Camera Movement

A couple of days ago, in class we looked at different type of camera movements. They range from the pan movement, which is where the camera moves horizontally from left to right, to the tilt movement, which is where you move the camera angle vertically. 

My Analysis

During this clip from Remember Me (2010) starring Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan there are some different camera movements. The first is a pan right so the audience can see who is entering the door. The effect of sweeping the camera this way means that everybody's eyes are focused on Caroline (Ruby Jerins) entering the room, showing she is going to be a important part of the clip.
 At around 0.15 seconds the camera peds down. The pedestal shot is where the camera moves up or down vertically. The effect of this is that our eyes follow Tyler (Pattinson) down, so we can see how every other person in the class is starring as Caroline, telling us that an event has possibly happened between Caroline and the other girls.
At 0.45 seconds and onwards the camera crabs left to right following Tyler and his actions. This is effective as the audience really gets his swaying emotions as we are following him, also it makes it feel as though you are actually in the scene, as the eyes of one of the girls watching him.

Here's the clip-

For more information on camera movement, watch the clip below :)

Thanks for reading :)

Camera Shot Analysis

In class we were told to get into pairs and analyse a film clip's camera shots, following on from last lesson. My pair decided to analyse a clip from X-Men First Class (2011) starring Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. During this clip there are many interesting camera shots that all add to the effect of the film, so I decided to take a few examples.

    First here's the clip:

First example is a reverse shot form 0.03-0.09 seconds in the clip there is a reverse shot, which is where a character is seen looking back at another, unseen, character. This kind of shot brings the eyes in, signifying that the next thing you will see is going to be important. The effect can be very unsettling.

At 0.22 seconds we see a low angle shot, emphasising Fassbender's characters, Magneto, dominance and power, also because it's a medium close up shot we can see how his body is positioned in a very dominant stance.                                            A screen capture from that moment here- 

0.51 seconds shows a long shot being used so the audience can see the destruction that has just occurred, allowing us to learn more about the scene.

At 1.46 seconds there is a medium close up of Rose Byrne's character, Moira MacTaggert, which really emphasises the distress her characters face allowing the audience to experience what her is really feeling.

From 4.12-4.30 seconds there are many different close ups because it's is important for the audience to see what how each character has real emotion when Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is shot. The close-up shot of Charles Xavier after he gets shot is very effective as you really see his pain and emotion.

Here's a screenshot of this moment-

Camera Shots

Last week in class we looked at different type of camera shots, ranging from extreme close ups usually when a character is showing emotion, to establishing shots, which tend show the landscape and location of the film and are usually at the opening of a film to show the audience where it is taking place.

Other types of camera shots include;

Big Close Up (BCU) - Usually used in dramatic scenes, to show emotion. 

Here's an example-

Medium Close Up (MCU)- This is a head and shoulder shot and tends to be used when an exchange between characters is happen, so usually dialogue shots

Medium Shot (MS)- Again it's used when characters are having a conversation as it keeps the audience in contact with the scene.

Medium Long Shot (MLS) - This usually places characters in the location.

Long Shot (LS)- Used in epic dramatic scenes so the audience can see more of the scene and location.

Establishing Shot (ES) - This tends to happen at the beginning of a scene and is usually of a landscape so the audience knows where it is taking place.

Here's another example-

Angle shots usually reveal certain this about the characters and their situation. For example High Angle shots often show vulnerability of the characters as we're staring down at them, whereas Low Angle shots, is where we are looking up at a character. This can show power and authority as we're are looking up at them.

For example in the picture below taken from Superman Returns (2006)  the camera is set up as a low angle shot, emphasising Superman's power as he looks on in the distance. In this shot we definitely as, an audience, get a sense of his dominance as a character.

Dutch angle shots is where the camera is tilted to offset the lines on a screen. This often gives us a sense that something is not right, making it unsettling, as does a reverse angle shot which brings the eyes in signifying the next thing you see will be important.

Here's a picture representation of some camera shots-

Thanks for reading :)

Analysis of Film Clip

My First Post :O

Earlier in the week we looked at a clip from the film Get Carter (1971) starring Michael Caine, and were asked to think about 5 different aspects, (Characters, relationships, location, genre and narrative) and see what we can find about them from the clip.

I'm choosing to focus on location as I believe it's an important area to focus on, and we can tell many things by looking closer at the film. We can tell from the clip that the film's set in an urban landscape; it's got main roads, plenty of cars and is surrounded by high rise apartments and buildings. You can also tell about the film's location by the actors accents. For example, when discussing the clip in class we originally thought the film was set in London, considering the back drop, but also from the two gentleman in the background in the opening scene of this clip, whose accents seem to have a very London-ish feel. However upon delving deeper by the looking at the gentlemen who was killed in this clip (Ian Hendry) , his accent was from somewhere more north, like Manchester, or Newcastle. This is just a few ways to find the location of a film.

Here's the clip-

:)