Analysis of 4 Film Stills - Camera Angles and their Effects

King Kong

King Kong is a 2005 remake of the 1933 film about a fictional giant ape called kong, which was directed by Peter Jackson. The main focus of the use of camera in this extract is a long wide shot which was used to create a suspenseful atmosphere. The directer used this shot to have a mixture of mise-en-scene as he showed the setting, lighting and characters. This was a clever shot to use because it was used to emphasize on the speriority of the creatures and how powerful they are compared to the human, which also created tension because it showed both the creatures as they faced each other. The positioning of the female character showed how inferior she was to the creatures, however as the audience isn't able to see the characters face to see her emotions, her body language was used to create terrifying situation.

The clever use of a mixture mise-en-scene allows the audience to understand the scene in more depth and acknowledge the main characters, by noticing the hero, villan and victim with the same shot. The shot also accompanies the mise-en-scene as the lighting helped emphasis on the characters as well as the use of other props like the smoke, which conveyed a strong and powerful meaning to the shot.

Superman Returns

This is a still image of the film Superman Returns created in 2006 which shows a life of a superhero. This image is a very powerful photo which shows different emotions and conveys a story to the audience. The positioning of the character works very well with lighting as it showed part of the earth being dark and other parts being light, which could connot day and night. The camera angle of this shot is seen to be a high shot of where the character is looking down at the earth which connots his powers and superiority over the world. Although there is a close up of the man but the use of a long shot was used to show the man's body and his surroundings. His facial expressions are not shown but his body language conveys a strong meaning of him being powerful and prevailing over the world. The use of shot in the image can automatically tell the audience the genre of this film, because there is an enigma of why the man is there it can show that the film is fantasy as the man is soaring over the earth which can entice the audience to watch what might happen next.

The lighting is also very noticeable in this image as as there is a spilt between dark and light which can connot immorality and goodness of his character. The mise-en-scene used in this shot was the actors' costume and the setting which helped show his male supremacy and control because the audience can see the "S" printed in his costume and see he is superman which explained why he was flying over the world.

The Royal Tenenbaums

This is the still image from the film The Royal Tenenbaums which was created in 2001. The first element of this shot the audience can see that the characters positioning are facing someone which shows the first shot as a point of view shot (POV), because someone is looking back at the character sitting in this position. The is a clear use of the mise-en-scene within this still image as the audience is able to see the characters facial expressions which shows that they are shocked like they have heard or see something disturbing thus the body language is shown to be very similar with each other. There is a medium shot of each character only showing half of thier body as the camera is able to fit them in, within one shot. The setting is very visible in this shot and it helps connote things like the wealh of the family as it looks like they are rich from looking at that expensive chandelier, this works with the lighting used in this shot as it appears to be high key lighting which helps the audience see the characters facial expressions. Other elements of mise-en-scene seen in this shot is the actors costumes, props and make-up.

The is an enigma set within this because the audience are wondering what is happening in this image and who the characters are looking at. Just from looking at this image the narrative is unclear because the audience aren't able to tell what is happening thus the genre is hard to tell also. However as the image only shows these four characters they are symbolized as significant people within this film.

The Matrix

This is a still image from the film The Matrix created in 1999 by the Wachowskil brothers. This shot is a reversed shot of two different shots used in one scene. The first shot used is an extreme close up of the man's face but mostly is glasses which then shows a reflection of another character of a medium shot showing two different images. One side of the camera shows the man taking a red pill, but on the other side of the image the man looking at the blue pill. This image can connote different meanings like the character may have two sides to his character like a good side which shows he doesn't take the blue pill, or there can be an evil side where her take the red pill which can also connote danger. The director used a clever shot to establish a point of view shot using a reflection, for example he showed the other man's as though her was looking at him which indicates is authority over him. There is not a lot of mise-en-scene shown in this image but the characters costume is shown and the lighting is ver low key which emphasises on the darkness that surrounds the man, thus connoting mystery.

The way that the director captured the man's glasses to show another image of a person was a very clever use of the camera and this would most certainly entice the audience to watch more.