Camera Elements

Camera elements to consider are:

- Shot size/distance
- Camera angle
- Focus
- Camera movement

Shot size/Distance:

This shows the camera position related to the subject.

Long Shot: This shows the entire object, along with the entire setting around it. Although this gives us a huge amount of detail, given the length of the shot, the characters facial expressions are usually too hard to see. When there is an extreme long shot of the start of a scene it is called the Establishing Shot.

Medium Shot: This shows the characters emotion and surroundings, which gives us a huge amount of information in one frame. This is the most common type of shot used.

Close Up Shot: A close up conforms the viewer into focusing onto something that takes up the entire screen. This enables an emotional emphasis as their facial expressions can be seen much clearer and can add emphasis towards an important object. 

Extreme Close Up Shot: This is when the camera goes incredibly close to an object or person, which is often used in horror films. This creates an dramatic effect. 

Camera Angle:

This is similar to shot size/distance. Angles to consider are High angle, Low angle and Canted angle. 

High Angle: This is when the camera is held above the person or object, usually making them seem a lot smaller than they actually are. Making a character look smaller symbolises weakness and vulnerability. 

Low Angle: The camera is positioned below the subject, often providing a sense of power and dominance in a character with this angle. 

Canted Angle: A horizontal line runs diagonally across the frame as if the camera has been tilted. This gives the impression that the character is unstable or disorientated and is usually shot to dedicate intoxication. 

Focus:

Deep focus and Shallow focus is when an image is sharp and in focus or is shallow which is blurry.

Deep Focus: This is when the foreground and the background are both in focus and are clear.

Shallow Focus: Either the foreground or background is sharp and the other is soft, usually to draw attention to a certain aspect of the frame.

Camera Movements: 

These movements of the camera usually adds a sense of energy.

Dolly Based Movement: This is when a camera is on an object that can often resemble a train like figure and will be pushed or pulled around on tracks to make a movement smooth and controlled. This could be whilst someone is running the dolly will be pushed to keep up with the movement of the character.

Movement around a fixed point: This can be done either handheld or with a tripod, either including a pan or a tilt.

Steadicam: Gives the sense of a floating camera as there is no tripod and minimal hand shaking. As seen in the opening of Boogie Nights.

Handheld: The camera is usually on someones shoulders, but can be proven quite difficult as this is a heavy piece of equipment being held as still as possible, which will often lead to quite an unsteady shot of film. This does give a sense of realism which is why it is often used in filming documentaries. 

Crane: A small crane is placed on set and this gives quite effective shots of the scene as it is able to zoom in from quite a height, as well as move around with little effort. 

Helicopter/Aeriel: This adds emphasis on the narrative environment usually using a helicopter to get a view of the entire setting around the character. 

Propp's Character Roles

• Propp, in the early 20th century studied hundreds of traditional folk tails from across Europe to establish what he called character types. For Propp, types each fulfilled a specific function 
• the most useful types to know are: 
• ~ hero: drives the narrative forward (may not be heroic) - Harry Potter / Ralph
• ~ villain: creates obstacle for hero - Voldemort / King Candy
• ~ dispatcher: sends hero on quest - Dumbledore / Fix it Felix 
• ~ the donor: gives hero a special object or wisdom to enable complete quest - Hagrid / Sargent 
• ~ the princess: reward for hero at narrative resolution - Voldemort dies and he doesn't / That     venelope wins the race to leave the game
• ~ side kick: companion for hero - Hermione and Ron / Penelope
• The villain - This is the character who struggles against the hero. Typically with some sort of scarring. The villain will usually wear dark and mysterious colours, and not very attractive. This is to juxtapose betweeen the hero and the villain; to highlight their differences. A good example would be the Joker, from The Dark Knight, he is someone who is quite an unattractive to look at and does not act in a normal manor ad creates huge difficulties for the hero to overcome. 
  
  
  
  

Todorov Trailer Application - Don't Breathe

Don't Breathe came out in 2016 and was an incredibly good Thriller. A young adult wants to move away with her sister but needs the money to do so, while two friends come up with the idea to steal an large amount of money from a blind man, but he is not as helpless as he seems.

The trailer is a non liner narrative with the Equilibrium showing the two main characters, Rocky and Alex being in pitch black looking terrified. The scene then cuts to Rocky telling her sister they are going to move away together with the scene then cutting to Alex and another friend preparing to rob the blind man. The significant event is when the trio break into the house and meet the blind man who shows that he has a lot of unexpected skills. The Recognition by Hero is when the blind man grabs the third robbers arm and takes his gun, this moment is incredibly intense as he then kills the guy. Attempt to Repair is when the blind man listens out for the two who are left behind, which is Rocky and Alex. He then begins to lock those two inside his house where the duo frantically try to escape and stumble across a third member who is a young women, tied up to the wall which increases the intensity of the trailer. The new Equilibrium is having Rocky and Alex try to escape but the blind man turns off all the lights, making it incredibly difficult for the duo to escape as they now can not see, but that does not stop the blind man as he has ways of getting around the house effortlessly. The trailer then ends with the same scene we see at the beginning, leaving it on a very suspenseful end.  

Todorov Trailer Application - Split

Split came out in 2016 and is based on three girls being kidnapped by a man who is diagnosed with 23 personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful 24th personality. It is a very good thriller with a lot of unexpected twists in the story.

The Equilibrium is when the main female character is seen walking towards a car, with a man loading the boot of the car. Then theres a close up the wing mirrors showing the man had fallen and the shopping had then fallen on the floor. The Significant Event is when the other main character (played by James McAvoy) is introduced by being in the car with the girls who then turns around and sprays the three girls in the face. The Recognition by Hero is when the other characters are introduced such as Patricia and Hedwig that introduces the split personalities and presents a new issue in the film. The Attempt to Repair is when we are introduced to the therapist who explains how Kevin is a host for the multiple personalities that he has inside him. The New Equilibrium is to escape were they have been held and stay alive and avoid the 24th personality that is implied to be dangerous.

Narrative Theories

Theory 1: Bordwell - 

• David Bordwell outlines a formalist approach to narrative based on the distinction between story and plot 
• Story is a sequence of events in chronological order
• the plot is a sequence of events in the order that the viewer experiences them 
• according to Bordwell all films function using a cause and effect chain of events
• Cause —> effect —> cause of another effect —> cause of another effect —> cause of another effect 
• film makers can make narratives more mysterious or suspenseful by altering the plot from the story 
• They will do so by either withholding a cause or an effect 
• Story does equal plot —> linear 
• Story does not equal plot  —> non linear 
• Narration is the information flow between story and plot 
• a linear narrative holds no information back from the viewer 
• it is the therefore unrestricted 
• linear narrative = unrestricted narration 
• non linear narrative = restricted narration

Theory 2: Todorov - 

• Todorov, a famous narratologist, argued that all stories share a similar structure, based around the concept of balance/equilibrium 
• equilibrium —> significant event —> recognition of distribution —> attempt to repair —> new equilibrium 

Equilibrium: 

• state of a balance at beginning of a story “once upon a time” 
• into of the characters and the narrative world “the way things are” 
• can be good or bad 

Significant event: 

• an event that occurs that disrupts the equilibrium for the protagonist ~ the balance is thrown 
• Jaws —> shark

Recognition by hero: 

• protagonist realises disruption occurs and the likely consequences 
• wants to restore initial eq

Attempt to repair: 

• protagonist seeks to restore eq by undertaking a series of tasks/obstacles 

New eq:

• equilibrium is restored but it is different to initial eq, usually better

Theory 3: Propp - 

• Propp, in the early 20th century studied hundreds of traditional folk tails from across Europe to establish what he called character types. For Propp, types each fulfilled a specific function 
• the most useful types to know are: 
• ~ hero: drives the narrative forward (may not be heroic) - Harry Potter / Ralph
• ~ villain: creates obstacle for hero - Voldemort / King Candy
• ~ dispatcher: sends hero on quest - Dumbledore / Fix it Felix 
• ~ the donor: gives hero a special object or wisdom to enable complete quest - Hagrid / Sargent 
• ~ the princess: reward for hero at narrative resolution - Voldemort dies and he doesn't / That     venelope wins the race to leave the game
• ~ side kick: companion for hero - Hermione and Ron / Penelope

Theory 4: Levi-Strauss - 

• Claude Levi Strauss argues that within every narrative are “binary oppositions” that reflect the culture from which they emerge
• Binary oppositions are neutral oppositions (without value) that are loaded positivity or negatively in a way in a way that reflects a cultures dormant ideology 
• young <—> old
• tall <—> short 
• thin <—> fat 
• pretty <—> ugly 
• rich <—> poor
• able bodies <—> disabled 
• smart <—> stupid 
• happy <—> successful

Theory 5: Pam Cooke - 

• Pan cock argued that films contained their own kids of narrative 
• filmic/cinematic narratives are defined by: clear, goal orientated characteristics, a cause and a effect narrative trajectory, enigma resolution, high degree of narrative closure 
• Clear set of goals

Film Ideas

Kidnapping: 

Actors: Richards sister, stepmom and dad

Location: Richards house/clapham 

Props: phone (for the phone call) , mail (distraction) , baby toys , a car

Starts: Vicki (stepmom) and daughter playing, she maybe gets a call and goes outside to get better connection/or she goes outside to pick up mail (there needs to be a reason she leaves)

Middle: door left slightly open, man comes (Richard's dad plays the man) and hears baby crying or sees her playing or she crawls out by herself and the man picks her up and takes her. 

End: scene could cut and show maybe the man running away with the kid or in a car going away,

scene could cut again and show the mum searching for the baby

Pros: no other film students have done this before, could be such a success if done properly 

Cons: baby has to act, might not respond well, time has to suit round the babies schedule, if it never works well than we will only have a bit to come up with a new idea

Hitman: 

Actors: someones dad/brother (hitman/man who ordered the hit man) , the person who is meant to be killed, the person who is the wrong guy (sarahs brother)

Location: anywhere/house

Props: a gun/knife , phone , a car? , id , gloves

Starts: hitman gets a text to kill a target that is explained to be Jonathan and is told the house. see him prepare the gun/knife/gloves?

Middle: idea 1 : breaks into a house (picks the lock?) kills the guy who is maybe standing in the kitchen or sees him and is about to call police or something then he gets shot. hitman goes over to him and check his pulse and his id and finds out he's the wrong target

Idea 2: breaks into a house (door already open), searches the house and finds the correct target dead on the floor. he checks his pulse and finds his id

End: idea 1: searches through his stuff finding out he's apart of the government agency. he either runs out the house and calls someone (the guy who hired him) to pick him up and explains he's now on the run or the scene cuts and shows him packing his bags and needing to run

Idea 2: begins to search the house as to why he already been killed. maybe tries to call the guy who hired him but it goes dead straight away. could have a zoom in of someone else coming into the room and shutting and locking the door behind. then shows the hitman spin round and get rlly shocked or both pull out guns and there a gun shot heard

Pros: exciting, very gripping, ends on a cliffhanger

Cons: it has been done before, could be confusing, might need to explain why he needs to be killed, could be too long, a lot of people are needed

Break in:

Actors: two girls (flatmates) , guy who breaks in 

Location: someones house 

Props: popcorn

Starts: with two girls getting ready for a movie night, they r on the sofa deciding a movie, making popcorn

Middle: man is watching them/neighbours/in their garden, one of the girls feels like they r being watched, shows the guys hand coming through the window and unlocking the door, door opens and the girls dont hear

End: the girl goes to make more popcorn and he's standing right behind her

Pros: cliffhanger at the end, realistic 

Cons: could be too short and not very gripping

Famous stalker:

Actors: a women (My mum) a man (someones dad/brother)

Location: hammersmith/brook green

Props: phone, camera, 

Starts: an advert on the tv (create a fake advert and upload it on a private youtube account than play it on the tv) and have the advert show the women on it making it clear she's famous. have her look on her phone and show she has loads of followers on insta, have her on the phone saying she wants to go to westfield but needs security or hates how fans r gunna surround her

Middle: have her walk around brook green / walking the dog ? and a man is constantly following her, shows his texts saying he has eyes on the target etc, have the women pretty covered and maybe someone comes up asking for an autograph and a selfie. maybe the mans phone shows him taking photos of the selfie happening in front of him 

End: loads of photos of her gets sent to the women from the man, she is about to go in her house but stops and looks at the photos and freaks out, all of a sudden a bag is put over her head and she's dragged away, the scene ends with the dog left on the door step

Pros: no one has done it before, quite creepy and a thriller 

Cons: might be too long/complicated, hard to portray she's famous, 

Stolen dog:

Actors: dog (we all have one), the owner, random lady and the stealer

Location: park

Props: -

Starts: someones walking their dog, maybe its a dog group/dog walker, make comments about how one dog wont come back, and a man is being rlly weird in a park 

Middle: someone realises the dog is gone, asks around and a lady says she saw someone with the dog further up the park, she beings to panic 

End: shows the man with the dog and running away. 

Pros: no ones ever done that before, quite simple, easy to do 

Cons: bit too simple, not massively thrilling 

Drug deal:

Actors: two girls, drug dealer 

Location: someone house/park

Props: drugs, phone

Starts: two girls getting ready for a party, texts a drug dealer for cocain or something. one girl is a bit scared to do it, they r doing their makeup etc, gets a text saying that he's at the location (the park) 

Middle: they start to go over to the guy and find out they only have 10£ and know its not enough, they say how they just have to beg and use charm etc. the guy meets up with them and they explain they only have ten pounds, guy says thats fine (girls r suprised) girls go off to their party rlly happy that it was cheap. drug dealer texts someone saying “she only gave me 10£”, then he gets a reply saying “you know what you gotta do now”, the girls get a text on her phone saying “party has changed, call me for the new location.” 

End: the girls get off the bus and one is on the phone and u can only hear back ground noise (person on the phone just mouths). they turn up at the new door and they r so excited but they comment about how they cant hear any music. then the door opens and its the drug dealer and maybe a man stands behind them making it impossible for them to run away. 

Pros: gripping, good cliffhanger, 

Cons: may not be a big thriller, could be too long

Analysis of former student's thriller openings

Snatched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxqmS7Y11vk&feature=youtu.be

The thriller started off with a wide shot of the father entering a room with tense non diegetic sound playing over. The camera follows him as he walks towards a present on his desk. He reads the note that is above the present and seems confused. An over the shoulder shot shows the father, daughter and maid having a conversation. They discuss that there are people who are not their friends, making the audience question why people are hostile towards them. 

He receives a phone call from a man with an altered voice, which creates a tense atmosphere. The camera cuts to a man looking out the window who is on the phone to the father and is explaining that he is the one who sent the present to him. The man on the other end of the phone says "If you do not comply, I'll trigger the device, and if you move or call the police, I will blow you up." This makes the audience wonder what is in the present, and why is the father in this situation. 

The father goes into shock and slowly stands up. However, as he does this, the camera cuts to a shot of the man looking out the window telling him to sit down. A close up of the fathers face shows he's very worried and confused to how the man on the other end of the line can see him. The father orders the maid to take sofia (the daughter) to the “safe place” which causes tension as it is clear the family are in danger. 

The mood becomes quite serious as the daughter and maid leave the house. I really liked how the camera was placed on the floor and it shows the door opening, their shoes leaving and the door closing which then lets you can see the father in the background. A close up of the fathers face shows he is very stressed as he holds his head in his hands. 

The scene cuts to sofia being dragged by her hand into the car by the maid and begins to bang the windows from inside the car, showing she's very distressed. It shows the text between the maid and the man in the window showing that they're actually working together, which has created a huge twist. The text says "one down one to go” whilst she hugs sofia. The scene ends and the audience is left on a cliffhanger and wonders what happens next. I think the students had done this film very well and really thought it through.