Planning Cinematography- Miss Miller

Our opening sequence will involve a large variation of cinematography, to create  suspense and build tension with the audience which are convectional to thrillers. 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. We needed to plan the cinematography we wanted to use in a lot of detail, to make sure it created the effect we want the audience to feel. Without planning the cinematography, we would not be able to film the scenes efficiently as if we decided during the editing stage that we needed a different camera angle, we would not have the footage to change it. Cinematography is important in all film genres because the film wouldn't make sense without the use of different camera angles and the film wouldn't be exciting as camera angles create excitement for the audience. Especially in thrillers camera angles are so important as they create tension for the audience which is key for thrillers. 

We want to use a high angled shot this shot is where the camera is positioned above the object, making it look smaller. We decided to use a high angle mainly when portraying the female victim because stereotypically in thrillers, high angles are used to portray a victim looking vulnerable. An example of a high angle we want to use in our thriller clip is when the female victim has just been possessed from drinking the water and starts walking towards the forest, this would show her to be struggling and seem in danger, giving the audience the impression that she is weak, which is a common feature in victims. I wanted to use high angles frequently when showing the blonde female, so viewers would associate high angles with the girl being the victim, and so would always focus and feel sorry for this character. High angled shots are conventional to thrillers because they are usually an immediate indicator to viewers that the character shown is the victim. The audience can then emotionally connect with this character as they know they should feel sorry for them.

Another shot I want to use in my thriller is the close up shot this shot is where the camera zooms in to a characters face and shows just their facial expressions, we are using this to show the emotion of the girl when she sees just been possessed, the shot emphasises the emotion of the character is going through and it shows how the character is feeling being in that situation. The close up is conventional my thriller film as it allows the audience to understand how the victim is feeling and what she must be going through at that moment of time. The target audience build a relationship as they feel from the emotion on the victims face what she is going through and they feel sorry for her as she is an innocent victim.

I want to use A POV shot this shot is used to show the audience the same image as a character within the footage. We have decided to use a POV shot when the female victim looks down to the glass of water by using this shot, it will help the viewers feel closer to the female victim as it emphasises the water is bad or and important factor in the thriller opening sequence this shows the audience that something bad will happen from the female victim drinking the water making them feel sorry for her and bring them closer to her as they see what has possessed her. POV shots are conventional to thrillers because they make the audience feel as if the events on screen are happening to them, which means more tension is built and so the effect of certain aspects in the clip will be even bigger.

Another shot I want to include into my thriller opening sequence is a mid shot this shot will be at the beginning of our thriller of the fuzzy television. We wanted to use a mid shot to show the audience the fuzzy television as this will creep the audience out and make them wary. The shot portrays a creepy house as the television will be all fuzzy and make sharp loud noises so the audience are nervous right from the beginning of the thriller. The shot is conventional to the thriller genre as the mid shot presents to the audience its set in a creepy place which is stereotypical place for thrillers to be set in. Its also conventional to thrillers because it makes the audience feel uncomfortable which is key in thrillers. The audience will feel sorry for the female victim as they can see already that something creepy is going to happen this will help the audience build a closer relationship to the female victim.

Planning the cinematography has helped me as it gave me a clear idea of the styles of cinematography I wanted to use when filming, and why I wanted to use them. It made me think about the response I am trying to get from the audience, instead of simply choosing the cinematography to ensure I had used a variety. It will help me when filming, as I now know what the audience should be feeling in every shot and so can help the actors portray a particular emotion that will help to provoke this response.