Type of shots

Close up picture from the movie

Les Misérables, the person who is focused is Anne Hathaway who is playing Fantine

The significance of the picture being close-up is that we can see the emotional state of the character as we are drawn to their personal space and we want to know how she is feeling. It also shows detail of the character's emotions but close-ups usually exaggerates the character's emotional state by blurring the background or darken it, which usually emphasises the character's mood. We can see Fantine is crying, her eyes are squinted slightly, she has stress marks and she has red marks on her face. The background is also black, which could show she is either mourning or she has just had a mental breakdown but if the background was light, this would distract us and we wouldn't have our attention on the character, which the shot is supposed to achieve.

Long shot picture from the movie Irreversible;
 the person who is walking is the rapist's victim, Alex M

The importance of this particular picture being long shot is that we get an idea of the character's environment. Long shots usually introduces the beginning of every scene, which set in motion the audience's perception of time, place and logical action of the scene that is about to be revealed . We can see the victim in the movie has been attacked as she's walking outside in an alleyway at night with her night gown on. The colours in the alleyway are black and red which are the colours that symbolises danger, death, darkness so this foreshadows that the transition of the scenes will be gory, destructive as this shot symbolises this and the character herself is a symbolism for this also. This shot usually helps the audience get influenced by the way they think just by this shot itself.

Medium shot picture from the movie Forrest Gump;
 the character who is being focused is Forrest Gump

The importance of this specific picture being medium shot is that we can clearly see the character's expressions and movement without it dominating the screen, which allows us to concentrate on the character's body language& dialogue. Medium shot, which are usually used after the transition of scenes by long shot, are the continuation or the further development of the story. We can clearly see that this character is feeling down as he must of recalled a memory or story that captivated him so much that he is no longer upbeat but rather emotional. From this view, we are facing directly opposite Forrest Gump and this creates questions in our mind as we wonder why his eyebrows are lowered down, his face hardened, his smile in a straight line. So medium shots usually contain all the action and we can see this is creating tension already.



Extreme long shot picture from the movie Harry Potter; all the characters are on the boat reaching Hogwarts

The importance of this certain picture being extreme shot is that the audience has an idea of the scene setting. It also foregrounds an environment where the characters, including the main characters find themselves in or was from originally. We can see Harry Potter and his fellow peers are on the boat to their new school, Hogwarts. The background and the colours used in this shot are rather dark, dull and spooky which suggests their experience at the school will be inhumane, unusual and the colours overall used itself shows the spookiness and mystery of the school. There is little detail of this picture which is meant to give a general impression than a specific one. This shot is effective because it makes the audience they are actually there.

Ariel view from the movie Jurassic Park;
this is the setting of the movie at the beginning of the movie

The importance of this picture being shot by an ariel view is that the audience gets a sense of direction of where the movie is set in and movement as ariel views are usually shot at the beginning of the movie. We can see in the shot that there is lots of greenery, fertile, thick land, which shows the genre of the movie will be action- adventure. The house or shelter in the middle of all the greenery symbolises that there will be an obstacle in the movie that will sabotage people's lives and this thing is flowing in the middle of the greenery shows it will be an on-going process or it will cause lots of destruction in the movie to go on.

Point of view shot from the movie The Gallows;
one of the victims is going to be savaged by a killer.

This effectiveness of this picture being taken by an point of view shot is that the audience are looking directly at a specific character. It gives the audience a chance to see how it really is to be directly opposite someone in a movie so it makes us know how it feels to be in the passive bystander's position. We are looking at the killer's victim therefore we are in the killer's position at this moment as the character is looking directly at us. This character is traumatised of what she saw in front of her, in this case we, the audience is what she is screaming of agony for. This shot is effective because it makes us want to know more about what will happen in the movie, and it draws our attention more. Shots like this are usually used in horror movies to shock the audience more as that is what an horror's aim is. This is used to build suspense in the movie as we want to know who the killer is.

Over the shoulder shot from the movie The Titanic;
Jack is facing directly at Rose, his secret lover

The importance of this picture being taken by an over the shoulder shot is that it establishes the position of each character and to be in each character's shoes from looking at each other. It cuts the conversation the characters had in the movie, alternating the view between the different speakers. We can clearly see that from Rose's perspective that Jack is telling her something very important as his face is very emotionless, his eyes are looking directly at her, his mouth is forming a line and he has some stretch marks. But we can't see what Jack's perceptive is so maybe he is confronting her about his indeclinable love for her. This shot is effective because it reminds us how affectionate Jack is over his love for Rose is, which makes us love Jack more than we did before. Over the shoulder shots are usually taken when something important is going to be told and the audience will be more gripped to the movie if the person who is going to be confronted has their facial expressions unseen. So over the shoulder are deliberately used to gain the audience's attention more. Over the shoulder shots are usually used in romances to bring more tension

Birds Eye View from the movie The Avengers;
Hawkeye is flying in mid-air with his bow

The significance of this picture being taken by birds eye view is that the audience is put into a higher level to the object or person it is looking down on. It could also make people feel insignificant, ant-like and part of a wider scheme of things. This unnatural, weird shot creates a dramatic effect as for showing a different spatial perspective. We can see in this picture that this character has jumped off the building, in order to save himself from the explosion on top of the building. He is going to shoot his grappling hook to save himself by getting on top of a building and fly through the window. This shot is effective because the audience can see Agent Barton in slow motion during his perfect shot to survival, which reminds us of his insane, inhumane abilities. Birds Eye View shows a summary of the scene and the overall perspective of a scene. Birds Eye View are usually used in action films when there is a new location is introduced.

High angle shot from The Avengers;
Thor and Captain America are looking up to Thor's Brother(Loki)

The importance of this picture being taken by a high angle is that it enables the audience to be aware the characters are looking are up with blank expressions as they feel lowered of power. The positioning of the camera above the camera gives the audience an idea of their vulnerability in the situation. We can see that Thor and Captain America have defeated their enemies but their facial expressions clearly show that they haven't defeated their main opponent. Captain America's slightly open mouth shows that he is dumbfounded as he thought they were 'finished defeating their enemies' but there aren't finished yet.  This shot is effective because it shows the lack of power of these characters, which this scene is supposed to portray.

Low angle shot from Inglorious Bastards;
Lieutenant Aldo Raine and Sergeant Donny Donowitz are manslaughtering their enemy, the Germans

The significance of this picture being taken by a low angle is that makes the audience feel vulnerable and small by looking up at the characters. It is opposite of high angle as it makes the characters look more powerful. The position of the camera empower the characters into courageous, sinister characters even though they are actually not they are heroes. We can clearly see that Lieutenant Aldo Raine and Sergeant Donny Donowitz are killing their victim with blunt facial expressions that make the audience slightly frightened of the characters and en gripped to this scene even further. Aldo Raine's facial expression makes the audience question why he looks satisfied with the manslaughter that is going to take place, which makes us make him inhumane. This shot is effective because the responder feel empathy if they are viewing the frame from another character's point of view.

Extreme close up from the movie The Blair Witch Project;
Heather Donahue is crying for her sanity

The importance of this picture being taken by a extreme close up is that the audience would be able to see detail in depth and it allows the audience to invade the character's personal, intimate space by revealing their characteristics and emotions, which usually get unnoticed from afar. The positioning of the camera makes the character look very vulnerable and intimidated and the character's features look more apparent. We can clearly see that the characters is frightened of what will happen to her, suggesting this 'thing' that is frightening her is making her have a last sermon with herself. This emphasises the dramatic importance of the scene, which makes this particular shot more significant with respect to the movie as a whole. This shot could be considered as the 'revelation' scene. This shot is effective because it allows us to feel sympathy for the character, and establish a connection with, the character in question as this shot intensifies the character's emotions.

Why is angling important?

Angling is important because it demonstrates setting, characters and themes of the plot. They also reflect mood and tension, to create power relationships with your subjects and environments. Angling determines how a film is going to be represented to the audience. But angling types should be varied as much as possible as the audience might find an unusual view add interest to the movie that they are watching. Angling represent or reproduce a character's perspective on an environment or event.