Camera Angles and Techniques

I am going to list all of the camera angles and techniques we hope to use in our opening scene. I will be explaining what each of the camera angles are and why we want to use them in our media product.

Camera Angles:

The camera angle marks the specific location at which a camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles and give a different experience and sometimes emotion.

Close Up Shot:

In film, a close up shot tightly frames a person or an object. Close up shots are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots. Close up shots display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close up shot or away from a close up shot is a common type of zooming.

We are going to use a close up shot in our opening scene in order to distinguish our main character as well as to show detail; such as characters emotion. This shot should help to create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful.

Medium Shot:

In film, a medium shot is a camera shot from a medium distance. A medium shot is usually a shot of a person from the knees up/waist up, however in some standard texts and professional references, a full length view of a human subject is called a medium shot.

We are going to use a medium shot in our opening scene as they are relatively good at showing a characters facial expression and body language, depending on where the character is placed in the shot. This again will create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful. We are also going to use a medium shot to represent the importance of the character in our opening scene to an audience.

Long Shot:

In film a long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. It has been suggested that long shot ranges usually correspond to approximately what would be the distance between the front row of the audience and the stage in live theatre. It is now common to refer to a long shot as a "wide shot" because it often requires the use of a wide angle lens. When a long shot is used to set up a location and its participants in film, it is called an establishing shot.

We are going to use a long shot in our opening scene to show shots of thrilling action in order to create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful. We are also going to use a long shot to establish different locations to an audience which all have significant importance to the rest of the film, hopefully creating un answered questions and confusion among an audience, captivating them from the very start of our film.

Two Shot:

A Two shot is a type of shot employed in the film industry in which the frame encompasses a view of two people (the subjects). The subjects do not have to be next to each other, and there are many common two-shots which have one subject in the foreground and the other subject in the background.

We are going to use a two shot in our opening scene to introduce an anomalous character to our opening scene and showing the emotional reactions between the two subjects. Again this will create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful and create un answered questions and confusion among an audience, captivating them from the very start of our film.

High Angle Shot:

In film, a high angle shot is usually when the camera is located above the eye line. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject.

We are going to use a high angle shot in our opening scene in order portray our main character to an audience as vulnerable or powerless. This should help us mislead an audience by conveying a false message on screen, making them believe our main character is a victim. This therefore will help create a bigger impact on the audience for the climax of the film when they finally realise the truth.

Dutch Angle:

Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, or Batman Angle are terms used for a tactic often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. A Dutch angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side. Many Dutch angles are static shots at an obscure angle

We are going to use a dutch angle shot in our opening scene so that we can portray psychological uneasiness to an audience. This psychological uneasiness relates to the genre of our opening scene that we are going to produce and would give an audience an awareness and realisation of our genre. It will also help to create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful.

Camera Techniques:

Tilting:

Tilting is a technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical plane. Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone nodding their head.

We are going to use the technique of tilting in our opening scene in order to create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful. We would do this by showing one part of an object or subject and slowly revealing more and more.



Panning:

Panning refers to the horizontal movement or rotation of a still or moving video camera. Panning may also be referred to as the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or a display device. Panning a camera results in a motion similar to that of someone shaking their head.

We are going to use the technique of panning in our opening scene to create atmosphere and tension for our opening scene causing it to be more dramatic and successful. We would do this by showing one part of an object or subject and slowly revealing more and more.