Planning: Cinematography Planning Miss Begum

Planning: Cinematography Planning

Cinematography is important in films because each shot is used to tell a part of a story. Each shot can define how a character is feeling, what a character is doing and how the storyline is going to progress. I believe it is important to think about the cinematography, especially in thriller films because if used effectively, cinematography can build up the tension and suspense to keep the audience on their toes, keep them engaged with the storyline. Without good use of cinematography the audience can’t get into the story and it loses emotion felt by the character.

Some of the conventional uses of cinematography in thrillers are:

·         Close ups. Usually used to show a character emotion so the audience gets close and personal with the character. For example if the character was in distress a close up would be used on her face to show that emotion and therefor the audience would feel sympathetic for her.

·         Low angles. This shot is used mainly used to show how dominant one character is compared to another, to demonstrate ones superiority in a certain predicament. For example If a kid was being bullied at school, the low angle shot would be used to show how superior the bully is and the audiences reaction is that they would feel scared for the one being bullied

·         Point of view. This shot (used in first person games) is to show us as the audience to be in exactly in the same position as the character. We see what they see. It makes us feel that we are in the same situation as the character.

The cinematography I plan to use in my thriller consists of the following:

1. Close-up will be used when the antagonist has his victim and is stabbing her with the knife. I have chosen to use this because it shows emphasis on the iconography used in that scene which is the knife. Furthermore it makes the audience feel scared and sympathetic for the victim as it looks like she has no hope. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it is typical in a thriller film to see a close up on a symbolic object in this case the murder weapon the antagonist uses on the protagonist.

2. Panning shot will be used when the two friends walk into their house with their shopping bags. I have chosen to use this because it slowly builds up tension as it is almost irrelevant to the other scene and it keeps the audience guessing what is going to happen next. This is conventional to the thriller genre because in almost all thriller films there is an irrelevant scene where the protagonist is happy and it always leaves the audience intrigued and wanting more.

3.  High angle will be used when the antagonist is in contact with the victim. I have chosen to use this because this shot clearly shows the antagonist in power ready to use it on the protagonist. This is conventional to a thriller genre because it is key to show the villain in a dominant state to portray an antagonist that is able to scare the characters and the audience and the use of a high angle does that.

4.  Close up will be used on the sink and show the tap continuously running. I have chosen to use this because it keeps the audience guessing the plot and doesn’t give too much away. The tap is there to symbolise something. It’s the job of the audience to guess what it is. This is conventional to a thriller genre because in order to keep the audience intrigued in a film you got to keep them guessing. If it is predictable then the audience loses interest in the film.

5. Medium shot will be used when the antagonist and now murdered victim are at the table. I have chosen to use this because this scene in particular shows just how disturbed our antagonist is; having dinner with the protagonist he just killed. This is conventional to a thriller because it confuses the storyline asking questions from the audience which is what a thriller should do

6. Long shot will be used when the antagonist enters the protagonist’s house. I have chosen to use this to show the costume of the antagonist and show that he doesn’t look like your average villain. This is conventional to a thriller film as you usually can tell who the antagonist and protagonist is by looking at their costume but again this turns that concept on its head.

7. Close up will be used on the victims face when she is attacked. I have decided to use this because it can be really effective to see the terror in the victim’s eyes and through that the audience can feel remorse. This is conventional to a thriller genre because close ups are usually used to emphasis the situation and to get a reaction from the audience.