Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography

Introduction

Myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided on  the camera shots and angles that we will use within our opening sequence of our thriller film. Cinematography is really important within a film, as it can affect the way an audience feels about a film scene and if there was not a variety of different shots then the film would dull and uninteresting and it would not attract an audience for the film or the sequence. Planning these shots and angles are important in order to create a good opening sequence because if they are planned then you know exactly what shots you want to use and what effect they will have on the audience. In our group we have chosen a variety of different camera angles and shots knowing how we would want the audience to 
react to the opening sequence. Sometimes the techniques of cinematography can be very obvious e.g. cinematography often seen in Tarantino films have led to his movies being known for being notably distinct in a visual sense. However, some films use very subtle and natural looking effects, so much so, that the audience does not notice the manipulation.
Quentin Tarantino has trademarked the trunk shot camera angle and has used it in every movie he has directed. He also uses reverse trunk shots with characters being watched from outside the trunk. 

e.g. Kill Bill : Volume 1

Mid Shot 

One of several camera shots  that my group and I have decided to include in our opening sequence is a mid shot. A mid The mid shot shows some part of the person in more detail, while still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole person. This is an generally  how you would see a person in real life if you were having a casual conversation. You wouldn't pay attention the lower part of their body, so that part of the picture is unnecessary. We will use this camera shot in our sequence when the two girls Gemma and Holly (the two main victims) are in the car. Hopefully this will enable the audience get a feel for who the characters are and warm to them before realising that something bad is likely to happen. Therefore, this will make the audience question what it is that is going to happen next to Gemma and Holly and makes the audience apprehensive. The audience will be able to build a relationship with these characters because they can see clearly from a mid shot the two characters in the car and it will feel almost if the characters are involved within the two girls conversation. Due to the two girls being on there way to a party, a situation considered by most as an ordinary situation, the audience are fooled into assuming that everything is fine, therefore it is shocking and surprising when things start to take a turn for a worst, leaving the audience horrified. This would be considered a convention of a thriller as the audience are introduced to the victims in a positive way and are able to establish a relationship characters and once they are brutally killed the audience are left in shock which is conventional to the thriller genre as producing shock keeps the audience sitting on the edge of their seat anticipating what happens next. 

Point of View

We also decided that we are going to use a Point of View shot. This shot is used to show the audience the same image as the character and makes the audience wonder why we are seeing what he is seeing and not him. With a Point of View shot the audience feel like they are the character as they are seeing what they are seeing and makes them tense about what is going to happen. This will be used as the antagonist is watching the girls from behind there car and whenever it is the antagonists perspective, also when her follows one of the victims into the forest and kills her, again the camera will still be front the antagonists Point of View. The antagonist is never revealed throughout the opening sequence he is always hidden behind the camera. This is conventional of a thriller film because the identity of the antagonist is hidden and makes the audience question who he/it is and what they want to do and what there motives are. For the audience it generates enigma and makes the audience wonder what his motives are. The fact that the identity of the antagonist is hidden makes this conventional to a thriller because it creates tension for the audience and makes them feel nervous for the characters as the hidden identity makes the audience wonder what the antagonist has to do with the girls and why he wants to harm them. 

Panning

Also, myself, Chloe and Miranda decided that we will use panning in our opening sequence when the car breaks down the camera will pan and follow the car along the road. Panning is when the camera left and right from a central axis to follow a specific object or person. The effect of this technique is to bring out all the aspects within the frame however we will be focusing on the car. We decided to include panning to create a tension and a state of panic for the audience as they question might happen next. This is a convention of the thriller genre as the panning of the camera creates tension for the audience and allows the audience to build a relationship with the characters and gather an insight on their actions. Once the car comes to a stop the audience will begin to wonder why this has happened and whats going to happen next for both Gemma and Holly. 

Long shot

Long shot is another shot that our group deiced we wanted to use in our thriller opening sequence. In the long shot, the subject takes up the full frame. The subject's feet should be almost at the bottom of frame and their head, almost at the top. Long shot's show all of a large object for example the subject and a fair bit of background. We will use a long shot in our thriller opening sequence when the antagonist walks away from the the scene of the crime where he has killed Gemma and the camera will catch  a long shot of him walk away, therefore the audience will see a full shot  of the antagonist from behind but they will not see him from the front as we are including a hidden identity theme which is conventional to the thriller genre because the hiding the antagonists identity generates lots of mystery and enigma which is typical of a thriller. This lack of a relationship the the audience has with the character leaves them wanting to know all about the character, why he is hiding his identity and his reason for committing the horrific acts. 

Hand Held 

Due to deciding that most of our camera shots in our opening sequence would be from the antagonists point of view our group has decided that we will be using mainly hand held camera shooting because this is the best way to film p.o.v shots. This is conventional of the thriller genre as often in thriller films you see events unravel from either the antagonists or other characters point of view and so the use of handheld gives the audience an insight into the characters perspective. Through the use of the handheld cameras the audience are audience are enabled to develop a relationship with the characters.

Conclusion

In conclusion myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided to use these camera angles and shots within our thriller opening sequence due to their effect on the audience, how they effectively portray the characters and fit conventions of the thriller genre. This research and preparation which my group and I have carried out has helped me and my group with the focusing in on what shots and camera positions we are going to use when filming. This planning has been a productive use of time for our group as we have discovered during our preliminary task that making use of the right camera angles for the particular moments is more challenging than first perceived. Due to planning we now have a checklist of shots that we are definitely going to use, meaning that we can prepare for filming and produce audience responses we are aiming for; shock, horror, enigma, suspension and tension.