Specific camera shots and angles

 

There were many interesting shots we took in this movie opening. Throughout the year we were able to receive great knowledge of how a shot can express so much through the way it is perceived by the audience. The way it is framed, how close up, far away, how it is composed, and etc could make one shot have a completely new and rich meaning to it. We strived to have such complexity and diversity in our camera shots even if it is a 2 minute film. It was really interesting to see how creative you can get with the shots and what evokes certain emotions and feelings. Because we were making a horror film it was imperative that we get across this suspenseful and scary feelings to the audience. During the filming at the playground I got to see how we implemented our knowledge of shots into real life footage which was interesting and very helpful in better understanding why directors are masters at their craft. 

Some of the types of shots we had where a point of view shot where the kidnapper comes to grab towards the camera which is supposed to be Hailey’s perspective. This is done to show how scared she was in the moment. To elaborate, just seeing the kidnapper grab Hailey wasn’t as scary as being immersed into her position as a naive little girl looking around thinking someone is preying on you and then having someone randomly grabbing ahold of you. Furthermore, another shot we had was the camera being inside of the backpack and Hailey opening the backpack and taking out her dolls. In the shot we see Hailey looking down at the dolls and it is a high angle of her. At this time Hailey is in charge and she is in control of the situation. She is simply playing with her dolls and pretty soon after she will be in a completely different predicament where she loses that control and quickly becomes vulnerable and the weak one. Another framing we had was a long shot + low angle of Hailey walking to the park. Not only do we get to see the destination Hailey is walking to, the park, but we also see how isolated she is from the rest of the environment which can be a bit eerie as she is just a little girl in a place where there’s no car or any human nearby in case of potential danger. It also highlights Hailey’s bravery and independent character as she is walking along this trail with no fear which the low angle demonstrates.