Introduction to cameras

BCU (big close up) of someones face

The first shot that we took was a (tight) big close up of someones face, the BCU enables us to see detail upon the characters face allowing us to see the expressions put forward that is taken from the forehead and chin. For a shot of a person, a BCU will include the eyes and mouth but not the whole head as shown above. Having a BCU used in a thriller will allow the audience to focus upon the characters facial expressions mainly focusing on the persons feelings and reactions to certain situations depending on where it as been set in which this case a thriller would be scary. The background whilst this shot is used will not be bright and effective as we see the the main focus is the characters face and not where it has been set. Finally BCUs emphasise specific moods and create tension towards the audience as they rarely see anything else but the characters face (expressions).

Wide Shot of an area 

The second shot was a wide shot of an area. Using a wide shot gives us a broader view of the surroundings around the characters giving clear detail on where it has been set and why it has been set in that specific location. This wide shot shows us not just the character but also what is going on around her. A wide shot is effective as it creates tension for the audience as they are not sure what will happen making them engage with films more. Looking at this shot the lightening is also shown to be the focus point creating the mood, as we see the lightening is focused upon the character where the audience will focus on more.

Tracking (shoot of feet)

Tracking is used to follow a certain object or action. Whilst tracking, it makes the subject focused allowing people to see the focus of the object in which this case is the movement of the persons feet. The speed of tracking determines the way the mood is set as if we see fast tracking it connotes a fast paced action allowing the audience to feel the excitement of what could happen. However if we see the tracking to be slow it shows the audience the mood of feeling tense. Tracking is used frequently in thrillers as it goes with the theme of letting the audience focus on what has been set. We see this because the audience are looking up from the ground, and is meant to give the viewer the feeling that they are looking up at the character from way below and it is meant to show them at the same level.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is illustrated in different ways to create various amounts of meanings and create special effects. The rule of thirds is where an image is illustrated and divided into three or more equal parts depending on where the scene has been set and the emotions carried out. This shot also allows you to make your image well balanced and helps the viewers naturally move through an image. The rule is based on different movements allowing different effects to be created. Through this rule of three we see there is two people on each side showing things from there point of view, looking from the left side we see the person is shown to be looking up to the person on the right. The person on the right however is given the view to look down on the person on the left giving different connotations. The rule of the clearly sets out the position of characters and allows the audience to see things from different angles seeing the characters and the main setting of the scene.

OTS (Over the Shoulder)

An OTS (over the shoulder shot) is most commonly used whilst two people are having a convocation and the camera is focused on one character allowing viewers to focus on one actor at a time rather than both. Using an over the shoulder shot as shown above, makes us see what the main focus is at this point, which is the character facing the camera. Even though we see one of the characters face we still see that parts of the other character which suggests that they must be involved in this part as well. This shot also allows us to see things from different viewpoints and allows us to stay in focus with what is going on, as we can also see parts of the background allowing us to see where it has been set.

Window Shot (effect from lightening)

The window shot as shown above shows different types of lightening upon the characters face. As shown above we see that the lightening of the characters face is reflected upon what she is looking at outside the window. The effect that this has allows the audience to reflect upon the character allowing them to build up a mood whilst looking outside. Lightening is an important aspect as it creates the mood weather being tense or relaxing, lightening is usually based on being high or low key in which this case it is high key and is based on bright outside but low key behind the character.