PLANNING: CAMERA WORK

We are thinking of starting with a close-up on a large butchers knife with nothing else in shot apart from the hand holding it. The camera would then have a straight cut to a mid shot of the boy using the knife violently. The camera would then tilt from up to down then to a close up of the fish that he had just chopped the head off. The camera then is a point of view shot over the boys shoulders looking at his watch. There is then a full body shot of him taking off his apron. There is then a low angled shot of the skateboard that he is about to get onto. 

We plan our camerawork - camera angles, camera movement and shot types -in advance of filming. It is an integral part of our storyboard.
We watch again the rich texture of camerawork in Les Bleus de Ramville on The Art of the Title 
We also watch other student film openings that successfully create the key thriller codes of enigma, suspense and jeopardy such as The Mask.

Low angle shot - focusing on the wheels of the skateboard - to express freedom.
Close up shot of Bryn wearing headphones to express the type of music Bryn is listening too and also shows the contrast of music and the atmosphere, when he witnesses a murder.
Over the shoulder shot - so that we can see the bully and then Bryn skating along.
Worm shot - Bryn looking up at bully to show his helplessness.
High angle shot - Bully looking down on Bryn to show his authority. 


Close up shot - murderer holding knife

• I plan to use close-ups of hands as I have seen how effective tight framing is in directing the audiences attention to specificc actions as well as creating enigma by with holding elements of visual information;
• for example, in the opening squence to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a hand is opening a parcel, and the audience is prevented from seeing any more that the tight framing of the hand and parcel, which turns out to be a gift of a framed picture of a plant.
• When the camera pulls back, it is revealed that there have been a seies of such gifts, now all displayed on the study wall. The audience is intrigued to discover the mystery behind the gifts. Such enigma motivates audieces to keep watching.

over the shoulder high angle shot - looking over shoulder of murderer down at the victimFull length

• I plan to use this shot type because it shows the point pf view of the murderer and the relative positions of both
• It also puts the victim in the inferior position that shows his vulnerability.
• This sort of shot is repeatedly used in crime drama.

Mid shot - murderer stabbing victim
shot - murderer walking towards victim then stabbing victim

Left to right pan - pan from murderer to witness.

• I intend to mix panning shots from left to right, right to left and tilt pans up and down in order to give my film work textual richness and interest. When I analysed Les Bleus de Ramville in detail, the opening sequence showed great variety in its camerawork, moving seemlessly from panning shots to tracking shots, then table-top shots to animation. I intend to aim for an equal level of richness if possible to keep the audience interested.