Cinematography!

Cinematography ia the use of the camera, for example, the framing/position that a camera is places in, and the movement of the camera.

There are many types of shots and framing, for example: 

                                The Close Up                                

The Extreme Close-Up

                                                          Medium or Mid-Shot

Long Shot

                                                    Extreme Long Shot

                                                         Point Of View Shot

                                                                High Angle Shot

                                                           Low Angle Shot

                                                 Over The Shoulder Shot

                                                            Establishing Shot

Camera Movement
The camera from a fixed position:

• Pan- the camera rotates from left to right.
• Tilt- the camera 'tilts' up and down.
• Dutch Tilt- the camera tilts on an angle to give a disorientating effect.
• Zoom- the camera remains still, but the focus is adjusted to move either towards or away from the object.
• Reverse Zoom/Contra Zoom- when the focus zooms in whilst the camera moves out. )This isn't a movement from a fixed position.)

The camera is free to move in any position:

• Track- the camera moves fluidly on a set of tracks in a certain direction.
• Dolly- the camera is on wheels, so can be moved in any direction.
• Crane- the camera i placed on a large crane arm that enables is to move around the set with ease. It also allows the camera to move quickly between different heights.
• Rolling- the camera moves diagonally, making the image askew.
• Handheld- the camera is held in a hand and can therefor move in any direction. The result is usually a very shaky picture.
• Steadicam- the camera is worn on a weighted harness to keep it still and balanced, whilst allowing the freedom of handheld filming.

Aspects of a thriller; Alfred Hitchcock.

   Alfed Hitchcock was the master of suspense, whose films came to be the benchmark for psychological thrillers. He believed that the only way to get rid of his fears, was to make films about them. A few of his quotes are:

- 'There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.'
-'If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what is going on'
- 'Always make the audience suffer as much as possible'.
-'I am a typed director. If i made Cinderella, the audience would immediatly be looking for a body in the coach.'

Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime, and then an accusation of an innocent bystander. Were the accused, to contact the authorities, no doubt the case would be solved, however, the bystander runs from the law and thus further jeapordizing life and limb. A few examples of this happening are in films such as, 'The 39 Steps' and 'North by Northwest'.

Sabotage (1935)

The film 'Sabotage' directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a perfect example of suspense. Hitckcock creates suspense by using extreme close-ups and fading shots, along with fast paced editing and faced paced music that resembles a clock, that also rises in pitch and volume. The fact that the music resembles a clock, creates tension, due to the fact that in a scene, a boy is told to take a 'roll of film' to a station, and has to be there by a certain time. Due to the fact that the boy gets distracted, and stopped, the boy starts to run late, and the ticking clock in the music puts the audience on edge, due to the fact that they know that the bomb is about to go off any second. Hitchcock drags the scene out, so that the audience start to feel sympathy for the boy and start to feel worried. The constant shot of clocks also effectively creates suspense.

Rope (1948)

Rope tells the story of two young wealthy mean, Brandon and Philip, who strangle and murder a friend of theirs just to see if they can get away with it. They invite other close friends round to their apartment for a dinner party, whilst hiding the body in a chest in their sitting room, just to see if they can get away with it, without getting caught. The suspense is created through the body in the chest. Hitchcock creates suspense by constantly placing the chest in the middle of each clip and between the dialogue of all people involved in the dinner party scene. He uses dramatic music to give the scene and edgy feel.

Hitchcocks Maguffin

•  A Maguffin is a plot device that motivates the characters in the flm and advances the story, but has little or no relevance to the story.
• ''We have a name in the studio and we call it the 'Maguffin'. It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers'

Psychological Thrillers

The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one anothers mind, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the others mental state.

Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds, usually this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them.

 Enigmas This refers to a puzzle, something mysterious or unexplicable, or a riddle or difficult problem. In thrillers, this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the narrative is resolved and the film finishes.

Defining a Thriller.

Thriller's are a vague genre of film, that can be broken down into many catagories. These catagories are genres such as, a Crime Thriller, a Horror Thriller, an Action Thriller and the Psychological Thriller. Thrillers are films that create tension and suspense, and put the audience on edge.

Do Thrillers follow rules?

• Some film makers will claim that 'there are no rules', or that 'rules are made to be broken.'
• However, most would agree that there are certain conventions that mainstream films observe in order for them to be acceptable to the mass audience.
• We have discovered that there are many different types of thrillers, all including different technical aspects, plot generalisations and character types.

A few typical aspects of a thriller are things such as :

•  Plot twists.
• Enigma's.
• They all contain a protagonist (hero).
• All contain suspense.
• Kidnapping.
• They are usually set out in large cities, such as New York.
• Femme Fatales.
• Mind games.
• Alot of point of view shots are used.
• Death and murder.
• Cliffhangers.
• Explosions.
• Car Chases.
• Fights.
• Antagonists,
• and dramatic music.

All of the above, are general aspects of a thriller, and can create great tension and suspense, if used correctly in a film.

A few well known thrillers that contain some of the typical thriller conventions are:






Phone Booth.

and, Hostage

Suspense and Shock

If there were a scene in a classroom, with students and a teacher, and the camera reveals that there is a bomb under the table to the audience, however, the characters in the film do not know, this creates suspence and is called dramatic irony. It makes the audience question whether or not the characters will be saved, and whether or not the bomb will go off... thich then creates shock, due to the fact that the audience are paying so much attention to the fact that the bomb my go off, and that the characters don't know, that when the bomb actually does explode, it comes as a shock.

Preliminary Task

The criteria for our Preliminary Task was to create a short sequence of clips demonstrating continuity editing. We must show match on action when we see someone start an action in one shot and continue it in the next shot or reverse shot. We must also obey the 180 degree rule. This is where two people in a shot always have the same left/ right relationship to each other. 

We filmed a sequence of somebody walking down a corridor, opening a door, having a conversation with someone, walking back through the door and back along the corridor, whilst using the most effective and interesting camera techniques and angles possible. The task had to be as realistic as possible, meaning we had to take care in the camera angles we used, the continuity of the angles and the editing we did, and the length of the clips we used.  

Whilst filming the video, we had to take special care in the angles we used, and had to edit them carefully so that the film looked realistic. Particular moments in the film, that we had to pay more attention too, were scenes that involved Shelby, (the main actress) walking through a door. We had to make sure that during the times she was walking through the door, and the times we were changing camera angles, that she had to stay in the same position, and that we had to place the camera in a specific position to make the shot look realistic, yet still effective.


*Need to add working video, and screenshots.