shots and angles analysis

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Camera shots and angles Carrie (2013) Insidious 3 (2015) Don’t Breathe (2016)

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Camera shots and angles

Carrie (2013)Insidious 3 (2015)

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Long/establishing shotThese shots are used to understand where a scene is set. In the case of a horror film, it’s usually a deserted house or neighbourhood. The screenshots on the left show establishing shots of houses. Establishing shots also show the audience what time of day it is. For example, when it turns into dark/night, they will generally be expecting a scary scene or jump-scare because scary events happen during the night. The bottom screenshot, taken from ‘Don’t Breathe’ shows the man looking at a house. The long distance between the man and the house suggests that he could be a threat to it in the future, and he’s just observing for now. On the other hand, the view of the house could mean it’s going to be a big part of the film in future scenes – making it the main focus of the shot.

High angle/birds eyeThe 3 screenshots show a high angle shot. This is used in horror films to make a character (usually the victim) seem vulnerable. This also shows that they’re trapped. For example, the bottom screenshot from ‘Don’t Breathe’ is used when the boy and girl are trapped in the man’s basement. This shows they’re powerless because they have no where to go and the man is coming after them. The top screenshot is from Carrie, showing her laid on the school bathroom floor. She is trapped there because all of the other girls have cornered her and she’s vulnerable because she’s crying and only has a towel wrapped around her. High angle shots can be seen throughout many horror trailers, to give the viewer a rough idea of who the victim could be.

Close upA close up shot is used to show a characters facial expression or any detail that the creator wants you to see. In a horror film, close up’s are usually used to show fear or upset. In these screenshots we can see all 3 people have their mouths open and are showing very strong facial expressions. This helps build the tension for the audience because by clearly seeing that he character is scared, they become more involved in the film and naturally become scared too. In the middle screenshot from Insidious 3, the man is worried because he wants his daughter back and is scared she will die. The close up makes us feel empathy for him because we can see how concerned he is. The bottom screenshot from Don’t Breathe shows the girl is scared because the lights have turned off so she doesn’t know her surroundings. We can imagine the audience being on the ‘edge of their seat’ because the camera shot getting closer to her builds the tension.

Point of view shotA point of view shot shows something from the characters eyes. This technique gives the audience the illusion that they are the character in the scene, instead of just looking at it from an exterior view. This is used to engage the audience and make them feel a higher emotional connection with the character, which is useful in horror films because it can make it more scary if the audience are captivated. If they have the same view as the character, they aren’t able to see everything as they have limited vision so this makes the viewer disorientated and creates mystery and tension while the audience waits for the character to turn around. In the top screenshot, we are looking at the girl from the villain’s point of view, who is holding a gun towards her. This shot makes the scene more tense because we can see the fear in the girls face.

Over-the-shoulder shotThis shot is used a lot in horror films in order to create tension because the audience can see what’s going on around the character. It can be used so we can see when the villain is stood behind the character which makes the audience tense because they’re in fear of what the villain will do. When the character can’t see the villain, it makes them more vulnerable. Over-the-shoulder shots are used a lot in horror films around mirrors and reflections, so the audience can see what’s going to happen before the character does. This is a good tool to use when we want the audience to feel empathy or fear for the character. In the middle screenshot, taken from ‘Insidious 3’ shows the girl peering over her bed, so we’re expecting something to pop up for underneath – the audience anticipates a jump scare. This shot is generally used to show a conversation between two people; the top screenshot shows this. However, in horror films it’s much more effective to use as an angle to create tension.