Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Intro:

Cinematogaphy is important within films because it tells the story of whats happening through using different camera shots/angles. Alot of planning is required in producing an excellent sequence as it will help to make your sequence well structured and to its best ability, if we didnt plan before filming our opening sequence, it would be a complete mess, would not be structured well and would likely to be quite a poor storyline. With planning I can feel confident that I have put in my full amount of effort in producing a successful thriller sequence.


Mid Shot-

The first camera shot that we decided to use in our opening sequence is a mid shot. This will be of the two girls when they are in the car. This gives the audience a feel for who the two characters are and their situation, making the audience question and wonder what might happen to these two characters, weather something bad was about to happen or not. The audience will be able to build a relationship with the two characters through mid shot because it makes us worry for them as we are able to see there facial expressions & body language through this shot. This is conventional to a thriller because this makes us sympathise for the victims, seeing how scared they are. This will hopefully get the audience to want to watch more.

P.O.V-

We decided that we were going to use the Point Of View shot, this is used to show the audience the same image of the two characters. We are going to use this shot as the antagonist is watching the girls and as he follows them and kills Gemma. This is used to see what is happening through the antagonists perspective. The antagonist is never revealed in the opening sequence and keeps his identity hidden, this generates enigma and will make the audience question why the antagonist has done this. This will make the audience build a relationship with the victim as we are able to see her reaction whilst getting stabbed. Using this shot gives the audience the sense of worry as we have no clue who is holding the camera, all we can see is the victims panic in the shot. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it builds tension and creates suspense for the audience as they desperately want to see and know who the antagonist is.

Panning-

We decided that panning would be one of the camera angles that we would use as it indicates that things are beginning to go wrong. It also builds tension as it makes the audience assume the worst. We are going to film with panning when and as the car breaks down, this builds tension as the audience assume the worst. You can tell panning is being used as the camera starts tilting from side to side, using this will make the audience feel as if they were their with the victim, it helps to build sympathy for the victim. This is conventional to a thriller because if the tension that it builds, emphasising the face that we know the car has broken down, and something worse is about to happen.

Long shot- A long shot shows all of a larger object and a large amount of background. We are using this camera shot of the antagonist from behind as he has dropped the camera and walks away from the victim. This re-enforces the hidden identity of the antagonist. We thought that this is conventional because the audience get to see what the antagonist looks like and who he is, it builds tension as we are waiting for the identity of the antagonist to be revealed, this will help the audience to build a relationship with the victims as we now know who the murderer is.

Reaction shot- This is any shot from where a person reacts to the previous shot. We decided to use this shot of the victims friend, as she hears Gemma screaming whilst being attacked. This generates sympathy for the victims as she is portrayed as vulnerable. Having the victims being vulnerable is conventional to the thriller genre as it shows their fear, it draws the audience in as we worry for their lives. This helps the audience to build a relationship with Gemma and Holly as we want them to escape from the antagonist, it is also important that we include this camera shot to show Holly's facial expressions as she is watching her friend being murdered, this is to make the sequence seem more realistic and to create shock. 

Close up- Close ups are essential in thriller films, it shows a smaller part of the scene to emphasise on something. We are going to use a close up at the point when Gemma is being stabbed, this makes the audience feel sympathy for the victim in question. Using a close up on the murder scene will also make the knife stand out, this is conventional to thriller films as a knife as the weapon is the most popular way victims are killed. It builds tension as it is a lot more brutal then being murdered by a gun shot. It shows you the pain that the victim is suffering in that very moment, with the only thing your able to see is her face and nothing else. 

Conclusion:

I think using these 6 different camera angles will help to make our thriller sequence a lot more effective then it would be without, each one of these shots are conventional to the thriller genre so if we work hard at using these angles at the right time, our sequence will be successful in terms of creating a good thriller. I have found the planning of our filming very helpful, this is because we got to film a short sequence in class using different types of cinematography shots, after doing this it gave me a better understanding of what each shot was and how to film it with the camera and tripod. We then watched over it and decided that we had done quite a good job considering it was our first try, if we hadn't of done this, i feel our group would of struggle when filming the real thing. After this was done the next step in planning was picking 6 different cinematography styles to include in our thriller sequence that we thought would be conventional, we then decided when and where to use each one. This has given my group and I a much better understanding of what we need to include when filming our sequence.