Cinematography

Cinematography is the process of many shots used in the film industry to capture fast paced scenes, emotions, reactions and surroundings for the audience to see and view. Cinematography contains the three elements of camera shots, camera angles, and camera movement.

Each element contains a number of shots used for film which are

1.    Camera shots: Master shot, Establishing shot, extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, medium close up, close up, extreme close up and a two-shot. Camera shots are important as they are used in films the most and are the most important.

·         Medium Shot (MS) - Shows the character from waist up usually. It also captures action well and shows detail in the shot.

·         Long shot (LS) - Shows full body shots of people of what they are doing also surroundings of areas for example forests.

·         Extreme long shot (ELS) – This shot is similar to an establishing shot as it shows full surroundings of the location.

2.    Camera Angles: High Angle, Low Angle, The Bird's-Eye view, Eye Level, and Oblique/Canted Angle.

·         High Angle -   Makes a person look small or with less authority to another.

·         Low Angle – Makes the person look big and powerful by looking the dominant force.

3.    Camera Movement: Panning shot, Tilt shot, Crane shot, Zoom, Point of view, Dolly shot, Hand-held shots, and Aerial Shot.

·         Panning shot – Camera moves across the room showing what’s in view. Usually used when someone is walking.

·         Tilt shot – Camera moves up and down. If someone is giving someone a dirty look from head to toe.

·         Crane shot – On a crane the crane movement can be quite flexible.

·         Zoom – Captures emotion or get away from it and also zooming in to objects to find something out.

·         Point of view – When a shot is presented from someone’s own view to create tension and suspense.

Frame restrictions

Action is tough to pursue in close up, and in small compact areas to contain the subjects movements, the subject might pass through the frame. It is risky using action in tight places unless your narrative or director wishes the subject to leave the frame and to lost action, that’s why frames are often wide in these scenes so that the audience may follow the movement. Where action can be expected for example someone standing the can normally hold the shot.

Camera movement

Subjects moving towards or away from the camera are more likely to stay in the frame than movement across the shot. When in filming the scene I as the camera man can move across the scene by panning with it although there is the trouble of the pan might overreach and shoot past the vital area.  There are other options for example cutting at the start if a move to another camera, to watch a subject enter the scene thus being appropriate.

In this video I will identify the 3 elements used in this scene to show my understandings of cinematography by explaining how each particular main shot was used by relating it to thriller.

In this scene from Child's Play 2 it shows the use of 2 elements of cinematography which are camera shots and camera movement.

The first shot shows the use of a medium shot of one woman and a toy like creature which can also been shown as a two-shot. This shot is used to intimacy of the conversation between the two people also as a medium shot to show settings of the scene as the audience understand that they are driving in a car. The two-shot shows the body language between the two as the female seems scared and intermediated by the toy as his voice is strong and demanding also as he waves around his knife around her this proving his dominance in the thriller.

The last element I have identified in this scene is a movement shot. A tracking shot is used to show the female's car moving fast as this draws in the viewer as a police car starts to follow them. This shot is used to make the audience understand why she is getting chased as the toy creature tells her to hurry up from before and threatens her. This builds up tension as the police chasing the female and toy inside the car put a dent in their goal.

In this second scene from Child's play 2 it shows the last camera element of camera angles. In this scene we see a police officer investigate a woman in a car from her window. As we see the office stand above her the audience are introduced to a high angle this is shown to show the police officer talk down to the female, implying his higher authority and power as the stronger person as he looks around the car and asks the female various questions and the female answer them anxiously. The low angle shot shown on the female makes her look small and weak as she looks up to the male officer weary and uncertain, the uses of these angles create a dramatic effect.

After analysing these two scenes from Child's Play 2 I felt that the camera shots, angles and movement used relate to my own production because of the way it is presented to the audience as both the main characters in these scenes are similar to my own as the female being shown as a scared portrayer and the toy evil and devious. Nearly every shot except the tracking shot shows facial and body language from the female and toy which are similar to my own narrative in production. Both scenes shots are well taken and portray each character's perception for example in the high-angle shot over the female makes her look vulnerable and powerless towards the police officer this shot helped me understand how to re-create my shot of by making my main character look worried and frightened.

The most common way of changing a shot is by zooming or dollying (tracking) to loosen the frame. As my role of being the camera man I can readjust the shot, so that I can include or exclude other information; by zooming in the audience will be able to see the detail better or for the use of excluding any eye catching distractions.

Switching to another camera in production immediately changes the shot size which is commonly the length of the shot or relocates the audience’s viewpoint. The editor of my production can change the shot size and direction on final cut pro, by doing this though it might confuse my groups target audience especially if they’re not able to identify the viewpoint. However if they’re expecting the sudden change by the set of narrative, we would be able to introduce normal switches to extreme ones for example overhead shots. Disadvantages of switching are reverse cuts and rediscoveries as my editor must learn to keep a focused eye when arranging shots as they are troubling to watch.