Long Shot – Star Wars: The Force Awakens (dir. JJ Abrams, 2015)

In this scene, Rey and BB-8 are the main focuses of the shot, as they are the only significant things in view.  The use of the long shot helps to show the extent of the desert, to capture the mood of the scene. It is also a good way of showing the scenery, as the shots far into the distance help to immerse the audience into the idea of Rey’s life on an alien planet. This helps the audience to understand her situation, as she has been living on this desert planet for most of her life. The director could also have used an extreme long shot in this scene, but then the audience would have been more concentrated on the surroundings of the desert than of Rey and BB-8, who are the main focus here.

Close Up – Les Miserables (dir. Tom Hooper, 2012)

A close up shot is when the camera focuses on either props or characters in great detail. Throughout this film, there are many close-ups of different characters while they’re singing. This is an effective choice by the director, as it helps the audience to fully see the emotion in the character’s faces. For example, this shot focuses on Fantine, and it is clear to see the sadness in her eyes as she was just forced into the life of a prostitute and raped. This close up shot highlights the fact that she’s broken and has hardly any hope left within her life. If the director decided to use a different shot, for example a medium long shot, it wouldn’t have created as much of an intimate atmosphere and therefore, the audience wouldn’t have understood the intention behind the scene.  

Medium Long Shot – Doctor Strange (dir. Scott Derrickson, 2016)

A medium long shot is a good way of structuring a scene as it allows a lot of information to be seen by the audience, while still focusing on the central character. This shot from the film allows the audience to clearly see Doctor Strange’s powers, showing how he has developed over the course of the film to get to this point. This type of shot also allows the audience to get a good look at the set behind the characters – in this case it is of the New York Sanctum. It shows the level of detail that went into the design of the set, to make it believable for the audience. However, it doesn’t show as much detail in the characters’ faces that would have been shown if a close up had been used instead.

Depth of field: This is the focus on the different layers in frame where the foreground, middle-ground or background can be sharp  all at once or one of them is clear.

Shallow Focus: When a photo or film has full focus on something or someone while the rest of frame or scene is out of focus. Usually done to show importance or to keep focus on something.

Deep Focus: Where the Foreground, middle-ground, and background is in focus while all of the frame is sharp and clear.

To similar scenes in Pulp Fiction where there is a use Depth of focus in deep focus and shallow focus.

Kill Bill volume 1

Eye Level: The face to face with O-Ren Shii, this is to show both of them being equal in skill while being fearless at the same time. This continuous use of the angle on Uma Thurman’s character also is used to show her at her most lethal moments in the film when the film gets most violent.

Low: The fight uses the low angles as a way to show Thurman’s character’s move set and skill while showing every detail of the fight at the same time.

Birds Eye: To show how both lethal the Bride is and how outnumbered she is, the birds eye view does well to present both. As to the audience sees how difficult it is for her to escape as the bunched up circle around her moves closer. The circle could be viewed as the cycle of revenge seen in this film.

Doctor Strange

Panning: Multiple camera movements are used when Strange is going through different universes. However panning is used to show the size of them as a whole when Strange is going through each one, as the audience learns about this cinematic universes scale.

Crab: The fight in the mirror world also uses a few different camera movements however this is done to show how the world twists the real world. So by the use of the crab technique as an example it shows the world twisting around the characters making it unlike anything seen before. This is used as a way to blow the audience away by how the scene tries trick the audience.

Ped: The use of a pedestal shot, is done to reveal the villain fully to Doctor Strange and the audience while showing his might by the use of his size while pedding.

The Dark Knight

Long Shot: The most iconic shot in the Dark Knight is when Batman stares down when standing on a rubble. The audience will feel surprised as this is the first time they have seen Batman fail. As well this shot captures the fallen rubble what shows how Batman’s world has collapsed.

Close Shot: Joker speaking to Harvey Dent after his face is burned. This close shot could be seen as how alike Dent is to the Joker but also is used to hide what Dent has become.

Mid-Long Shot: Joker in prison where he is calm and relaxed. By showing most of his body and focusing on his posture what shows him not being anxious but collected foreshadowing what is to come in the next 2 scenes with him.

Diegetic Perspective: Blade Runner 2049 focuses on the toy horse and how it links with the unknown offspring of Deckard in a unique way by not revealing who it is but after a first viewing it becomes obvious. As the AI Joi and how you look at her as human or not is also focused on closely by the camera by when she is not broken up in scenes where the camera doesn’t focus on her compared to when she is broken up in hologram the camera does focus on her. This is done to show her importance to K and every time she is at risk it focuses on it like with the horse and K.

Intra Diegetic Perspective: The Amazing Spider Man goes into first person when he firsts suits up and swings through Manhattan. This scene use this affect to show the thrill and excitement from Spiderman while the audience see themselves what swinging through the city is like for spider man. By going first person and experiencing this with Spider Man, it shows his transition from superhero to kid as he is as blown away as the audience is.

Extra-Diegetic Perspective:  In both the Deadpool movies, Deadpool breaks the fourth wall throughout for comedic effect by this he is making out he knows he is in a movie by how he talks to the camera and mimics Ferris Beullar in end credits scene, this is used as a gag throughout the both films. Deadpool uses this due to source material where he breaks the fourth wall constantly as a way he shows knows he is in a comic book. Overall this is to play into the character of Deadpool who is unlike everyone on screen as differentiates him to other comedic superheroes, this makes him more iconic to audiences as well as partly being relateble to the audience due to most similar movies taking a more serious approach.

Diegetic film: The Wizard of Oz (dir. Victor Fleming, 1939)

Diegesis is another word for the storyline that the film shows to the audience. The Wizard of Oz is a very good example of a diegetic film, as it creates a very believable world through the costumes, sets and camera work. Throughout the movie, many different props or scenes are carefully focused on to highlight their importance to the audience. For example in this scene, Dorothy first gets the ruby slippers and the camera changes to focus on them. This brings them to the attention of the audience, and helps them to realise their significance to the rest of the film.

Intra-diegetic film: The Blair Witch Project (dir. Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)

This film was filmed to look like found-footage, which suits the horror movie genre and adds to the tension created. For example, in this scene the monster comes towards the characters, but as the audience are shown the movie through the characters’ perspectives, it seems as if the monster is coming towards us. This way of shooting the movie makes the jump scares more effective and the overall movie more scary. It also adds to the believability of the film – even though the audience know it isn’t real, the shaky camera work and immersion with the characters make it seem almost like they’re there.

Extra-diegetic film: The Wolf of Wall Street (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2013)

An extra-diegetic film is when characters break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. In The Wolf of Wall Street, the narrator often talks down the camera to the audience. This breaks the fourth wall of the film, as the audience are acknowledged, rather than leaving them as people just watching the film. This is effective, as it creates a more lighthearted feel to the serious film. However, it does take away a bit of the film’s believability, as it is no longer contained within the rules of its own universe. This film is based on the real Jordan Belfort’s memoirs, so the main character talking to the audience is appropriate in this sense.

Cinematography: The art of photography and camera work when creating a film.

Cinematographer: Is the person who is in charge of camera and lighting crews working on anything related to the image.

A director is someone who controls what goes into the scene while a cinematographer controls how that scene is captured.

Cinematography is the art of photography and camerawork in film-making.

Cinematographer is a director of photography and is the chief over the camera and light crews working on a film and is responsible for making artistic and technical decisions related to the image.

The difference between a cinematographer and a director is a director of photography is hands off and usually watches a monitor, directing camera operators instead of handling the camera herself. A director commands the whole cast and crew.