Notes on camera angles, lighting and sound In Films

Taxi Driver

Camera Angles and general notes:

• First thing we notice is that everything is from the main characters perspective.
• Before we have even seen what the character actually looks like, we get an extreme close up of his eyes developing an odd intimacy with the character even though we have no idea who he is.
• As the camera switches to a view from the characters point of view, we see all the lights are blurred creating the impression that time is passing slowly or even mild delirium. Later we learn that he cant sleep nights so the merging colours may be a result of this.
• As he goes in for a night driver license we learn he is 26, will work "anytime, anywhere.". From this we guage that he isn't religious as he says he'll work any holidays.
• He doesn't have any family, wife or girlfriend etc.
• We also learn that he used to be in the marines up until May 1973.

Lighting and Colour:

• The lettering that first appears is red on black creating a sense of unease or danger. Possibly foreshadowing events in the film?
• We see a well lit smoky intro which is very atmospheric, creates the idea of obscurity and furthering the idea of unease.
• As we get the Extreme close-up of the eyes, the ambience is a deep red with occasional flashes of bright white light.
• As we see the front window shot, the audience notices that all the colours have blurred and merged into one. Like a pallet of paint from an artist.
• Low natural lighting during the interview creates a dark mood and sense of uncertainty throughout the scene.

Collateral

Sound

• Sound bridge of an airplane engine cuts the silence and sets the scene.
•  As the black screen switches to  a view of a busy airport terminal the sound changes as well to the hustle and bustle of an airport terminal.
• We see the main characters and hear their footsteps, showing their significance within the film
• As they collide we hear a "whoosh" as their bags drop to the floor showing that they are also an integral part of the film.
• The bags are exchanged between the two main characters and some tense, non-diegetic music kicks in. The fast paced beat creates tension.
• The setting changes to a garage however we only can tell its a garage by the sound of machinery, engines and general conversations; we get no establishing shots, only close-ups of parts of cars.
• As the the music, beat and chatter grows in volume, it is suddenly cut off by the closing of a door and we are introduced to a new character. This symbolises how his surroundings seem to be closing in on and oppressing him. 

Drive

Coulour and Lighting and Camera Angles

• we see the main character lit from behind, this makes him appear shady and shrouded in shadow
• The colour scheme is mainly dark with hints of blues and oranges.
• As the use of backlighting continues it becomes clear  that the main character has no company. He is alone, isolated only with shadows for comfort 
• The opening shot is a dark city scape instantly sets the location of the film
• The use of minimal and low-lighting creates a tense feeling about the opening scene
• Background colours are contrasted by the electric pink lettering of the actors names.
• The opening shot is from below the main character creating an air of dominance about him
• We notice that he is working nights and we see where he works through the many panoramic shots of the city street much of this is from his perspective
• Unfortunately due to copyright embedding of the clip is disabled. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpXQS5gaAw

Fishtank

Camera angles and Colour in-brief

• Opening shot is a mid shot of the story's main character, however we don't know what she looks like as she's bent over panting.
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• As she straightens up the camera angle switches to a mid shot from behind her. As she looks out the window a dark silhouette is created.
• As the main character picks up a phone and starts to call someone, she is out of focus and the camera is focused on the estate. This is a very clever way of using an establishing shot as it is from her point of view.
• The use of deep focus keeps the naturalism as well as shifting the focus of conversations.
• The lack of a tripod and lots of hand-held camera work makes the movie seem like a documentary following.
• The colour scheme of the film is very bright contrasting the swearing and vile conversation.

Children of Men

• Sound bridge of a news report informs the audience about the death of a man named Diego Ricardo as the screen is black.
• The camera then cuts to a view from the Television screen's perspective and we see many people gathered in what seems to be a London Café.
• We are introduced to the main character as he shuffles his way through the crowd that has gathered to watch this news report.
• The camera switches to a view of the TV from the main characters perspective and the news report continues to inform about the death of the worlds youngest man.
• After ordering a coffee the camera now follows the main character out of the coffee shop and the camera gives a panoramic view of the busy London street, establishing the location of the film.
• As we see the main character start to unscrew a bottle of alcohol and begin to put in his coffee, the camera swerves to give a view of the shops on the pavement. 
• Suddenly, as the the screech of car brakes, engines and horns subside, a huge explosion cuts through the silence.
• The camera is then manoeuvred towards the explosion in a hand-held manor creating a sense of tension as the audience feels as if they are running to see what has happened.
• throughout all of this the colour scheme is extremely drab and grey creating an air of depression and sadness about the film opening.

A Short Commentary on Three Film Openings
The first film that I'm going to be talking about is "The Dark Knight". The opening scene in this is fantastic in my opinion; It sets the scene effectively, sets the pace of the movie and allows the audience to foreshadow some of the events that may take place in the movie.The very first camera shot is a Panning Shot of a city, which we later learn is Gotham City where the rest of the movie will take place. As the camera zooms further into one of the buildings you see some glass shatter and two figures appear in the window. After firing a grappling hook, the movie cuts to a long shot of another figure with his back turned and slowly zooms into a clown mask he is holding. This gives the audience the idea that this person is particularly important. As the opening scene progresses a lot of dialogue is centred around a villainous person known as The Joker. From this we can tell that this villain will be an integral part of the film. As the people enter a bank in clown masks and armed with guns the audience understands that violence is going to be a common theme in the Movie.

My Second film is Jaws. A fantastic opening scene which starts with a long shot of a girl running towards the sea. As she jumps in the water the camera angle changes to give the viewer an idea of location; A serene beach. The girl begins to swim into the distance and the camera adjusts to a mid shot of the girl so the audience can see what she looks like. As the camera angle pans to view her from under the water it gives the impression of something watching her. Couple this with the entry of tense music and the scene changes from being calm to having an air of danger about it. Finally as the camera zooms into the underwater girl the music reaches a crescendo the women screams and is dragged around the water in fits of pain. From this opening scene we know that the unknown predator will make another appearance in this film.


My final film is Trainspotting. It opens with a shot of a high street pavement and as two pairs of legs hit the ground and start running. A narrative starts telling you what you should choose in life. As the shot is reversed the camera zooms up to introduce two characters. we see over their shoulders that they are being chased by security guards and CD's and DVD's are falling out of their clothes. As they are chased further a car hits one of them and his name is introduced, Renton. After this the scene cuts to an impromptu football match which then introduces all the other characters as the game is played out. From a camera angle looking up we see someone foul one of the players and protest that he didnt do it. We see a title next to his name, Sick Boy. As the football match is played out and other characters are intoduced, the scene changes to a bare and destitute house. Renton is in the middle of the floor and as he collapses we hear the narrative say he chose heroin.

My Media

Hello there,
my name is Conor Tottenham and this is my first time ever writing a blog. So, a little about me and what I like; well, frankly anything. In terms of films i am a great fan of all the genres, I recall going through phases of watching classics over and over again. However more recently I've noticed that I like horror films a lot more. Although watching "The Shining" was a harrowing experience, I felt somewhat exhilarated by the suspense and fear it had instilled in me.
I do watch a lot of TV, probably too much. I watch programmes like Family Guy, The Walking Dead, Board walk Empire and many others. I also spend a lot of time on youtube watching videos. As well as using my computer for Youtube i play a number of games on-line with my friends. I play: Alien Swarm, Team Fortress2, League Of Legends, Mine-craft and Dawn of War Dark Crusade.
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of reading so I tend to avoid it if i can (a skill which will get me nowhere in life, I know) but I do like reading certain magazines such as PC-Plus or Wired and on occasion, New Scientist. As well as these hobbies I also play guitar and saxophone and i like to listen to music.