Filmmaking Techniques

In this blog I looked again at filming techniques for research purposes. I did something similar in my previous blog where I looked at the kind of conventions that horror movies, and particulaly trailers use. The first video is a video of film techniques, where it showcases the  many of the camera shots, angles, and a bit of editing that I can implement in more own.


Initially it shows some of the obvious shots like long shots close up etc. But it also introduced me to much more complex camera shots that can be used for a range of reasons. One of the most interesting camera shots that saw is the practical extension shot. The shot essentially is like a close up of the face, whilst the background swirls around violently. This camera shot was used in the movie Kidulthood after the main character does something bad, and it helps show his crazed emotional state.


Focus techniques
Another interesting filming techniques that the video shows is focus techniques. These are shots that ultilise things like blurring of the camera lens, which can act as a fade or dissolve. It helpes to make objects or people stand out.

The link above is from a scene from casion royale where they have used focus techniques and focused the camera in several times in the scenes on objects and people etc. The clip  with bond is drinking a martini. The director has used a over the shoulder shot and blurred both the wine class and bond. But the villian hasnt been put out of focus. The effect of this is that it creates a eerie atmosphere. But also it helps to foreshaddow the danger the character is in. In the scene bond is in the process of being poisened. As soon as he realises this, the director has focused the camera on Bond's drink which is a quick and effective way of showing why and what has happened to him.

The beauty of focus technique camera shots is that it makes the cinematography more profound, and it sends message without the need for any dialogue. And this can be a very effective tool for a horror trailer.

The second video is similar to the first but has a narrator talking through the use of camera angles and the effect of them