Brief summary on camera techniques - distance
In the image above (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html) it demonstrates many of the shots used within film.
XLS - Extreme Long Shot
LS - Long Shot
MLS - Medium Long Shot
MS - Medium Shot
MCU - Medium Close Up
CU - Close Up
BCU - Big Close Up
XCU - Extreme Cole Up
All these shots give different aspects to film and are essential in helping the film makers deliver their message.
Long shots, which show all or the majority of the subject are used to often to create establishing shot's. These are where the backgrounds are often shown and sets the location for the rest of the section. Long shots can also be used to to draw attention away from certain characters because they can often fit many into that scene.
One way that medium shots can be used is to display emotion, unlike in a long shot where facial expression isn't really picked up upon you can now see it and the effect it cause, body language might also be something that would be picked up upon.
Close ups show the greatest amount of detail and are used for that purpose. An example of a close up could be shooting someones forehead and showing a bead of sweat dropping down in a tense scene. As this is all that the audience would see, it gives it importance due to it being unmissable.
In conclusion the correct distance of shot is important as it impacts the viewer in different ways. If I look to how it is used in Thriller and in particular se7en (see lower in down the page) they use large amount of close ups. As raised in the analysis it not only gives a sense of ambiguity but it also makes sure that the audience has an understanding of what is happening.
Camera technique - Angle
Like
distance, the angle is an important factor to take into consideration
when creating films and are used to affect the way the audience thinks
when seeing something.
Low Angle - This is where the camera is below the subject resulting in them appearing bigger. This can then help show the subject to have power or dominance.
High Angle - This is where the subject is shot from above and has the opposite effect of a low angle shot. When looking down upon the subject it often makes them appear small and weak.
A mix of both these shots in thrillers would be good as it helps show balance between two people which is something that features quite highly in thrillers.
Eye-level - An eye level shot is quite neutral in terms of giving the subject a sense of power, however it shows the audience what it would be like talking to the subject.
Bird's Eye - Birds eye shots are where the camera is at an angle so high it is looking down on the action. These can give the viewer an alternate view on what is happening on screen
Worm's Eye - In this shot the camera is now almost on the floor looking upwards. Shots like this are good to show people walking or like a low angle shot make the subject look more powerful.
Canted - When a shot is taken at an different angle to normal everything appears different and therefore create a sense of unease.
Point-of-view (POV) - This is where a shot is made is displayed as it would be from the subjects view. This is good as it gives a good sense of what the situation would be like to the audience.
How it's applied in thrillers
Although almost all of the above techniques are used in thriller films some of them are used more than others. One of them that appears frequently throughout are close ups. The best example of this is the opening of Se7en (as seen previously in the blog) This uses only close ups and focuses on small details of objects. Doing this creates an ambiguous tone and the fast paced editing combined with the non diegetic sound creates a tense and scary mood.
High and low angled shots are something which also appear to a lot. These help portray things as either bigger or smaller then they would be seen as a eye level shot. By shooting something from above it's going to make the subject look smaller and less threatening whereas something from a low angle will have the reverse affect.
Camera technique - Angle
Low Angle - This is where the camera is below the subject resulting in them appearing bigger. This can then help show the subject to have power or dominance.
High Angle - This is where the subject is shot from above and has the opposite effect of a low angle shot. When looking down upon the subject it often makes them appear small and weak.
A mix of both these shots in thrillers would be good as it helps show balance between two people which is something that features quite highly in thrillers.
Eye-level - An eye level shot is quite neutral in terms of giving the subject a sense of power, however it shows the audience what it would be like talking to the subject.
Bird's Eye - Birds eye shots are where the camera is at an angle so high it is looking down on the action. These can give the viewer an alternate view on what is happening on screen
Worm's Eye - In this shot the camera is now almost on the floor looking upwards. Shots like this are good to show people walking or like a low angle shot make the subject look more powerful.
Canted - When a shot is taken at an different angle to normal everything appears different and therefore create a sense of unease.
Point-of-view (POV) - This is where a shot is made is displayed as it would be from the subjects view. This is good as it gives a good sense of what the situation would be like to the audience.
How it's applied in thrillers
Although almost all of the above techniques are used in thriller films some of them are used more than others. One of them that appears frequently throughout are close ups. The best example of this is the opening of Se7en (as seen previously in the blog) This uses only close ups and focuses on small details of objects. Doing this creates an ambiguous tone and the fast paced editing combined with the non diegetic sound creates a tense and scary mood.
High and low angled shots are something which also appear to a lot. These help portray things as either bigger or smaller then they would be seen as a eye level shot. By shooting something from above it's going to make the subject look smaller and less threatening whereas something from a low angle will have the reverse affect.
What camera techniques are associated with thrillers and bollywood?
ReplyDelete