Camera angles and shots.

Establishing shot- A shot, often outside, that indicates where the action will take place.

Master shot- a shot that is used at the beginning or end of sections.

Close up- close in to a face/ item.   

Long shot- Hardest to define, but loosely, will involve seeing a person in full focus.

 Extreme long shot- usually outside, can be from up to a half a mile away.

                         Low angle shot- from below the actor or set.

High angle shot- taken from above.

Crane angle shot- using a crane or similar to create medium high angle.

Wide angle shot- showing a wider view of a scene.  

Aerial shot- using helicopters or planes to provide an extreme high angle shot.

Panning shot- the camera operator stays still and the camera moves to the following action, or often a moving object like a vehicle.

Tracking shot- where the camera operator moves alongside the action.

Framing shot- using a piece of set or scenery to frame a shot.

 Point of view shot - camera shot as if though the eyes of the protagonist or character.

Two shot- when two people are in the shot.

The 180 degree rule.

The 180 degree rule is used when two people are having 

a conversation.

This means that the camera stays on one side

of the conversation.

This makes it clear to the audience what is going on. If the 180 

degree rule is not used the audience can get very confused 

and it can becomes very unclear what is going on.

Clamps.

Costume- about what types of clothes the actors wear

                                                                     - Modern, old fashioned.

                                                                     - cheap, expensive.

                                                                     - upper class, middle class or lower class.

                                                                     - age- young or old.

                                                                     - what the actor is actually wearing.

Lighting- about the lighting

                            - natural or man made.

                            - background lighting.

                            - lights to show facial expressions and hand signals.

                            - the actor closest to the camera and in the most light is the most important actor.

Acting-  

          - facial expressions- show how the actor is feeling.

          - hand signals- can show how the actor is feeling and reacts to certain things.

          - body language - shows the attitude of the actor and how they are feeling.


Make up- 
         - natural or all done up.
         - bold or subtle.
         


Props- 
      - whether they are holding anything, sitting or have anything in the shot with the characters.




Setting- where and when the action is filmed.
                                         - morning, mid day, evening or night.
                                         - School, woods, houses, castle.. ect.

Physco

The film Physco was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet leigh, vera Miles and John gavin.

The film physco starts off in black and white,

the picture is quite dark and old fashioned.
Spooky lighting has been created by the use of candles.
The setting of the film is realistic due to the fact that the
film is set within a house, the house looks dark and haunted.
The bad weather sets the mood for the film (pathetic fallacy.)
The pace of the film is slow.

 

Perfume.

 The film perfume starts off with the birth of a baby in a french fish market, the lighting is dim. The dim lighting and the location of the where the baby was born gives the film and eerie effect. 
The story is of a man who has an amazing sense of smell, he is the worlds finest perfume making, but his work takes a dark turn when he goes looking for the ultimate smell. As he harms young girls to try and get the perfect smell. Right through the film the lighting is dull and the colours of the costumes are bland and dull.  

Collateral

The location of the film is in a down town taxi and the setting throughout is quite dark, with a hint of green.


Collateral starts off by playing loud music over a black and white screen. The music then gets louder and faster, until all of a sudden it comes to a stop. By starting the film this way, it makes everything look more dramatic and adds a sense of expectation to the film.

The close ups of the characters, dark glasses and of their hands adds a sense of mystery to the characters, which makes the audience wander what relevance he or she has to the plot.

Although parts of the film are filmed during the day, these tend to be slightly dark!  A little way in to the film the music changes from loud and fast to quite relaxing, this gives the audience the feeling that nothing is going to happen, but could it be something major or unexpected that is going to happen?

The 39 steps

The 39 steps 

This modern adaptation of John Buchan’s classic novel The 39 Steps was released on 28th December 2008 starring  Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Patrick Malahide and Eddie Marson. 

The 39 steps is an action thriller containing adventure, drama, danger, fun and romance. The film begins in London in 1914 before the start of World War I, with one of the characters running through the streets of London to escape from German spies. This automatically sets the pace of the film. The film is an action packed, fast moving film that is easy to follow but has a sense of mystery about it, this is due to the fact that you don’t see the faces of the German spies until one of the characters gets shot.

When Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones)  makes his speech about the German’s, the camera zooms in on one man from the audience, a bit later on in the film when Richard and Victoria are on the run again, the camera zooms in on a hand with a green ring on one of the fingers, without showing the identity of the person, giving a real sense of mystery about this character and leaving the audience wandering what significance he has to the plot. Through out the film there are several similar scenes that add to the suspense of the film, enticing the audience to carry on watching it. 

The film is a gripping, fast moving adventure that is guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.

The 39 Steps is a thriller rather than a horror film due to it’s fast moving pace, the anticipation of more excitement and the lack of blood and gore. The film also has a happy ending.. Which you do not get in horror films!

Kill bill.

Kill bill was released in 2003 and is an action thriller.

The thriller starts off with heavy breathing against a black screen, this is effective because it adds a sense of mystery to the film. Kill Bill involves quite alot of violence with a small amount of gore, this is how we can tell it is a thriller and not a horror. The music that plays over the begining of the film sets the mood for the film, the words of the song relate to all the action and fights within the film, if you listen to the words of the song they describe what happens during parts of the film. 

The setting of the film is realistic with parts of the film being based in a house in a normal, safe neighbourhood.

At the start of the second chapter of the film the words; Chapter two - The blood splattered bride comes up, this is effective because it makes the audience want to carry on watching the film to see what the sub heading was about. The writing was red against a black screen, this follows on with the thriller theme as red and black are associated with dark situations.