Cinematography planning

Planning cinematography

Cinematography is extremely important within films, it uses different angles/shots/movements to create certain feelings (e.g. suspense, shock, surprise), it also can be used to create enigma. It is also used to help the audience build a relationship with characters in the film, whether that is the audience taking a dislike to them (usually the antagonist) or taking a liking to them (usually the protagonist). It puts the characters in a visual setting for the audience to see and allows the audience to follow the plot. Planning beforehand is needed as without it certain camera angles, lighting, etc may not suit the situation the character is in, effecting how the audience perceive the situation, this needs to be planned and used correctly as cinematography is a huge part of the movie, also the lighting used can effect the mood/emotion the audience feel at the time of the scene.

The first camera shot we have used is the long shot, we have chosen to use this as it allows the audience to see the characters body language and facial expression and lets them get a feel of the mood of the scene and create a relationship with the audience as it will show the true emotions of the characters without words this means there will be more of a shock when the victim is in danger as the audience feel as though there is a bond between them and the character, allowing for sympathy from the audience, it will portray the weakness of the victim and the superiority of the antagonist at the time. This is conventional to a thriller as it is used in thrillers to create suspense as we can see both the protagonist and antagonist in the same shot, the suspense will engage the audience as they will wonder what will happen next, the audience will feel sympathy for the female victim as she is being followed by the antagonist without knowing, the audience will also see the setting allowing them to see the setting around them, helping the audience get a feel of the mood of the scene, helping engage the audience, this can be used to create shock as the antagonist may be in the background of the scene without the protagonist or victim realising, this is conventional as it allows the audience to see the setting the character is in, therefore knowing whether they're in danger or not, causing shock and suspense, the audience will be able to build a relationship with the protagonist, feeling sympathy toward her. We will use this when the victim and antagonist are having a stand off to show both characters (also a two shot) causing suspense.

The second camera shot we have used is the over the shoulder shot, we have chosen to use this as it gives the audience a close up view and allows them to build a relationship with the character as they feel like they are part of the conversation as we can see the emotion of the character up close, it can also be used to show the audience what is in front of the character while showing the audience they are still there but allowing the audience to see what they are looking at, this can help create shock, surprise or suspense, there is a lot of tension/suspense when this is used as the audience are unsure as to what is behind them and the protagonist or victim creating a feeling of ucertainty as to what is going to happen. The audience feel empathy toward the character as they know what a dangerous situation she is in and realise she is completely clueless and helpless to the danger behind like the audience, this shows the superiority of the antagonist. This shot is conventional as it helps build suspense as it is impossible for the audience to know what is behind the character, we will use this to show the antagonist being behind the victim, this will create shock and suspense as we know the victim is unaware of the antagonist and is in a vulnerable position.

The movement we have chosen is handheld this is because we want to allow the audience to feel involved and make it realistic, we hope it will portray the fear/panic of the victim as well as the superiority of the antagonist while the victim is running away. This is conventional in thrillers with a sub genre of horror as it engages the audience due to them feeling as if they are in the film, it is usually used in a scene where the victim is panicking and is used to set the mood of the scene, the audience will feel sympathetic toward the victim as she is clearly frightened and in danger, this also creates a knock on effect of the audience fearing the antagonist, this movement creates surprise as to how the victim has reacted, making the audience realise the severity of the situation, also suspense is created as it is very difficult to make out what is happening due to it being slightly blurry, this means the audience are unsure on what is about to happen, creating a tense atmosphere within the audience. We will use this when the victim is running away from the antagonist in fear of her life, this is conventional as it can be used to create three of the main conventions of thrillers, shock, surprise and suspense (enigma as well if used correctly) these are all key conventions that engage the audience into watching films of the thriller genre.

We have chosen this movement so that we can get a whole setting in, allowing the audience to feel the scene and the mood in it, also it will allow us to pano from the protagonist to antagonist, creating suspense when the camera is moving across as the audience are unsure as to what the camera is moving toward, creating shock/surprise when they see what it is, these all help engage the audience. We hope it will portray the enigma and eeriness of the antagonist as it will show how close he is to the victim. It is conventional to thrillers as it is usually used to create suspense/tension and then shock, this technique is used in many thrillers to engage audiences into watching it, this is why they are such key conventions, it will build a relationship with the audience as the audience will sympathise for the protagonist due to the dangerous situation she is in, this movement will be used to show the setting and used when the victim and antagonist and having a stand off, just before the victim runs away.

We have chosen the POV shot as it allows the audience to feel more part of the movie therefore building a lot more suspense and shock, this will make the audience feel part of the film, therefore engaging them more, we hope it will portray the fear and danger the victim is in making the audience much more interested and making the opening sequence much more enjoyable/suspense filled. This shot is conventional as it is often used to make the audience feel more shocked as they feel as though they are in the scene and feel the danger much more than usual, it will help the audience realise what it is like in the characters shoes, helping them emphasise toward the character and realise what they're going through, the fact the audience are unsure as to what is going to happen makes it conventional, the point of the thriller genre is to keep you 'on your toes', to keep keep you tense as you never know what is going to happen, the POV shot is perfect for this as it gives you a restricted view of the setting, we will use this when the victim is searching her surroundings while panicking.

The next shot we used was close up, this was chosen as it shows the true emotion on the characters face, allowing them to realise the characters true feelings in that scene, we hope it will portray each characters true personality and feelings without the need for dialogue creating a relationship between the character and audience, it creates suspense as the audience have a limited view of the surrounding so are unsure of what could happen next and what is around them, surprise is created as the audience see the raw emotion of the character and realise the danger the victim is in. It is conventional as thrillers usually use close ups to build tension or create surprise/shock effectively, it will help the audience build a relationship as the audience will be able to read the characters facial expressions without the need of dialogue, making them feel a lot closer to the character. We will use this when the victim is walking through the forest and it will be used to show the fear in her face.

We decided to use low angle as it allows the audience to see the power/superiority that character has at the time, it makes it seem as if the audience are looking up to them, it will portray the superiority of the antagonist in our opening sequence. It creates surprise as the audience realise how dominant the character is, helping the audience create a relationship with the antagonist as they fear him. It is conventional in a thriller as it is usually used to show the dominance of the character they are looking up to, it will allow the audience to create a relationship with the audience as they will feel a possible fear of the character or, in rare occasions, feel in ore of the character due to the audience almost looking up to them. We will use this when the antagonist is in shot to show the dominance and power of him.

I feel our sequence will build a lot of suspense as well as shock, there will also be an enigma as to who the antagonist is as well as other questions about the many mysteries in the sequence, I feel it is very conventional, all the shots we are using are conventional to the thriller genre and is used to create emotions effectively, this planning was extremely helpful as it allowed my group to look at the different possible camera shots we could use and we really stopped and thought about why we were using the shot and how it effected the audience.