid shots and low angle shots to help make my thriller trailer as dark and mysterious as possible.