Cinematography analysis

 Find the opening sequence to a film or TV drama of your choice on YouTube and embed the video in a blogpost called 'Cinematography blog tasks'. 

1) Write an analysis of the cinematography in the opening sequence. Highlight your use of media language and try to cover camera shots, angles and movement using the terminology we have learned in lessons.

At the beginning an extreme wide shot is used to establish the portal which connects earth and the alien planet together. The camera slowly moves forwards and then is interrupted by a bright light. The scene then switches to a bridge and through handheld camera movement one of the monsters or a "kaiju" is revealed. The angle of the camera is also low to high compared to the monster which gives an illusion of superiority to the monster and makes him appear dominant and sky-conquering compared to the people who are shown to be minuscule. This is all done through camera movement. The camera then shifts and is placed under the monster which is done on purpose to further emphasise its dominance. Moreover, cars are being dropped onto the camera which gives the audience the illusion that they are there physically in the scene and are being subjected to the crumbling bridge. Again the camera shifts to a long shot and only the monsters feet are in frame which creates a scale for the monster which reveals how big it is. Then a "tracking shot" is used to follow the jets path through the monsters and then the camera stops when the jet crashes, this is again used to place the audience in the scene as they believe that they are flying the jet through the monster. After this scene a shaky handheld camera shot is used to illustrate the fear of people as they desperately run for their lives.

2) How does the camerawork give the audience clues about the setting, narrative and character?

Through the constant use of camera handheld shake and long shots the narrative could be people are always on the run from a monster whos size is constantly emphasised through long shots. Moreover, the long shots help to create a sense of tension and fear which contribute to the idea of the narrative being focused on the monsters and the impending doom they are going to cause. The setting is also shown through the different camera shots for example at the beginning through the extreme long shot the audience learns that these monsters come from the depths of the ocean. The constant shifts between different camera shots help to illustrate the size of the city and it helps to further support the idea that these monsters are ridiculously large. From these camera shots the audience is able to depict that the movie is going to be based around these movies and the struggles of taking them down as shown by the fighter jets being destroyed by the monster with ease.

Find and analyse one film or TV still image. Add the image to your blogpost. 

3) Analyse the camera shot/angle in the image and what it communicates to the audience. Remember to highlight the media terminology you use.

In the photo above an extreme wide shot is used to help introduce the character and the settings and in this case it is revealed that the character may be the only person currently in the setting as the the background can be seen in all its vastness whereas there are no signs of life apart from the character. This is done on purpose as the picture is from the movie "The Martian" in which an astronaut is accidentally left behind on mars by his crew and now he is left all alone and the use of the camera helps to emphasise the idea that he is alone on the planet. The camera shot also helps to reveal the characters emotional state as he is currently all alone and abandoned on the planet with no life.