Cinematography Planning- Miss Miller

Cinematography Planning

Cinematography is the art or science of motion picture photography. The importance of cinematography in films is to both shoot and develop the film. Planning cinematography is required in order to produce excellent sequences, as different camera shots and angles can potray different feelings and emotions to the audience. For example: A low angle shot, would represent to the audience that the person in the shot is ferrior and is of a matter of importance as they look bigger and dominate the shot. One simple shot can tell this to the audience and can create a realtionship between what is on screen and who is watching it.

We have chosen to use a long shot of the train carriage once the girls have boarded the train. We have made this decsion so that the viewer can see the whole content of the carriage and therefore everything that happens inside it. We hope that this shot will potray to the audience who are the main characters of the film, who its about and will establish the setting of which, the film is set. This is conventional to a thriller as the setting is always quickly established so that, the audience can be aware of the situatuon and place their victim/victims are. For example: by establishing our setting which is the train setting, automatically the audience can relate to our setting as its somewhere that they would have once been themselves which, to is conventional to a thriller. By using this shot we are acknowledging our audience of what will be taking place, and giving them a chance to think and wonder about the situations ahead.

As the girls get on the train there is an over the shoulder shot. We have made this decsion to give off the impression that the killer is behind them and that we are seeing this from his point of view. We hope that this shot will potray to the audience, how the story will be told and from whos view point. This is conventional to a thriller as it is always told from a peception; the killer or the victim. By using this shot we fall into this conventional thriller aspect as we are displaying to the audience that we are telling this from the killers point of view; which creates suspense, tension and a sense of fear as the face of the killer is not revealed.

When the victim is attacked we use a close up. We have made this decsion in order to show the audience her reaction of to which has happened. We hope from this shot that the audience will sympathise with the victim as they will see her intital reaction imdiately when it happens. This is conventional to a thriller film as, it creates a realtionship between the audience and the victim which, then makes whatever happens to them thus more effective. By using this shot, we will be highlighting this realtionship that the audience should make.

High angle shot is used from the bridge of the station looking down at the girls on the platform. We have made this decison in order to show who is ferrior and who is inferrior. This angle makes the girls look smaller, highlighting and emphaisieing the fact they are the victims, and as it is from the killers point of view it appears him as high up and therefore, in a higher more ferrior position than them. This is conventional to a thriller as the killer is always more powerful and has more capability than the victim as the victim is normally (and is this case) sterotypically, blonde, female and less at an advantage.

To conclude by using cinematography my sequence will be more effective in terms of creating certain emotions/reactions and displaying them to the audience well. By using selective cinematography we can fall into the conventions of a thriller genre for example: using high angles to make characters look inferrior, long shots to establish scary settings and