Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography is essential within films as it creates a visual representation of the story being portrayed. It enables the audience to see with their own eyes the plot unfolding and be able to create their own ideas about a particular film. This also allows for a relationship to take place between the characters and the audience and aid them in gaining an understanding of the film. Cinematography also helps to create an overall visual look of a piece of film and this, along with other elements such as sound and lighting demonstrates a film come alive to its audience. Therefore, planning my own thriller sequence is significant in being able to create a sequence that is of a high standard. This is because when filming, if a plan hasn't been put together, you will end up having no idea of how to shoot particular scenes and the filming would take a long time and therefore wasting editing time meaning that a less successful thriller may be created due to lack of editing. 

While planning further for our opening sequence, we were asked to carefully analyse the different camera techniques we would be using and explain why they would be used and how they are conventional to the thriller genre. To do this, my group and I completed a spider diagram in which we listed 5 different camera shots/angles which we had thought about using and explained where in the sequence they would be used, why it is conventional, how it helps to create a relationship between the audience & characters and what it helps to show. We also thought in depth about the effect we wanted to have upon our target audience and ensure that we selected techniques which would be most successful in creating this.

The first technique we were planning on using was an aerial shot which would be used at the beginning of the sequence where the image of the antagonist and hit man standing in the forest would be shown. This particular shot helps to establish the location and introduce the main characters to our target audience as well as creating an enigma and allows the audience to make individual perceptions of what these characters may be doing in the woods.  Furthermore, this helps the audience to create a relationship with these characters as they are the first to be introduced and are therefore significant to the narrative which viewers are able to pick up on. Emotions such as fear and curiosity can also be evoked at this point within the sequence as it is left unclear what the characters are doing in an isolated part of the forest as well as what they could be up to. This also helps to show the story unfolding and is conventional because it sets the scene and makes the audience wonder what will happen next therefore creating a sense of tension as they watch on to see what they are up to.  In addition to this, the aerial shot relates to to the thriller genre as the audience are able to see everything that is happening within the scene as well as the characters meaning that the scene has been set as well as the enigma which the rest of the narrative will be driven upon for the remaining duration of the sequence. However, this will be a hard shot to produce due to not having specialist equipment in order to feature a shot from above.

A high angle was another camera technique which we were thinking about using within the sequence. This shot is when the camera is positioned above an object making it look smaller. We decided that this could be used within the murder scene to focus the camera on looking down upon the female victim laying dead on the floor. This shot helps to portray an element of innocence and that things are not as they should be as well as conveying that the female character is inferior and weak. This therefore connotes that her killer is now superior as he has had the power to kill her. A high angle shot would be ideal in showing clearly to the audience that this particular character is the victim. This shot helps to evoke sympathy from the audience as they are left wondering why a seemingly innocent girl has been killed in this way which helps to create a relationship between them and the female character due to feeling this emotion. It could possibly evoke anger also as the audience would feel somewhat furious that a young woman who had her entire future ahead of her has just been murdered in the 'safety' of her own home and could result in the audience questioning their own sense of security having witnessed the murder scene therefore creating a psychological element that plays on the audience's mind. Furthermore, this is conventional to the thriller genre as females are usually always the first to be killed as they are portrayed as being powerless and less able to fight back against their attacker. The audience will therefore feel emotionally connected to the character as they know that they should feel sorry for them.

We also thought about using a canted angle within the scene when the hit man wakes up from his unconscious state and appears to have no recollection of what has happened to him. A canted angle is the camera technique in which the camera is tilted to one side at an angle. This shot would help to create elements of confusion and instability to help demonstrate the psychological theme present within the thriller and suggests that his mental state is not as it should be. Effectively, this particular shot helps to establish the emotion of confusion within the viewer as well as the character within the scene as the angle would leave them disorientated and unaware of what is happening. This leaves the audience wondering what could have happened and how he has ended up where he is. This also could disorient and disturb the viewer therefore creating a relationship between the audience and characters as it is almost like the audience have been transported into the character's shoes and would feel the same emotions. We have also decided to place the gun beside him to signify that his duty is to kill and that he has no way out of it.

Furthermore, we also decided to include a POV (Point of View) shot within our thriller sequence. A POV shot is used to show the audience an exact representation of what a specific character is seeing within the scene. My group and I believed that this shot would be effective at the beginning of the sequence and to feature it from the perspective of the antagonist paying his hit man so as to keep the audience in the dark about who he may be therefore creating elements of tension and suspense straight away as the viewers are wondering who it will be and what he may be capable of doing. This also helps to allow the audience to see exactly what the character is seeing so that they are immediately placed in their shoes. This therefore makes them more vulnerable as they are unaware of any danger that may be lurking as well as having no idea who the antagonist may be causing the audience to start to question who it could possibly be.  I hope that by using this shot, the audience are left on the edges of their seats being encouraged to watch on further in order to find out who the antagonist turns out to be. POV shots are conventional to thriller films as they make the audience feel as though the images being shown on screen are happening to them as well as building a maximum amount of tension which therefore creates a bigger effect on the audience.

The final camera technique which we wished to use within our opening sequence is a close up shot. A close up is when a certain feature or object takes up most of the frame and only some background is visible. We decided that this particular shot would be used within the murder scene where the shot would be of the hit man after he realises what he has done. This shot helps to show the emotion as well as the fear on the hit man's face, something that is not evident within a merciless killer implying that he may not be the real antagonist after all which would help to build tension and suspense within the sequence as the audience are now unaware of who the antagonist is and what he may be up to. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience are able to see the true personality of the hit man and causes the emotions they may already be feeling to become heightened as they come to the realisation that the hit man is not a cold blooded killer therefore creating a relationship between the character and audience as they almost feel sorry for him due to being caught up in unfortunate events and now having to live with the guilt that he killed an innocent person.


I think that by using a variety of camera techniques within the thriller sequence, we have made it more interesting and therefore more likely to keep our target audience engaged within the events taking place encouraging them to watch on further. The shots we have carefully chosen such as the high angle shot helps to indicate who the characters are and what exact role they play within the thriller clip. For example, the victim is always portrayed using a high angle shot as they are represented as being weak and inferior therefore the audience know to feel sympathetic towards her. Using the same shot frequently to present a certain a character will mean that the audience know to react in the same way emotionally towards the victim therefore creating a strong relationship. The use of specific cinematography techniques is conventional to the thriller genre as the majority of shots help to build relative amounts of tension and suspense, disorient or confuse the audience as well as provoking a response from them.

Planning the camera techniques that I will feature within my own thriller sequence has helped me considerably as it has given me a clear idea of what shots are responsible for certain effects to have upon the audience and why I wanted to use these. It made me think of what response I wanted to evoke from my viewers instead of choosing different styles of cinematography in order to have a clear variety. It will help me when filming as I now know what emotion I need to portray for each shot to demonstrate to the audience and so the actors can ensure that they convey these particular emotions which will help to provoke the response.