Crooked Cameras

    A big discussion that we have been having the last few days has been over the storyboard, specifically how we can shoot our "kill" scene. The biggest topics we've been discussing have been camera angles and lighting.

    When it comes to the angles, the main topic has been the use of Dutch angles and some movement aspects. According to nofilmschool, the Dutch angle "can help heighten psychological distress and tension, creating a cinematic environment that makes for a thrilling, suspenseful experience." This seemed that it would fit our opening perfectly, but there was a BUT listed in the article. (The full article can be viewed here.) Although the definition of the Dutch angle seems like something that we can use, it is often difficult to determine if it really is necessary, or if it would make the introduction seem cheesy or weird. In some cases, the Dutch angle may even produce an output far from the desired intent, and this is something we really do not want to do, especially since there is so much we are trying to show in the short amount of time provided between the two characters we feature. An article by videoeditingsage.com discussed how the Dutch angle is a common angle used throughout the horror genre and by the film master Alfred Hitchcock. This means that the Dutch angle is a common theme used by many movie makers in similar genres, and it may be something that we too can implement and even look to other movies for aid and guidance. The fact that the angle is used frequently throughout the genre to portray similar emotions to what we want to portray and by big name movie creators is something that makes the angle very tempting and indicates to us that the correct use of the angle is something that can be incredibly helpful to portraying the emotions and feelings se want to the audience. 

    Another big thing that we have been discussing is lighting. In the first portion of our intro, we plan to have a dark room, featuring close ups of the main antagonist's  face, lit by computer/technology screens. We plan to experiment further with this idea, but have a basic idea of what we can do using the lighting from screens of computers and cellphones. We also felt that this would provide just enough light to show the characters facial expressions, but not too mush in order to keep a creepy vibe and also draw attention to the screens and the heavy use of social media. 

(Example of the lighting we intend to use, obtained from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/block-blue-light-to-sleep-better#section1)

But the biggest  lighting issue we face is how to make a scene creepy, but still have enough light to be able to see what is going on. Our teacher has made a recommendation to play around with lamps and different coverings over the lamps, which will be very convenient for us with our limited accessibility to fancy items. A common lighting that we have scene in horror movies such as "Friday the 13th" is very lowkey lighting, with the lighting coming from an outside source, such at the moon, or even very lowkey lighting that only has lights on the main subject. These are things that we can play with as we film, allowing us a range of options, but is also something that at prove as difficult as we move along. 

(Image from "Friday the 13th" illustrating a lighting choice we may want to experiment with)

R. (2015, September 05). Should You Use Dutch Angles in Your Films? (Answer: Yes, But...). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://nofilmschool.com/2015/09/should-you-use-dutch-angles-films-yes-but

Camera Angles Dutch Tilt: Setting a Darker Mood! (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://www.videoeditingsage.com/camera-angles-dutch-tilt.html

Camera Angles Dutch Tilt: Setting a Darker Mood! (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://www.videoeditingsage.com/camera-angles-dutch-tilt.html

Cunningham, S. S. (Director). (1980). Fridday the 13th [Motion picture].