Stanley Kubrick Steadicam and Symmetry

The Chimney Sweep and The Miller

Back when this short film was made, their technology was limited. Due to this, the camera angles and distanced will be simple, and won’t change. This is because cameras weren’t portable back then, when a camera was built it would have been set up in a certain place and would stay there. That’s why this short film is all filmed using an eye level camera angle, because it’s level with the horizon and easier to set up. The camera distance is also the same, it’s set up as an extra-long short, in order to allow the actors room to move around and fight from one side of the screen to the other.

If this were to be filmed today, I feel like the camera angles would change. Instead of keeping the same Eye Level shot throughout, I would change it every couple second, perhaps using a canted camera angle to show that the miller is mad when he gets knocked by the Chimney Sweep. And then a Worms eye shot to show that one of the characters is more powerful than the other. As well as that, I would implement some camera movements, perhaps following the miller as he walks towards the chimney sweep, and then panning left to towards him. The camera distances would differ as well, going from a close to show the emotion of the characters, to a medium shot when the action is happening.

Depth Of Field