Cinematography

Cinematography and Camera Positions in ‘Black Swan’

Cinematography is the art of making motion pictures and combines camera angles, movements and positions. These things help the audience to understand the thriller genre by creating a relationship with the character and allowing them to feel more engaged in the film. 

I analysed two short film clips of the thriller ‘Black swan’ because I wanted to a diverse number of camera shots. One of these is the mid shot. With this shot you can see the characters body from the waist up, their clothes and you can also see the emotions on her face. The character is wearing a dark dress, which contrasts with her pale skin, and this gives the audience an indication of the characters innocence but also shows she has a dark, sinister side. Her facial expression shows she is tense and focused on something and her dark eye make up makes her appear mysterious and dangerous. This is conventional to a thriller because it features a previously weak female character that has been possessed and transformed into someone dangerous and seemingly powerful. This is something that the audience would expect to see as it fits into the stereotypical themes and storylines of thriller films. The contrast between one character's good and bad side is a common theme within thriller films,a s it builds up the tension and suspense as the audience is never sure which side will be the more dominant one. A representation of two highly contrasting personalities is conventional to thriller films, as they evoke fear and mystery which is something the audience would expect to see. 

Another position used is a long shot; this is used to show the background as well as a person in the shot. It’s used to give an indication of the characters environment. In ‘Black Swan’ the long shot is used to show the shadow of a person in the foreground and a woman in an empty room in the background. The use of this position makes the woman in the background seem like the victim because she’s positioned far away, so is smaller than the character watching her. She appears vulnerable whilst the person in shadow appears powerful and domineering, because their figure is larger. By putting the watcher in shadow, it makes the watcher appear dark, mysterious and sinister. This is conventional to a thriller because in many thriller's there is a weak female character and someone dangerous overpowering her. This representation of weak female characters and strong, overpowering male characters is conventional to thriller's because it evokes an element of danger, which builds the tension. The weak female character, alone, is also conventional because the audience connect and feel sympathy for this characters as she is physically weaker than the typically strong male that overpowers her and creating a relationship with the character helps the audience to engage in the thriller. 

The last camera position I analysed was a close up. This shot shows the tops of the characters shoulders and her face fills most of the screen there is only a little bit of background so you can see the characters face very clearly and the audience can easily engage with the character and form a bond with her. When this position is used in the film, it shows a woman crying. This suggests weakness and vulnerability, something typical to a thriller. She is also wearing a white t-shirt and scarf, which again shows the characters innocence. The use of the close up shot also portrays the characters importance and allows the audience to feel closer to the character and form a bond. This relates to the conventions of a thriller because it shows a weak female character, who is most likely the victim. Females are used as victims because people feel more sympathy for females because females are traditionally seen as a lot weaker than men and the audience feels sympathy for this character, so would be more involved in the film. . The audience would expect to see a victim who's practically helpless and easily overpowered, because it builds up t eh fear and suspense, but also because then they can feel a stronger bond with the character. 

Through analysing these different camera shots, I have discovered that each shot is used specifically to give the audience an indication of the characters role in the film. It also guides the audience into creating bonds with the characters which helps them to engage in the film.

Url’s of the clips I used; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXM1mcZuibI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsvtIzebNcw

Sound

Analysis of sound in ‘The Orphan’

The use of sound in a thriller film is incredibly important because it creates and builds tension and is used to chock the audience. There are lots of different types of sound used in thriller films and each one has a very different, but important effect on the audience. Sounds help engage the audience; it leads the audience into feeling certain emotions towards the film and character.

The first sound in my clip is a non-diegetic sound. This is used when two little girls are communicating using sign language. The soundtrack played in the backgrounds is at first quiet, slightly tense and eerie. But then it gets louder and gets more and suddenly gets high pitched which creates a feeling of anticipation. The audience starts to feel apprehensive and tense; this is conventional to a thriller because the eerie, tense music creates an atmosphere of anxiety and apprehension, which lets the audience know something bad is about to happen. This kind of tense, suspense-building music is conventional to thrillers because it creates fear and subtly guides the audiences emotions, which is what people expect to hear and feel when they watch a thriller.

Another type of sound is diegetic sound; this is when the sounds you hear belong on the film world and you can see where the sound is coming from. In this clip it’s used as the little girl is walking around, using equipment on a desk. The innocent sounds of the office equipment in an otherwise silent room (except for a quiet soundtrack in the background that’s not part of the film world) give the audience almost a false sense of security. However when those sounds are combined with the image of another little girl carrying a hammer, those innocent sounds then give the character a sense of foreboding. This is conventional to a thriller because the sounds create a sense of foreboding and suspense which enables the audience to feel engaged and involved in the film and form relationships with the audience. This is something people would expect from a thriller film because the tension and suspense created makes the thriller ultimately more enjoyable for the audience. 

The use of parallel sound is also used in this clip. Parallel sound means that the image and the sound go together. This happens in this clip when the image is of a young girl, finding then loading a gun. As this is happening, the music becomes louder, more ominous, which fits in with the things going on in the scene. The use of both threatening actions from the character and uneasy music go together to make the audience feel nervous and apprehensive and they also expect something bad to happen soon. This is conventional to a thriller because the use of parallel sound worries and scares the audience and creates tension, which draws the audience in, consequently allowing them to feel more engaged in the film which is what the audience expects from a thriller.

In conclusion, sounds are very important in a film as they help the audience to engage in the film and the characters and creates relationships and bonds with the characters within the film. The sounds make the whole film scarier because they subtly alter the audience’s mood, and the audience unconsciously feels tense and scared. In the clip that I analysed, I discovered that the use of soundtrack helps set the mood of the scene and allows the audience to know when something bad is coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc4EZmejkxw

Editing

Stranger Analysis- Editing

 

The way a film is edited is very important to the conventions of a film. Using certain editing techniques in thrillers allows the audience to feel suspense and to really engage in the film. Every decision made within the editing process has a dramamtic impact on the look and feel of a film. The editing techniques can speed up the narrative, making the film fast paced and exciting, or slow it down dramatically to create suspense and tension.

The first edit the audience sees in the clip is slow editing. This is where the clips are juxtaposed together at a slower pace, which creates suspense and tension. In the clip, the female character is walking towards the door very slowly and hesitantly. Her hesitance shows she's frightened and apprehensive about opening the door, which in turn makes the audience apprehensive as they too wonder who or what could be behind the boor.  This is conventional to a thriller because the female character is scared and weak. This is very convnetional to thriller's as female's are typically viewed as weaker and more vulnerable than men, so the audience would instantly feel sympathy and fear for the character, consequently causing the audience to form a bond with her, which makes them feel more enaged in the film. Another convention of this clip would be the fact that the danger is unknown, which creates fear and an enigma, which builds up the tension and suspense within the film, casuing the audience to feel on edge and more involved.

Another editing technique used was the reaction shot. This is where a subject reacts to a previous shot. In the clip, the character locks the door, walks away, and then decides to look out of the window. This shows her reacting to the previous shot of the knocking on the door. Her reaction shows she quickly became worried and scared and feels the need to check to see if she really is alone. This gives the audience a feeling that’s something bad is going to happen, leading the aduience into feeling a sense of foreboding. This is conventional to a thriller because it builds suspense, fear and creates an enigma, causing the audience to feel more engaged in the film as they wonder about the fate of the character and fear the potential dangers.

The last editing technique I analysed from this clip was the linking shot. This is where a number of shots are linked together to create emotional impact. The audience sees the character, then the door, then the character again. This shows that there's a link between the character and what's behind the door. Due to the fact that what's behind the door is unknown, the character and audience alike cannot tell how much danger the character is in. The creates tension and fear and builds the anxiety of the audience. Everything the character does links back to the door. This is conventional to a thriller film because the constant reference to the door shoes the audience that the door, or rather who or what is behind it, is an important object in the film and it also builds the audience fear of what's behind the door. This fear and suspense is something that an audience would expect to feel and see in a thriller film.
 

Overall, through analysing this particular clip, I have learned the how important editing is in thriller films. Without these subtle edits, the audience would have a harder time engaging in the films they would not know when to feel tense and scared: the editing helps guide the audience’s feelings and emotions towards the film and characters. My analysis shows that without editing, the thriller would not be quite as suspenseful and tense.

URL of the clip I used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWslT_EqKrc