In class, we watched a clip from Moonlight about Mahershala Ali’s character Juan teaching Chiron how to swim. It was an interesting scene which displayed the trust that Chiron had in Juan and it also led into a pivotal scene in the movie where Juan gives Chiron advice about life.
Avril pointed out about how the way the scene was shot with the water going above the camera illustrated Chiron’s perspective during the swimming lesson. This is an example of how Directors can use cinematography and different visual choices in their movies to convey emotion and progress the story.
Today I will be analyzing some simple yet effective camera movements that pushed the narrative forward in a movie.
In Avengers Infinity War, when the giant Ring arrives in New York City they do not just directly show it. Rather they opt to show it from the perspective of Tony Stark. As Tony Stark walks out of the building to see the looming threat, the camera follows him. The camera is also hand held to convey the tension and chaos that is ensuing in New York. They purposely do not let the viewer see the Red Spaceship until both Tony Stark and Doctor Strange have seen it themselves. This builds tension as the viewer has no idea what to expect and they do not know what is creating that threatening noise until it is revealed moments later. This illustrates the threat of Thanos and his army and shows how threatening he is.
In one of my favorite shows Breaking Bad, the use of wide shots are plentiful throughout the series. They are used to distance the viewer from the scene and allow the viewer to take a step back and gain larger perspectives on the story. For example in this scene, when Gus took out the entire cartel, this wide shot right after action shows the magnitude of carnage that Gus and Mike had just caused.
Other times, the use of a wide shot is to show the distance between two characters. This shot with Walter and Mike show us the physical and ideological distance between the two characters. This also foreshadows their clash and which lead to both of their demises.
The last camera choice I will be analyzing is a camera tilt in Inception. As Ariadne messes with the physics of the dream world, the camera moves upward to convey the massive spectacle of the entire city folding onto itself. Not only is there a camera tilt upward to show the city folding, but there is a camera tilt downward when the camera is on the characters. This shows the action from the folding cities perspective and also follows the eye line of the characters better. This highlights the peculiarity of the dream world and through the use of theses camera movements, it sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
Any story can be enhanced with simple camera movements. Directors spend weeks planning a scene and pin pointing which shot or composition will be perfect for each scene. Each shot and movement serve purposes to the overall grander story.
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