Research In Cinematography-Miss Miller

Cinematography

Firstly in this essay I will be elaborating what cinematography techniques are used within the thriller genre. Cinematography is the art of photography and camerawork in the film-making industry. Cinematography is vital within any film/sequence as it can emphasise on the type of atmosphere and key elements that build up throughout e.g point of view can increase on the level of tension. There are many terms that should be know in cinematography such as a "Protagonist" which the good person/hero/victim in a film. In contrast an "Antagonist" is the evil person/villian/ bad person.

 

In this part of my coursework I will be looking at the film "The Last House On The Left" as it consists of many different camera shots and angles so there will be various different cinematography techniques that can used and researched about. The research that I create now will help contribute towards my final production as I can use the inspirations from this sequence to incorporate within my own.

The first piece of cinematography being used is an 'Extreme Close Up'. This cinematography technique is evident where the woman is crying and is panicking in distress against the window at the start of the clip. This clearly is to show that she is scared and obviously upset which is why she is against the window crying for help to show her panic and distress.  Furthermore, the use of the extreme close up will help the audience to become more engaged within the clip as they now have a clear vision of her emotions and feelings. This will make the audience feel sympathetic as she is obviously being held in hostage and doesn't want to be there and would clearly rather be somewhere else. Also, this could also make the audience feel angry as they can clearly identify that she is being forced and is trapped within the location. This technique is conventional towards a thriller genre as it shows pure terror and fear from the emotions she is revealing as she is scared and builds up a lot of tension as we don't know exactly what it going to happen to her. Moreover, the intensity of the sequences rises as the panic that she is expressing shows that she is in danger. This is also conventional as she is displaying that there is an antagonist within her region in the form of her expressionss. Also the use of isolation is conventional towards a thriller genre. At this point we do not know how and why she is being held in hostage and who has done this to her so this leaves the audience is distress which then begins creating a sympathetic relationship between the audience and this character. This also creates a more closer and bonded relationship between the audience and the characters as the audience start to fear more for the character as they can see that she is a huge amount of danger.

The second cinematography technique being used within the sequence is the 'Point of View' technique. This is evident from after her looking out the window we straight away see her perspective of a car driving away from her distress making her even more frightened than she originally was. In addition when we view her point of view perspective the image is slightly blurred so the audience can clearly suggest that this the view that she is experiencing. This has been included so that the audience can observe why she is panicking and what is making her so upset. It comes to my attention that the vision has been blurred because her life could be fading away as the people that she needs is driving away so she is getting closer to dying so her life is slowly coming towards an end which is why the image is slightly blurred. This also makes the audience feel more engaged within the sequence as they are viewing a characters perspectives which makes the audience feel as if they are within the sequence it self. This also makes the audience feel sympathetic as they see that an innocent character is being trapped and that a possible person who could save her life is driving away so this makes the audience upset that she was close to getting the help she needs. This is conventional to a thriller genre as it clearly shows that someones life is coming towards an end and the convention of death is suited towards the thriller genre. Furthermore, the use of the character being isolated is also conventional towards a thriller genre as it increases the level of suspense and tension within the sequence.

Furthermore, the third cinematography technique to be used is a slow moving panning movement. This can be seen where the female character is swimming away from everyone and is trying to escape so that she doesn't get caught or dies but ends up getting shot in the back of her neck. The audience can clearly state that she is scared and is trying to escape but as she is swimming away we see that she gets shot in the back of the neck and at this point is when the panning movement comes to a stand still. I believe the panning movement was used so that the audience can see her panicking and swimming away and so that the audience can see the suspense of when she gets shot. Furthermore, the use of the panning also gives the audience a display of the location within the background of the subject and also shows a short section of the distance in which she is swimming to escape. The impact would not have been as effective if any other movement was used for this scene as it would create the wrong atmosphere that is needed for this scene. This technique is conventional to a thriller as the use of blood makes it more towards a thriller genre and the weapon used in this scene such as the guns makes it typical iconography for this sort of weapons to be used. In addition its a typical scenario of a character screaming and panicking because they want to escape. This makes the audience feel more involved as the tension is building up and makes the audience feel more sympathetic creating a disheartened relationship between the character and the audience. 

Thirdly an Eye Level angle cinematography technique occurs within the clip. This can evidently be shown where the victims in the film are being kidnapped by the villain's and they are all in their get- away car. The purpose of this angle is to show the perspective of someone sitting in the car with them so that the audience can see the terrified expressions on the victims clearly and so that they audience feel more captured into the scene as if they was sitting in the car with these victims. This will then make the audience feel more engaged within the sequence as they are viewing this scene as if they was in the film sitting with the characters. Also, the eye level angle will make the audience have a clear display of the characters expressions so this will give the opportunity to emphasise with them. This cinematography technique is conventional to a thriller genre as we can clearly see the fright and panic within the characters faces so this creates more suspense towards the audience as a whole and also makes them feel more sympathetic. This enables the audience to build a relationship with the characters as the audience tend to feel tragedy towards these type of situations where innocent characters have been held under hostage and the audience will feel the suspense that something bad will happen. This then will help the audience build a better relationship with the characters as they feel more sympathetic and upset for the characters who are the victims.

Finally a 'zooming in' technique movement can be identified within the scene. This can be evident from where one of the female characters is trying to escape and is frantically running away before someone captures her. As she is running the camera is zooming in on her while the background is gradually becoming blurry so that she becomes the main focus of the shot. The purpose of this is so that all the attention is on this particular character which is why the background is being blended at the same time so that the character in the middle of the frame gets all the attention and focus. Furthermore, this also helps the scene become more exaggerated as the attention is all on this female victim. The zooming in also provides the ability to focus on the females facial expressions as the audience can see the fright and terror on her face. This is conventional for a thriller genre as she is trying to save her life and escape from being kidnapped and murdered and the suspended atmosphere that is being created is linked to the thriller genre. Furthermore, the zooming in also provides an increase in the tension levels which is also conventional towards the thriller genre. This makes the audience feel disheartened that she is in this position and also makes them feel more empathy that she is at least doing well so far trying to escape as we can see no one going after her so we feel happer that there is a small chance that she will survive. This enables the audience to create a positively dramatic relationship with this female character. 

I think all the shots/angles are all used for different purposes. The shots that tend to be closer to the subject (s) are so that the focus is on them because they would be the main subject. In contrast shots that fill many different subjects are so that the audience can spectate everything that is going round them and can have a good understanding of the scenario. Angles are also used so that each angle will have its own interpretation and perspective for the audience to spectate. Furthermore the different shots/angles will create atmosphere depending on what can be seen in that particular frame at the time. In addition they will also be conventional to thriller genres as they will show different facial expressions which will then lead to creating different atmosphere which links to the thriller genres. This clip has influences and inspired me for my own thriller opening scene as this uses various different shots/angles which creates different moods and atmospheres which then link the the thriller genres. Furthermore as all the different scenes were linked together we could straight away understand the thrilling story line and the different motions that were being used as some scenes were slower than others which built up the suspense and tension which is ideal for the thriller genres. As a result of identifiying several techniques within this chosen clip, I hope to use some within my own sequence such as  including the technique zooming in. I find that this technique has a big impact on the audience as it creates a dramatic level of tension which is ideal for a thriller genre as it helps the audience to become more engaged with the sequence and also gives the ability for the audience to start building a better relationship with the characters. Furthermore, I also intend to use the panning technique within my own sequence. I find that this technique would be effective within my own production as it helps create more suspense, which levels are dependent on the scenario. Also, it will help give a better viewpoint of the location/setting in which the sequence is taking place. Another technique that I find will be ideal for my own sequence is the extreme close up technique. I find that this has a huge impact on the audience as it creates an immediate shock which is conventional towards a thriller genre. Also, the technique helps to display the intricate detail on the subject and creates a better focus and attention for the subject which would then help the audience to become more engaged.