Q1 Weeks 3 & 4 - Camera Angles in Major Motion Pictures

 Due 09/03

This week you will continue to explore different camera angles and shots; however now you will learn more about how these different angles and shots make the viewer feel or add emotion to the film.

Week 3 (August 23-27)

1)  Begin by reading these 2 online articles and taking the quizzes that correspond with each.

Article 1:  Different Camera Angles Create Different Emotions

Quiz:  Week 3 - Quiz 1

Article 2:  Use of Long Shots in Film

Quiz: Week 3 - Quiz 2

2)  Comments - Now you will spend time looking at your classmates camera shots from last week.  Do this by going to the link on the top of this blog "21-22 Student Blogs".  Choose two classmates and leave them a comment about their storyboard camera shots from week two.  Explain which of their shots you enjoyed and what type of emotions could be felt from them. Comment on at least 3 shots for each  person.

3)  Blog - Make a post on your blog stating which two of your classmates camera shots you commented on, and describe again what the shots were and what emotions they were able to evoke.  Use the information you read in the articles to support how the different angles created various feelings.

Week 4 (August 30-September 3)

4)  Watch a movie of your choice, note the camera angles used and how they help tell the story or add affect to the scene or story.  Note how they make you feel about the characters.

5)  Blog - Make another post on your blog first giving the name of the movie you chose to watch, then giving at least 5 specific scenes that you noticed how camera angles added to the feelings that were meant to be expressed by the scene.  Once again, use the information you read in the articles to support how the different angles created various feelings. (min 500 words)

6)  Make a comment to this post when you have finished stating "Finished".

Here is my example of examining some camera shots in a favorite movie.

Review of a few Camera Angles in the Movie

Alien Covenant (2017)

From Producer Ridley Scott

                I chose to comment on a few of the camera angles in the 2017 movie “Alien Covenant” because I am a huge Science Fiction and Horror fan.  This movie fits into both of these genres and I have seen it along with all of its Alien predecessors many times.  Of course, as in most major motion pictures, probably every camera angle imaginable is used at some point during the film.  And although much of the action is CGI, the typical camera angles are still used in this aspect of the film as well. 

                 The movie opened with a close-up on the eye of the character David.  This close-up just as mentioned in the article we read this week, Different Camera Angles Create Different Emotions, gives you a sense of closeness to the character as well as displaying how human David appears although he is known from previous films to be an android.

Within this same first scene the camera moves from the extreme close-up to a wide angle shot which shows the massive expanse of the room in which the two characters are holding their conservation.  This widening of the scene lets you know that the setting is elaborate, expensive and set in the future.

The next camera angle I chose is an extreme wide shot of the city on the alien planet where our characters have landed.  In this view of the city, the very small specs you see on the ground are the dead bodies of the alien population.  The characters of the story are currently running through the open gate in this scene and are also among the specs on the ground.  The scene allows you to experience the enormity of the alien city and the huge loss of life that has taken place on this planet.  The Use of Long Shots in Film, article taught us that many motion pictures have gone down in history for their amazing and memorable extreme wide shots. 

Once in our alien city as with most alien movies, many of the characters meet their doom.  This is often accomplished through point-of-view camera shots which help you experience the terror that the character is also feeling.  I chose three different shots as examples; a view from a character just as she turns to see an alien, the alien’s view of her as he is looking down to eat her, and finally the captains view of the infamous egg pod which contains the facehugger that will soon jump out and attach to his head.  I hope these pictures don’t scare you too much!

As the movie neared its end, I chose to make a short video of the final action scene with our two remaining characters fighting to save the sleeping colonist on board the ship. In this brief scene you see many different angle shots; a wide shot of the alien falling from the ship on board an exiting vehicle, a head-on shot of the alien flying towards its intended victim, and a great flash shot of the alien trying to devour her.  Did he get her?  If you don’t know, you’ll have to watch the movie yourself to find out.  All these great shots help the viewer experience the excitement and terror that every Ridley Scott Alien movie is supposed to inflict on you.

Finally, I had to show the ending point-of-view shot from the main character Daniels' perspective, which shows the moment she realizes that David is on board the ship rather than Walter and there's nothing she can do about it from her hypersleep chamber.  The shot leaves the viewer with the realization and horror that this is definitely not the end.