Research Into Cinematography - Miss Miller

Strangers

 

Cinematogrpoahy is defined as photographing of motion pictures: the art or technique of photographing and lighting motion pictures and usually refers to the camera shots used within a scene. Within the thriller genre cinematography plays a extremely important role in creating a certain atmosphere as well as influencing the narrative as certain camera shots can significantly be used to highlight certain things witin a scene.



Within this clip of the film The Strangers a extreme long shot is used, I believe they used this shot because it shows the vulnerable victim as well as the villain in the background. This makes her appear in danger and powerless as she does not know he's behind her. This shot also portraays dramatic irony as the audience are aware that he is menacingly staring at his victime but the character is not aware of the extreme danger she is in. These shots are regularly used in thriller films as it creates a sense of fear as the protagonist is unaware of the danger she is in and the audience foresee the severity of her situation. This shot also helps the audience form a relationship with the protagonist as they have more knowledge of the situation than the character themself therefore they position themselves with a sense of authority over the villain and victim. This superoir knowledge also allows the audience to emphaphise with the charcters danger and therefore they feel her fear.

In this picture zooming in is used as the camera starts further away and gets closer. The effect of this is it shows the door and nothing else, this suggests to the audience that this unexpected knock will be significant to the narrative. This also creates a sense of mystery as the charcetrs and audience are unaware who is the other side of the door, so the zooming in increases the time between the knock and the opening of the door, this increases tension and suspense. This scene is very relateble to the audience as it is a every day occurance but this use of zooming-in makes this ordinary scenario very tense and scary. This effect is regularly used within thrillers as it successfully highlights objects or charcters which are significant to the narrative therefore it is easier for the audience to understand the storyline and be affected by the emotions it evokes.

This shot used is a extreme close up; it zooms in extremely closely on a small inanimate object focusing entirely on that object and no background. This effect emphasises the significance of that object suggesting that it has a pivotal role in the plot. Within this specific clip this shot creates suspense as the fire alarm has been removed, meaning that the unknown protagonist has removed it. This makes the victim seem vulnerable as she is not aware of his presence and will now not be alerted in the case of a fire. Much like zooming-in this camera shot is used to draw the audience attention to a object or charcter which will have a significance to the narrative.

This is a close up shot; this consists of the camera showing the characters face and nothing else. This shot is regularly used within thrillers as it aims to show the characters emotion. In this picture it shows how the camera has zoomed in primarily on the characters face to emphasise the fear she feels after the unexpected knock on her door.This clear portrayal of the charcters emotions make the audience feel sympathetic for her and there emotions mirror those felt by the charcters. Thrillers usually use this shot to show the characetrs emotions and help form a relationship with the charcters and audience and therefore they feel there emotions throughout the film and are more engrossed in the narrative.

 

To conclude Strangers effectively uses cinematography to draw the audiences attention towards specific objects or people and this highlights their significance and suggets they have a impact on the narrative. Strangers also successfully uses cinematography to express a characters emotions, this causes the audience to feel sympathetic towards them and form a relationship with that character. This results in the audience becoming fearful of the charcters situation and therefore adds suspense.