Cinematography blog task

1) Write an analysis of the cinematography in the opening sequence. Highlight your use of media language and try to cover camera shots, angles and movement using the terminology we have learned in lessons.

2) How does the camerawork give the audience clues about the setting, narrative and character?

3) Find and analyse four film or TV stills. Embed the images in your blog and analyse the camera shot/angle and what they communicate to the audience.  

1)Throughout this opening scene of The Amazing Spider-man 2 the camera movement is very fast-paced keeping up with the exciting web slinging from Spider-man which immerses the audience. The use of the crane shot technique makes us feel as if we are there next to Spider-man swinging along and helps us keep up with the fast pace so we can understand what is happening in the scene in a more calmer simpler way instead of having to take a while to grasp what is happening.  We also see the use of many long shots throughout the opening scene which allows us to see the full body of Spider-man and his new suit as he swings through the city of New York giving us a good look at the buildings, cars and people. By doing this it can provide personal identity (Uses and Gratifications) for people who live in New York or just visited as they will recognise certain areas and recognise the certain lifestyle the civilians in the film live as they do. At the very start we see a close up on the spider symbol, this is used as it is Spider-mans trademark sign that everyone recognises him by so to start the film with the sign is a good way to capture the audiences attention with something they know well. The camera then goes into a medium shot giving us a view of the top half of his suit and showing us the red and blue colour scene fans are very familiar with. At around 1:45 when Spider-man and the man who committed the crime are in the van driving fast the use of a hand held camera shot is used to increase the intensity of the scene and really puts us in the passenger seat viewing the high speed chase.

2) By opening the film with the camera steadily fixed on Spider-man it tells the audience that he is the protagonist of the film as he is straight away being made the main focus. In addition, throughout the rest of the opening scene the camera is mainly focused on Spider-man so that provides more evidence that he is the protagonist character in this film. With all the wide and long shots of the tall buildings and apartments and taxi's to anyone who knows of  the city well it is clear that it is New York city that is being shown as it has certain aspects that most people will straight away recognise. We can tell who the villain of this scene is because of how the camera erratically moves when on him and the close ups on his face showing his facial expressions which are very villainous looking.

3)
The camera shot in this still is a long shot and shows the full bodies of the three heroes, Thor, Rocket and Groot. Their posture in this still makes them look confident, battle ready and ready to take on whatever is thrown at them. The long shot also allows us to see the background of the shot, and in it we see other warriors in the back which highlights the fact hat Thor, Rocket and Groot are the main three at the moment going headstrong forward. We are also able to see the demolished land from all the fighting in this shot too which intrigues the audience even more as they'll be expecting another large scale fight.


The camera shot used in this still is a close up, by using this close up we get a good look at Caesars facial expression, which communicates anger and hatred which the audience can straight away understand because of the camera shot. This camera shot also allows us to appreciate the film studio for the excellent CGI used when creating Caesar making him look extremely realistic which immerses the audience into thinking he is a real life intelligent ape. Also if you haven't yet seen the film and have just seen this still you will be even more tempted into watching to find out what or who he is looking at as the close up doesn't provide us with that information.


The camera shot used in this still is an over the shoulder shot.This shot doesn't allow us to see the character who's shoulder we're looking overs facial expression but by looking at the other character we can make a guess as to how the shoulder character is going to react towards it and we can also guess the facial expression by looking at the body posture. The Joker in this shot is in a slouched position whilst pointing at Batman making him look comfortable and confident even though he should be quite intimidated as Batman clearly isn't there to mess around as we can see from how he is looking straight towards Joker with no hand gestures and standing straight.


The type of shot used in this still from Avatar is an extreme closeup. This type of shot focuses on what facial feature. This shot of the eye doesn't reveal much to the audience, although from the look in his/her eye they look ready for a battle and also have a stern and confident look to them too.

Cinematography video feedback and learner response

1) Make sure your video is on YouTube and embedded on your blog. 
Done

2) Type up your feedback/comments from your teacher.
Grade: C+

3) Type up your feedback from fellow students.
WWW: Wide range of camera shots

EBI: Make it look more professional

WWW: You had good camera movement throughout the video

EBI: Include some dialogue so we can understand whats going on better

WWW: Good lighting used throughout the video

EBI: Use different camera movement techniques

WWW: Easy to understand the basis of your video

EBI: Use a more professional font for your text

WWW: Camera positioning was good especially on the low-angle shot as it made Kyle look very serious

EBI: More dialogue 

WWW: Good choice of music

EBI: Edit more transitions 

4) Now reflect on your work and write your own comments. Add three WWWs and three EBIs underneath the rest of your feedback.
WWW: Good range of camera shots

WWW: Music selection is fitting 

WWW: Camera movement is very good

EBI: The font I used for my video wasn't professional 

EBI: Try to make use of a tracking shot in the future as it can be effective 

EBI: Add dialogue to my video

5) Learner response: think about what you learned making the video and also watching others. What will you do differently when you start the coursework in the summer? What tips or tricks have you learned from others that you can use next time? Are there any specific aspects of camerawork that you need to revise or practice?

I will make sure that when editing I will make my videos or any type of work I do look more professional. I also think adding an engaging narrative is critical as it engages the audience much more and is more creative than just adding a music track in the background. This way when I start my coursework in the summer my work will look much more polished and skilfully done. A camera shot I have learnt that I'll use more in the future is a tracking shot as it gives a really cinematic tone to the video especially when it's a tracking over the shoulder shot.

My cinematography video was filmed in school and was based on a fun football match between a few friends. I used a range of different camera shots which are as follows: Overhead shot, Establishing/Panning shot, close up, Extreme close up, mid shot, Long shot, POV shot, Low angle shot.  By using all these shots I can showcase facial expressions and body language of the characters throughout the video so the audience can maybe have a better understanding of the video. For the music I used is  the champions league theme as it relates to the video and adds more authenticity to it.