Research into Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography is used to build a relationship between the audience and the characters through all of the different camera shots/angles used, which helps the audience gain an understanding of the film. 

The clip I have decided to analyse is called 'Red Eye - Trying To Kill Me'. I decided to use this clip because it has many different examples of cinematography, and so I thought it would be a good clip to show my understanding of it. 

The First shot I analysed, I recognised to be a Mid - Shot. I noticed that there was more background filling up the shot than the actress and this showed me that the actress was made to look small within her surroundings. This heightens her emotions of feeling scared and immediately tells the audience that the female is the victim and so we feel sorry for her. The audience may relate to this frame as we can see that the female is in her bedroom, and yet she feels threatened by someone or something. This may make the audience feel on edge as they begin to wonder if this scenario may happen to them.

Although the actress only fills up a small part of the shot, we as an audience are drawn to look at her because of the way she is presented. In thrillers, this is a good way for us to focus on her emotions and actions, such as the weapon she is holding, whilst still being able to see what's going on in the background. This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds suspense as the shot gives away enough detail to make you feel engaged, but at the same time it doesn't show a lot of detail, so you are left questioning the scene.   

The next shot I analysed was a long shot. The focus in this shot is not necessarily on the actress, but on herself and her surroundings (background). This is so the audience can relate to the character and the situation she is in, as we can see that the attack is taking place in a bathroom, which is not a stereotypical setting for a thriller. 

The shot is used to give the audience a sense of the situation and what is going on within the frame. With the use of the unusual setting, it makes the audience connect with the actress as they believe the attack could happen to them and so makes them sympathise with her. 

This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates an enigma; stereotypically we would expect a female victim to be weak and gullible, but this frame (below) shows the female to be in a 'warrior' stance. This suggests that she is not weak and is willing to fight if need be. This leaves the audience eager to know what happens which builds tension.

The next shot I analysed was a shallow focus. This shot is used to show the main object in full focus, whilst the rest of the shot is out of focus or blurry. In this image, the phone is in full focus whilst the rest of the background is out of focus and blurry. This shows that the phone is an important factor in this section of the clip and makes us think what is to happen next. This emphasises the reality of the scene as most viewers will own a telephone and so it makes them feel vulnerable as the events occurring in the scene could easily happen to them.

This shot is conventional to thrillers because it is used to direct the viewers attention to an element of the scene. In thrillers, this tells the audience that something is about to happen, and whilst this builds suspense, it also makes them feel eager to know what is happening next.

I then analysed a part of the clip where zooming in was used, which can be seen between 1:05 to 1:18 in the above clip. By zooming in on the actress' face, it creates an importance in the clip. It draws the audiences attention in on the actress' emotions and allows us to sympathise with how she is feeling, thus creating a closer bond between the character and the audience.

In a thriller film, the zooming in is used to focus the audience's attention on (in this case) her face, where we can see her emotions clearly. During this phone call, the female is alert as there is a man in her house. She speaks quietly to the person on the phone, and this whispering is conventional as it builds the suspense for the audience. The zooming in could therefore show that she is scared that the killer may hear her. This builds tension, and makes the audience experience that heart stopping moment as they fear that she is in danger. This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates a tense atmosphere, whilst building suspense.

The next shot I analysed was a high angled shot. A high angle is used to make the object look smaller, and us usually a clear way to portray a victim, but in this case it is used to make the male character look weak. In thrillers, this shot makes the audience lose all sympathy for the man as he has been attacking the woman. It is used to make the villainous character look weak, so the audience can see that although he may look scary, as he is the killer, he is just as weak as the victim.
It is also to draw our attention to the female, in the shot that follows this one. It makes the audience feel proud of the female as she is finally doing something about the attack, and not doing what the villain says, like a stereotypical victim would do. This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it is typically used to clearly portray who the victim is. The use of this shot in the above clip shows that it can also be used to present the villainous characters, and so its variety of uses can help the audience gain a better understanding of the many characters.

The next shot I analysed was an eye level shot. An eye levelled shot is used to engage the audience with the scene. In this frame, it is used to focus our attention onto the central position of the knife, making us guess what will happen next or who will grab the knife first.
This shot is used to allow us to see the emotions and thoughts on the male characters face, in contrast to the focus in this scene, which is the knife. It usually builds the scene to a climax by making the audience constantly sit on edge. The audience can relate to this scene as they can see that both characters are at an equal distance from the knife and so either one may grab it first. It builds tension as the audience can think back to a time in their lives where they were in a similar situation with a different object and so this creates a nervous atmosphere.

The last shot I analysed was a two shot, which is when two people are featured in the frame. This frame shows us that the man is dominant and the woman is the victim, from the way the man is restraining the females hands up against the wall so she cannot move. The two shot is used to show how the two characters react to each others dialogue and actions.
This shot helps to show the audience who the villain is and who the victim is. It is a clear way of presenting emotions (etc) in a thriller. In this shot, the audience immediately feel sorry for the woman as she is trapped, as seen by the male holding her wrists to the wall. Her emotions are  reflected on the audience, making them sympathise more with the female character. This shot is a good way for the audience to gain a better understanding of these characters and it is also conventional to thrillers as it portrays the female as being the victim which is a very stereotypical thing to do in thriller films.

Having looked and researched into Cinematography, I have learnt a lot about camera angles and the effect they can make if used correctly. For example, I originally thought that a high angled shot should be used to portray the victimised character, but from the high angle used in the above clip I have learnt that is not true. A high angle can be used to make a character look small and vulnerable, and although this is normally done to portray a victim, it can also be used to portray the weak side of a villainous character. This will help me when creating my own thriller clip as it will remind me that I don't have to use cinematography in the stereotypical way certain shots are used in thrillers. Some of them can be used in another way but can still create suspense and provoke a response from the audience.