Research into Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography 

Introduction

Cinematography is all the different ways a camera is positioned and moves. It is the camera in film-making and the creativeness of photography, which involve different shots, angles, movements and positions. Cinematography in a thriller is used to make the scene appear even more thrilling and suspenseful, by using sharp movements and interesting degrees. Examples of these different uses of cinematography are low angles, medium shots and long shots. Even techniques and movements such as panning and handheld are all apart of cinematograhy. The film I am going to analyse is Orphan. I chose it due to the suspenseful atmosphere and different angles and movements it had to demonstrate how cinematography can be manipulated to make a scene appear more thrilling and dangerous. 

The first type of movement shows a

panning shot from the young girl to a gun. This portrays the guns importance, it almost hints that she is contemplating using the weapon, this gives the audience a hope that in fact the mother and daughter will survive and ester will be the one to be defeated. This is conventional to a thriller due to the fact that the audience are being given clues into whats happening next just from the type of camera angles and movement used. This is going to make the audience feel comforted in the fact that this could be the escape and help that the mother and daughter are after. This type of shots also represents the frustration the young girl feels. If there focuses on her and then panning straight onto the gun. This can almost suggest the need to help her mother. Overall this successful fits the codes and conventions of a thriller and it can support the theory of good stereotypically overcoming evil this is common in most genres and even thrillers and shown from this shot.

A POV shot is used frequently throughout the scene, for example when the mum is being attacked and begins to try and crawl back we see her through esters point of view, this is to see the side of the killer, almost giving the audience power within the scene making them feel superior against the mother. This is conventional to a thriller because it is often that POV shots can be manipulated into achieving what power looks like from an antagonists perspective. This POV shot is also used in a different way as seen in the screen shot here. We are able to present a POV shot from the mothers perspective, now changing the view on power and leaving the audience feeling helpless, for themselves and the character. This shot in particular shows the character of Ester jabbing a knife into the mothers leg. This aggressive scene is conventional to a thriller as it displays how painful and scary it would be to be in the mother position. It overall makes the audience feel empathy towards the character as they are able to see and almost feel what it would be like to actually see out of the victims eyes.

Throughout the fight the camera shots remain to appear very shaky, this is to create a handheld effect during the fight. For the audience this creates a personal relationship to the film, it makes the film flow with a much higher speed and make the violence seem very realistic. This is conventional to a thriller as it presents how well the action and violence can pull the audience into the scene. We are able to feel apart of the film as an audience due to the shaky footage looking as if it is your perspective through the camera lens. This is because if the audience where the ones in this fight there vision would be blurred and the focus would be to just fight for there life. This handheld effect fits the codes and conventions of a thriller also due to the fact its creates panic. A smooth steady shows indicates how well put together a scene or character is. Here we are able to view the opposite and become very frightened at what is currently happening in and throughout this scene.

There is a close up shot of the mothers head slamming onto the ice this is to show the pain of her hitting her head. This could begin to give the audience doubt for that character as it seems she is being defeated This is a very stereotypical aspect of films which continues to exist throughout many genres. This one shots lead the audience into thinking that she has been defeated by making her seem weak and then she is in fact the one that defeats the antagonist. This type of shot is conventional to a thriller as is exaggerates the feeling and motion of her head being smacked down onto the ice. If this was demonstrated with a long shot it wouldn't be as effective because we wouldnt be able to see the intensity of her injury. In addition to this the audience reaction would be different. Here they would cringe at they thought of her head smashing down hard onto the ice where as from a distance they may not notice they impact this would have or the pain it would cause, like it does through the use of a close up shot.

The final technique used in this sequence is the zooming in effect when the girl is about to shoot the gun. This gives the audience an idea of how much importance the shot of the gun has with the final outcome of the scene. She is able to break the ice and send the two of them flying through into the lake. The zooming in effect fits the codes and conventions of a thriller as it contributes into slowing the scene down for a few seconds. This already has a huge impact on the audience as it gives them a shot time to react and take in what is about to happen. As the zooming in effect reaches closer to the girls face we are able to see the fear and tension in her face. This causes the audience to feel sorry for the girl. Knowing that her mother is in danger and trying to help her the audience are able to guess that she is going to try and shot the gun and kill Ester. This is all done through the use of a zooming in close up.

Conclusion
After researching and analysing the different techniques and shots that can be manipulated within the film industry, I now know how important it is to use creative and effective shots within my own thriller opening. Already I have started to think of my own characters and narrative and now I am beginning to come up with certain shots that I know I will certainly use within my thriller opening sequence. These shots include the close up as I know its very effective at over exaggerating and showing detailed emotions. Another would be a POV shot as this way they audience are able to see different perspectives from different characters and understand what its like to be in there shoes.