Research into cinematography

Introduction

Cinematography is the camera work and photography in making a film. In this essay, I will be discussing cinematography in thriller genre in the film Woman in Black: Angel of  Death. The clip I will be using is:

The first angle used is a mid shot. This is shown when the camera is pointing up to the boy listening to Alice Drablows message (seen at 0:04). The camera is angled to show his full face which shows his facial expressions. This shows that he found the message so he is in charge of what happens to it. This makes the audience feel like they are also sat there listening to the message as well because they can clearly see the facial expressions being used on the boys face. It also makes the audience feel like they are in the scene listening to the message with the boy as the camera is positioned directly opposite from him.

The second angle used is a close up. This happens when the woman goes up to the dirty window and stares out towards the cross in the marsh (seen at 0:52). The camera shows her full face so the audience can see her facial expressions. By having her look out of a dirty window shows that the house is old and hasn't been cleaned for years. Her facial expressions show fear which tells the audience she is worried about what happened at the house. The close up creates suspense for the audience which makes it scarier to watch.

The third angle used is a high angle but it is also a point of view. This is when the woman is looking through the gap down at the boy laying on the bed (seen at 1:28). It shows that he is innocent as he is just laying on the bed drawing. This builds up tension because the audience don't want to see a young, vulnerable boy get hurt. It also shows that the woman is scared for his safety because the hole is right above his bed where he sleeps. This creates tension as the woman has scared facial expressions making the audience also feel frightened.

I found the use of steadicam within this clip when the woman is looking down at the boy and a body falls down next to her which is hanging itself so the camera moves upwards (seen at 1:52).This shows that it has come out of nowhere which scares the woman. As it moves up, it shows the whole of the body still making it creepy for the audience to see. It creates suspense as the camera moves up fast and by it moving quickly, it also makes the audience jump.

The final piece of cinematography I found was zooming in. This happens when the camera zooms in on the cross situated in the marsh (seen at 1:00). As the camera moves towards the cross, it shows that there must have been a death that had happened there in the past. It also shows that it has been abandoned as there is nothing else around it. This builds up tension as the camera is moving slowly and because there is no movement around the cross. It also makes the audience think more about what's happened in the past for it to now be so lonely and quiet.

Conclusion

I think these shots and angles were used because they all create tension and make the audience frightened. This is also helped by the facial expressions used on the characters as this helps build up the tension as well. They are conventional to the thriller genre as tension should be created in thriller films which is what these angles/shots create. The use of angles/shots in this clip has influenced my thriller opening scene because it has shown me how to take them and how you can create suspense out of them.