Research into Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography includes how the shooting of the film and development of the film, which includes camera movements and shots.  I chose to analyse the cinematography elements of SAW 1 - Waking up which is the opening scene.

Close ups are normally shown to show importance in an object or character within the film.  In the first few seconds, a close up shot is shown to show importance & significance of the victim.  A close up can show the audience, the characters facial expression and sense of feeling uncomfortable as the victim may not know what has happened to them or how they ended up in that situation. The close up also shows some movement, which shows the victim panicking.  The close of the victims face in the water creates mystery, which makes the audience focus on facial expressions and makes the audience wonder why the victim is in that situation.  It surprises the audience, to find out where he is in the next part.  This surprises the audience because they don't know what will show, to show where he has ended up.  Close ups help the audience focus on one particular thing, as it lets the audience know that, that particular shot is in their view for a reason, which makes them keep watching.   The close up of the victim creates suspense, as the audience don't know what has happened to him and the victim himself doesn't know how he ended up there in the first place.  The close up shot makes the audience relate to the victim as they can relate to how the victim feels and tries to get to grips with what is happening around them.  This is conventional to the thriller genre because close ups allow the audience to see facial expression, so that they understand the situation the victim/villain would be in.

An establishing shows the setting where the action is taking place. In this case, in SAW 1 - waking up, the setting environment is a bathroom. It helps the audience get a general idea of the victims surroundings which helps set the scene.  It shows the audience that this is going to be the setting that the victims will be in for the generation of the movie as the setting seems to be unknown and abandoned.  From the establishing shot, the audience get a idea that they are in a bathroom, as it shows the bath, the toilet and the florescent lights which are normally associated with bathrooms.  It helps the audience pay attention to detail which helps them get a feel of the atmosphere which helps the audience relate to the victims.  Establishing shots help the audience to understand what their surroundings are, this particular shot is relevant to the thriller genre as it helps set the scene.

The movement of the camera zooming take place when the other victim in the room finds a switch for the lights.  This switch turns on a row of lights, one by one which makes it get brighter every single time it a row of lights turns on.  The movement of zooming in, gives the audience the ability to see greater detail which helps see the expression in the victims face.  It also makes the audience focus on the emotion of the victim and focus on the victim himself, since all of the attention will be on him.  The zooming in create tension, by seeing the expression on the victims face and makes the audience wonder what will happen next leaving them in suspense.  Tension usually arises when main characters feels threatened in films,  when the victim is put into an uncomfortable situation as this section of SAW, the victim does not know how he ended up there and does not know where he is.  The victims life seems to be threatened, because the victim has been into a unsuspecting situation.  This makes the audience feel sorry for him and suspense making them wonder if he will survive or not.  This is conventional to the thriller genre because it builds tension and suspense. 

   

                                                         

An aerial shot, takes place after the establishing shot of the bathroom which shows a body surrounded by a pool of blood, with a gun  and something else which the audience can not tell what it is at this point.   The image of the body would give a sense of shock to the audience as they would not expect to see this because from the start, the audience may have idea that the two victims are in the abandoned bathroom alone until they adjust to the surroundings after the lights have been turned on.  The fact that it's a mans body surrounded by blood creates a sense of uneasiness and shock because it shouldn't be there.  It enables the audience to see the body from a different view other than how the victims see it.  The aerial shot also shows the mans body  has an importance and a significance to the film which may be possibly a clue to what might happen next.  Thrillers can provide unnecessary uncertainty and mystery, making the audience think was happened.  Therefore, making a relationship with the character making the audience wonder what happened, how it happened and how he ended up there.

A held held camera movement is used to show a sense of chaos and urgency as the the shot doesn't seem to be smooth like panning would.  For example, the hand held shot is used in a different way in SAW, when the hand held motion takes place when the lights are turned on and shows the victim shielding his face with his hands, as the camera seems to be unsteady to show a sense of uneasiness.  This reflects how the victim is feeling as he is trying to adjust to the light.  Judging by the motion of the camera, it seems like the character is disorientated and dizzy, as he doesn't know where he is.  This helps the audience relate to the victim, letting them know how he is feeling.  This can create suspense as the audience does not know what is going on.  Hand held shots are normally used in the thriller genre, because in thrillers trouble happens to the victim, this is used to let the audience relate to their situation therefore creating suspense.

In conclusion, there are three aspects of a thriller which are called shock, suspense and surprise.  The angles/shots are used to create those three aspects to give a good effect for the audience to experience.  Close up shots are used to show the importance and detail of an object or character which give the idea to the audience that they are significant to the film and they are showing them that close up for a reason.  Close ups are effective of creating suspense as they make the audience wonder why the victim is shown or why a specific object is shown, making them think, why would that be shown to signify something.   An establishing shot is shown to show the audience to get a general idea of what is around them.  Furthermore, it sets the scene to indicate the audience which is the of what setting they are in, in that particular situation.  The establishing show may not be a effective way of creating suspense because it just sets the scene.  The establishing shot may create shock as they may not know what the setting looks like; if the setting seems to be in a any way unnatural like it shouldn't be like that.  For instance, from the scene in SAW, the audience find out what the bathroom looks like but the bathroom does not look like a normal bathroom as it looks dirty and abandoned.  The aerial shot, is depicted to show something from another point of view.  For an aerial shot, the camera is above eye level which creates another view for the audience to view something which the victim will not be able to see.