Camera Angles and Framing

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CAMERA ANGLESor die!

The Great Train Robbery, 1903

Eye-level shot = normal

Sherlock Jr., 1924

Sherlock Jr., 1924

The camera angle remains at eye-level when the characters are sitting.

The Shawshank Redemption, 1994

Angled shots = abnormal way of seeing?

Viewers identify with the camera.

Force of Evil, 1948

A camera placed at a low angleforces us to look up at the subject.

A high angleforces us to look down at the subject.

The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928

Eye-level shot

High-angle shot

Low-angle shot

A Dutch tiltor canted angle presents the world off-balance.

The effect of a particular camera angle depends on context.

The Shining, 1980

This low-angle shot of Joan occurs during the torture montage, just before she collapses.

Mise-en-scène 1. Design

the look of settings, props, lighting and actors(as in plays)

2. Compositionthe organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects within the space of each shot(as in paintings and photographs)

Framing

Subject placement using the rule of thirds

American Beauty

Subject placement using the rule of thirdsPan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

Subject placement without looking room creates tensionPan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

Subject placement in centerPan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

Hitchcock’s rule: The size of the object in the frame should be directly related to its importance in the story at that moment

Figure placement in a balanced compositionJuno. Jason Reitman, 2007.

Figure placement in an unbalanced compositionJuno. Jason Reitman, 2007.

Figure placement in a balanced compositionAmerican Beauty

A deep frame that emphasizes the z axis

The Shining. Stanley Kubrick, 1980.

A flat frame that understates the z axisThe Conversation. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974.

Extreme long shotThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.

Long shotThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.

Medium long shot / Three shotThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.

Medium shot / Two shotThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.

Medium shot / SingleThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.

Close upThe Searchers. John Ford, 1956.