Camera angles

Camera angles

One of the great things about doing this course is being taught to think about how films are made and what makes them what they are.

I have been thinking about camera angles and their effect. This is England, by Shane meadows -2006- was really enhanced by the camera angles, a great film, the technicalities of the angles and direction made it…the use of contextual clips and soundtracks cut short and fast and then panning back to for example the main character getting up really adds to the whole feel of this film.

When thinking about making a film I want to remember the importance of such things as camera angle, to accurately get across the sense of what I want to show, things to consider include the framing of the shot, ie the length of the shot, which of course depends on what you ar trying to show.

The actual angle of the camera can totally change the feel of the shot, if you think of an eye level shot from about 3 m away as being a normal kind of shot, simply portraying the action as it happens, then you can see how other angles might vary the effect - for example a birds eye view can seem surreal, things not being necessarily recognisable when seen from above, as we don’t normally see things in this way. An angled shot from a lower height can make the viewer see things through the eyes of one of the characters for example. Conversely when you shoot from below the subject you can make them seem taller or more important, so you really have to think about more than the plot or plan, and look at what you want to say/portray before you decide on the best angle at any point.

The higher the shot the more general the shot generally, so can be used to give an overall picture or scene setting for example.

When I shot an instructional video for example I just shot straight at the instructor, which is I think suitable for this type of film. I didn’t want the audience to be confused or take their mind off the subject by using any other angle.

In a story though, I would want to get over feelings, or fear for example and the angle can add to this greatly.