Cinematography - Seven

Intro

Cinematography is essential for thriller films because it makes the audience build a relationship with the characters. It also helps the audience to understand the characters and understand what is clearing going on. A camera shot helps to understand the effect of every scene and the effect it has on the audience. It helps the audience to relate with the characters and feel what they are feeling.

Peer Analysis

Mid Shot 

In the scene Morgan Freeman appears with a knife in his hand. He is going down to open the box that he is presented with. The audience can clearly see what is going on, they can see his upper body, facial expressions as well as the knife in his hand. This helps to understand what is exactly is going to happen. The purpose of the mid-shot is to show the audience clearly how the person feels as well as what he is going to do next. The purpose of using a mid-shot is to give the audience clear view of what is happening with Morgan Freeman. It also helps to show the audience the character, as the audience knows what’s coming next but the star persona doesn’t. The scene with the protagonist, the music all add up to give the audience an idea that there something bad going to happen. The audience is ready but Morgan Freeman wasn’t ready. That is why a mid-shot is used to focus on his actions and expressions to show the audience how he feels.

This is conventional to a thriller film because there is use of iconography. Morgan Freeman has a knife in his hand, which is common in the thriller genre. There is a tense expression on his face and audience knows that something bad is going to happen. The audience expects something worse to happen. By his expressions the audience get a feeling that it is going to be something shocking.

Shallow Focus

Brad Pitt moves forward with a gun in his hand. He moves forward and comes closer to the camera. This where the audience can see theevil guy at the back blurred out even though he was saying his lines he was still blurred out.They have used a shallow focus so they could emphasize on the victims face. As the audience know that something bad is about to happen to him. In the background the evil guy is blurred out while he is talking. This makes the audience laid emphasise on Brad Pitt which relates the first scene with Morgan Freeman opening the box then instantly changing the shot to Brad Pitt and his expressions. This relates the both scenes up and gives the audience an idea.

This convential to a thriller film because the audience can see the protagonist in the background blurred out. In a thriller film the villain’s identity is always hidden. In the background we can see him talking but his face has been blurred out while the camera is focussing on Brad Pitt’s expressions. The audience knows something bad is going to happen to Brad Pitt as the villain at the back keeps talking. The scene also contains iconography he has a gun in his hand which is another common convention of a thriller film.

Long Shot

In this shot the audience can see the entire background as well as what is going on? In the background they can see the location which seems to be an open field. On the sides the audience can see electricity towers. In the middle there is Brad Pitt with a gun in his hand he has pointed it towards the protagonist. The Protagonist hands are tired at the back.

The background is an open field not a residential area. The long shot gives us a clear idea on what is going .The audience knows what is happening with Morgan Freeman but not what is happening with Brad Pitt so this shot gives us an idea of what is happening on the other side.

This is convential because the audience can see a murder and a victim in the scenes, which are common examples of a thriller film. There is a gun in Brad Pitt’s hand which is another common factor of a thriller film.

Summary

By doing this analysis I found out the importance of cinematography and the effect it has on the audience. This analysis will help me when I am filming my thriller film. I now know what all the camera shots represent and what they mean and what effect it has on the audience.