Camera shots , angles and movements

 Extreme Long Shot

This is used as a distance shot. It is often used as an establishing shot that sets the scene for example the start of psycho. It is usually an exterior shot.



Long Shot 

This shot used to present an image approximately 'life size' to the audience. A typical example is a full shot from top to bottom of a human that still shows a very detailed amount of background.



Medium Shot 

A medium shot shows a figure from waist up , usually used for dialogue scenes , or to show a detailed action. Sometimes they are used to show a detailed background while still showing an individuals action in detail. For example this scene in batman.




Close Up

This shows very little background and it usually focuses on a face or another object in the mise en scene. The background sometimes is blurred out showing the importance of the thing. It can be words on a paper to someone's facial expression.

 

Extreme Close Up

It is an extreme version of a close up it shows no background at all , and is usually used for dramatic effect

CAMERA ANGLES 

Birds Eye View 

This is taken from directly above , as if from the sky. It portrays or puts the audience in a god like position. For example in the birds it is used to give the sense that a god like a figure is watching chaos mercilessly. 

High Angles

The camera angle is elevated , to make the object or person seem smaller , insignificant or vulnerable. For example in the film psycho a high angle shot is used on the inspector a few moments before he is murdered to show the audience he is venerable and in danger and to build up suspense. 

  

Low Angle Shot

This angle increases the height of an actor which is useful for actors like Tom Cruise who are naturally short. It also it makes an object or person seem more powerful to the audience as they look up to the person. 

CAMERA MOVEMENTS 

Pan

A pan is a horizontal movement of a camera used to scan a scene , this is used shown from the characters point of view.

                                                                                                                         

Tilt 
A tilt is when the camera moved vertically to scan an object or area.
















Tracking Shot 

This is when the camera moves along with the action. It could even be a figure or object moving. Tracking shots were used very effectively in the movie 'The shinning'

Crane Shot

A crane machine is used to move the camera diagonally upwards almost as if it were floating away. We see this right at the end of the clip.

Psycho

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has had to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and cannot get married because Sam has to give away most of his money to alimony. One afternoon Marion is trusted to deliver $40,000 into the bank by her boss. She decides to steal the money and start and new life. She leaves the town going towards Sam's shop in California. Being tired and caught in a storm she decides to take a break and she stops at Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quite young man called Nathan who seems to be dominated by his mother.

Whats unique and brilliant about this film is that audience thinks the film is centered around the $40,000 therefore murder of what the audience thinks is the main character comes as a big shock , it seems as if anything can happen with the plot now which creates suspense. We could see the $40,000 dollars as a macguffin because it is what drives the plot however it becomes insignificant to the audience when murder becomes involved.

    


After the murder of Marion the audience knows there was a killer  , and he or she was in the house/motel. They do not know when he will strike again , which builds suspense because it could happen at any point. Hitchcock stresses that as the apprehension increases the violence on screen decreases.


 

In the shower scene Hitchcock uses back lighting on the murderer to create a silhouette. Even though we can make out a basic outline of the face it hides away the face of the murderer , he did this to make the audience think that it was the mother killing all those people but infect it is not. Back lighting also makes the person look more evil and supernatural so its as if the victim is powerless against them.

Macguffin

"We call it the 'MacGuffin.' It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers."   -  Alfred Hitchcock




A macguffin is an object of interest that the plot revolves around. It is usually a valuable object for example a rare diamond. Or it could be an interesting object that both the hero and the villain want to get their hands on. Usually the audience do not have an interests in the object.

An example of this is the microfilm in north by north west. The villains are trying to smuggle it out of America. The secret in the microfilm is not important. We have no knowledge about what it contains or what it is useful for. All that is relevant is that it exists and it is clearly valuable.



Macguffins are not always objects sometimes they are characters for example in Good Will Hunting the macguffin is Matt Damon a young man. He is a genius but also a bully. He lacks self control , and he could be a millionaire if he wanted to yet he works as a janitor.

The other characters revolve around him. A professor tries to become his mentor. Will's friends enjoy his company , and his best friends desires him to do something with his gift.

Suspense and Shock

Suspence




Suspense has two different sides to it , it can be an anxiety or apprehension results from a uncertien , undecided  or mysterious situation. For example in the birds when the birds keep increasing slowly behind Melaine in the playground.

Another type of  suspence is a pleasurable excitement and anticipation regarding an outcome. For example in north by north west when he meets Eve and we wonder wether or not they will become romantically involved , or wether they were going to kiss or not.



Shock

Shock is soemthing that jars the mind or emotion as if with a sudden unexpected blow , that causes someone to feel susprised. For example when Eve unexpectadely shoots Mr Thornhill , the audience is not expecting it therefore they are shocked.

Types of Thrillers

The thriller genre consists of different types of sub genre. These include: Conspiracy thrillers , Crime Thrillers ,  Disaster thrillers , Mystery thrillers , Political thrillers , Psychological Thrillers , Religious thrillers and super natural thrillers.


Conspiracy Thrillers



The protagonist of  this type of thriller is usually a journalist or armature investigator. They usually find themselves trapped in a very powerful organisation. They discover powerful evidence but they are also faced with  many enemies who are determined to keep the secret organisations alive through lies and propaganda. These are usually within the government.The protagonist reveals the truth and bring down the big organisations. Conspiracy theory's often deal with issues of identity. Examples of these are:

Crime Thrillers

Crime thrillers are a an incredibly suspenseful genre. That focuses on taking the audience through a journey of successful or unsuccessful crime. Criminal Thrillers are often based around the criminal that way the audience establish an emotional connection to them. It shows all the events leading up the crime often in a non linear narrative. Examples of these include:

                      

                                                                          




Disaster Thrillers

This type of thriller follows the survival of a person or a group of people after a after a natural or man made disaster for example volcanoes , earthquakes and floods or Terrorists attacks and kidnappings. It also explores the idea of artificial disasters these are usually set in the future. Examples of these include:

                           





Mystery Thrillers

This is somewhat related to crime thrillers except it focuses on a police person or detective who tries to solve crime. Audiences usually take part in uncovering the crime , therefore it incorporates excessive use of plot twists and red herrings. It puts the audience in the detectives shoes and takes them through the journey of uncovering the mystery. Examples of this include:

                                                           



Political Thrillers

This genre focuses on the government and it's stability. Usually a hero or heroine is employed in order to keep stability and insure nothing goes wrong. Usually it is preventing assassination of government figures or stopping wars.  Examples of these are:
                               



                     


Psychological Thriller

A psychological thriller plays and manipulates the audiences minds. It creates suspense by reflecting the characters emotions and conflicts that hinder them. It portrays the mentality of the character and the thought processes that they go through. Example of these are:
                            


Religious Thriller

This is about insinuating questions about religion , and in the process unraveling  the good and bad points about religion particularly catholic beliefs. The plots are usually based on a journey of discovering the truth. Examples of these are:

                      


Supernatural Thriller  

Supernatural Thrillers focus on other worldly elements that  show out of the ordinary things happening to the protagonist and them having to overcome it. The protagonist usually posses a super natural gift that help them resolve the problem. It is very closely linked to religious thrillers often demons entering the body or alien life forms.

                         

The Birds By Alfred Hitchcock

Fifty years after it's release 'The birds by Alfred Hitchcock remains an iconic film. Even with the evolution of graphics in film it remains chilling and terrifying , this is because of Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant and well thought out use of camera shots and sounds.
For example through out the film rather than the conventional music score , Hitchcock used a soundtracks that consisted of a mixture of bird calls and electronic noises from a proto-synthesizer called a trautonium.

The trailer of the 'the birds' is executed with an effective use of irony. Alfred Hitchcock uses sarcasm to explain all the ways in which humans have wronged the birds. For example he talks about how feelings close to the birds and having sympathy for them while cutting a chicken , this use of irony is already showing the audience how humans often mis treat birds. He hints at the events that will occur in the movie like any conversational trailer but he does it in a unique way  for example when he puts his finger in the cage and the bird pecks him , this hints on the violence that the characters are going to receive from birds. Then when we begin to hear violent shrieks of the birds establishing them as the villain because the plot of a thriller is driven by the villain the twist in this is that the villain is nature , this makes the film stand out to  the target audience which is essentially people who like the thrill of terror.



PLOT
 The birds is about a wealthy San Francisco socialite who pursues are love interest to a small town in California. The seemingly romantic story line takes a turn for the worst when birds of all kinda begin an attack on the town , with increasing numbers and increasing violence.



Conventions of a thriller.

In a conventional thriller people are pitted against powerful villains who are determined to destroy them , their country or stability of the free world.

In a way the birds follows these conventions. It has a very unprepared and ordinary hero and she does have to fight for her survival , the birds are certainly determined to destroy her along with whole town.The bird are presented as very powerful creatures Hitchcock does this by using a rang of clever shots for example at times he shows them from a low angle shot making them look powerful and those beneath them valuable and at risk of danger. He also does this by emphasizing on their numbers in the scene were the woman talks about how many birds they are in the world and how they out number humans. Suggesting that in a war with birds we humans "wouldn't stand a chance" this is very effective use of dramatic irony because the audience begins to lose hope of a way out. It also puts them in the position of the characters who are stranded and have no way out. This makes the creates a even more terrifying experience for the audience.




Alfred Hitchcock uses a range of devices to make the film chilling. 


 In the scene Hitchcock uses dramatic irony , while the audience see's the number of birds increasing , Melanie does not. This  creates tension and fear as the audience is concerned about her because the threat is increasing. He also uses the nursery rhyme to represent innocence this contrast makes the birds more evil and cunning. The nursery rhyme is also used as a symbol , this is because each verse of the song is longer than the one before in the same way  the number of birds increase behind Melanie. The two longest verses are when she notices the birds and rushes into the school.

In this shot right after the explosion when there is a lot of distress from below Alfred Hitchcock shows this shot to make it seem as if a 'god' or a higher power was watching over this with no mercy or sympathy and no intention of intervening. This makes the people look very vulnerable , this is is added on by the fact that the birds are looking over them and swooping in to attack , so its like nature has more power that humanity.


A lot of elements in the birds are unconventional , for example there does not seem to be a clear maguffin , however this makes the film even more terrifying as we do not exactly the motivation behind the birds sudden attack.

SOUND EXCISE

Sound

In films it is often underestimated the effect that sound plays a part in. A meaningful soundtrack is often as complicated as the image on screen. There are different types of sounds we find in film that we may not pay attention to but affect us as we watch a film.

For example diegetic is any sound , voice or piece of music from within the world of the narrative.

Non  diegetic sounds are sounds such as music or a narrators voice that come from outside the world of the narrative. 

Off screen sound is sound that exists or occurs outside the frame of a movie or television screen. 

On  screen sound that exists or occurs within the frame of the movie or television screen.   

AS camera shots

AS Thriller camera shots assesment

In our group we produced and filmed a short film to explore and familiarize ourselves with different camera shots. The story was about two women who meet to discuss about an unknown object. The relationship, background and identity of the two women are completely unknown. There is no indication of their motives given. Instead do hint at the woman’s positions through camera shots. The audience do find out that the woman is very distraught when she finds out the unknown object is missing. This is a very common and effecting thing that is used in thrillers it adds to the sense of mystery and suspense and it also makes the audience excited and demands their undivided attention. 

We included all cameras shots with the exception of the crane shot. This was because it did not link to our story line in anyway and was not necessary and also because we did not have the required equipment.

We started with the a point of view shot that showed what the character was seeing as she walked down the hall way. This starts of with a nice sense of mystery, as the audience would be curious about who the mystery person is. We also used this to symbolize the mystery behind the actual character, so in a sense foreshadowing that the audience will not have any information on the characters.  As the woman stood on the door way we showed a close up her shoes, she had very edgy shoe so we used the extreme close up to hint at the audience at the kind of person she was. With the same sort of purpose we did a slow tilt from her shoes up to her body as to slowly reveal her, this builds up a lot of anticipation. When we do the tilt we still kept it at a low angle shot so we could symbolize that at this moment the woman is very powerful at this moment.

After we did a long shot showing a bit of the environment the woman was about to enter. Then we had a tracking shot of the woman walking in to give the audience a feel of her pace and reveal a little bit more about her. However we kept the tracking shot at a medium shot because we still wanted to sustain the sense of mystery about the woman. At this point we showed a close up of her face in order to show her facial expression. Then we showed a pan of the whole room and ended it at the desk were we revealed the 
second woman sitting by the desk the pan was used to build up anticipation for the audience as they wonder who is in the room.

There is then a medium shot of the second woman , showing her a in a little more detail. We have an over the shoulder shot from the second woman this id important because  she is sitting down the other woman appears more powerful and in control of the situation. Then we have another over the shoulder shot from the first woman's point views showing that she was looking down at the second woman and she was less powerful and in a submissive position.

When we find out that the unknown object is not there we see  rolling shot of the first woman , this shows that this information is troubling to her  and it signifies her light headiness because straight after she falls onto the table. At this point we show everything else in a high angle shot because we want to show how vulnerable  the two woman have become with the absence of the unknown object.  

I think we were able to use different shots very effectively , I didn't notice much shaking in the way we  handled the camera. I think it would have have been better if we had more time to film and we could maintain continuity. I also realized that it is always wise to have a lot of footage just so you can be safe because sometimes footage is lost. It is also necessary to pick your location carefully because we don't have lighting equipment we have to use natural lighting. But  we have to be careful as we found out from the footage shooting in front of the a window can cause the person's face to not appear clearly.  

Ingredients of a thriller.

A thriller  is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. A good  thriller create an intense and exciting atmosphere  with the purpose of keeping the audiences at the edge of their sits. 


Sub Genres 

Psychological
Political 
Mystery
Action  
Conspiracy
Disaster 
Supernatural 
Crime 


The movement of thrillers 

After the assassination of John F Kennedy a lot of political thrillers were made , a good example is Oliver Stones's JFK. 
 


Alfred Hitchcock was very influential in the world of thrillers. His film psycho was one of the earliest films to really capture the essence of a thriller film. He was the first director to demand the audiences absolute commitment to the story.

                                         




Conventions  of a thriller film

In a conventional thriller ordinary people  are pitted against evil villains who are determined to destroy them , their country or the stability of the free world.

A conversational thriller will have non-stop action plot twists , red herrings  and cliffhangers that will both surprise and excite the audience.Settings that are both vibrant and exotic and an intense pace that never levels up until the Adrenalin filled climax.  

A plot twist is the change of the expected outcome in the plot of a film. Plot twists are usually based on the idea that there is something going on that the audience is not aware of. This is hidden usually aspects of a particulars persons personality or back story. A typical moment is when we find out for example in the dark night rises a woman we assume to have been 'one of the good guys' turns out to be the master mind behind the whole attack on Gotham city.  It comes as a great surprise because she has been entrusted with all the secrets and inside information but also because the audience has a completely different assumptions about her background.

 A cliffhanger is a narrative or plot device in which end is curiously abrupt so that the main characters are left in a difficult situation without being left any resolution of conflict.At a results of a sudden end suspects is created right at the end which leads to audience into a state where they cannot help asking 'what happens next'. A cliff hanger can be found in any part of the narrative sometimes it is found at the beginning of a film , which contributes to the suspense throughout the film.A cliff hanger at the end of the film is usually popular in film that are part of a planned series this is a good way to maintain suspense and anticipation for the next film. A very tense cliff hanger is the one in inception , at the end of the film when Dom spins the totem and whether it falls or not is the answer to whether he is in a dream or in reality.At the end it wavers a bit but we don't see if it falls because the screen goes black. This particular ending has created many debates about the meaning and possible outcomes in my opinion this is the reaction that an effective cliffhanger should have.



A red herring is a kind of fallacy introduced in a plot to divert the attention of the audience  from the original plot of the story. This usually leads the reader into a completely different assumption of the conclusion. Usually in detective movies the detective will come to the wrong conclusion , this is usually in the form of the most obvious conclusion to come to. For example in The Da vinci code , throughout the whole film we are lead to believe that Bishop Aringarosa is the main culprit in the Vatican cover up. But in fact he is just a read herring.



What is a thriller ?















Breaking Conventions

 More recent thrillers have began to break the conversations of the traditional thriller. For example we see for female protagonists in thriller films like in The call , Salt and Silence of the lamps. We have moved from the ordinary man who fights for justice on to thrillers that are more centered around the villain Silence of the Lamps is also a good example of this , even films like the good doctor are starting to lead on the idea that seeing things through the villains point of view is much more exciting and chilling for the audience.