19. Media Language - Camera

When researching what type of camera techniques would be best used in my film, i chose to look mainly at the way in which I would frame the shots. This post shows how i researched what shot sizes and framing would work best and look the most professional for my film.

CU 

Close up's are used in films in order to show the emotion that he character if feeling. it also enable to them to engage with the characters feelings which means the audience will see things from their perspective and sympathise with the character. 

I have used two images of close ups. The first one is a screen grab from my own short film, the second is a close up from the Dark Knight. these shots make it clear that a close up highlights the characters emotion and it is easier to identify with them. I used the website Media college to look further into close ups, the link that i used in below. 

This website states that "a close-up exaggerates facial expressions which convey emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings.". http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/closeup.html

MCU

Medium close ups are used to show the upper half of the torso and the head. This allows the audience to still see the emotion of the character and what they are feeling but it also shows some action.

An example of a Medium Close Up from my film is when the teacher is shouting at Josh and the gang of boys. This shot clearly shows the anger of the teachers but by using a Medium Close up instead of an ordinary close up, it allows us to see his hand, which reinforces the anger and that they are in trouble.

I also have added this screen grab from Spider Man. This shows that a medium close up can also be used to show something that is happening in the background of a shot which would be cut out by using a close up or not focused on enough by using a larger framed shot.

I also looked at Media College for this shot to gain some more information on it. http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/medium-closeup.html



Group Shot

Group shots are used in order to show the relation shop between groups of characters. During my short film we used many of them in the first montage as we wanted to show the growing relationship and friendship between Josh and the gang. In this shot we places a motorbike in front of the group of boys. This adds realism which is a convention of the drama genre but it also connotes themes of rebellion as riding a motorbike is stereotypically seen as something teenagers do to rebel.

I have also added a screen grab from the Avengers movie. This is also a group shot that is used to show their relationship together as well as their own separate personalities.







Rule of Thirds

Wikipedia decibels the rule of thirds to be "The rule of thirds is a "rule of thumb" or guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs."

It is used by splitting the image into a 9 box grid and setting each important part of the shot on a line. As is seen on this image of a wasp.

I have used a screen grab of the policeman from my own film to show how I have used rule of thirds. In this shot the characters eyeliner would be inline with the top horizontal line and his body would be inline with the left vertical line. 

The rule of thirds ensures that a shot always has good framing.

I used this website http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
to research rule of thirds.