Camera Angles and Movement in Music Videos

Camera Angles

Using different camera angles is vital when producing a music video to create an effective and enjoyable video for your target audience. Different angles give different impression and messages to your audience.


 High Angle shot:

This can be used to make characters appear to be venerable and more insignificant. It makes the character look weak and small and makes it look as though the audience is looking down on the character and gives the audience a sense of power. It can also be used to show a wide expanse of land and make a landscape look wider than what it truly is.

Extreme Long Shot:

An extreme long shot is most commonly used to establish the setting and location where the filming is taking place. It’s usually used to show an outside location, such as the a landscape, city or even buildings. This type of shot is most commonly used in a war film or disaster movie, for example, in Saving Private Ryan this sort of shot is used to show the beaches of Normandy which then reveals the many dead bodies that were killed in battle. Detail is limited in extreme longshots as they are establishing shots.


Close Up:

Close up shots focus on the expressions and emotions of the character’s face. Sometimes close ups can be used on props to show specific detail relevant to narrative. An example of this is in the film, 'The Woman in Black', close ups are used upon the Victorian toys within the house to reflect upon the scary, eerie atmosphere. The background is usually very blurred and irrelevant and so magnifies the object in the foreground. . As this is a very intimate shot, the director will usually use this shot to make us feel very comfortable or uncomfortable about a character. Almost always the character or prop will be centre screen.


Mid Shot:

This shot allows the audience to see a figure from the knees/waist up and is usually used when characters are taking part in dialogue, or to show actions in detail. It reveals the characters mise-en-scene, for example the picture to our left shows us that she is taking part in basket ball by the use of her prop. Soap operas such as 'East Enders' often use mid shots through 'an over-the-shoulder-shot', where you position the camera from behind one character, showing part the camera is poof the characters back (usually the head and the shoulder), which reveals another character; this is used during dialogue.






Birds-Eye View Shot:

This shows a shot from overhead to establish and reveal the setting.. Objects from this angle might appear totally unrecognisable at first. This angle places the audience an overlooking powerful position, looking down upon an action that is taking place. This shot can also make people look insignificant and can show a great amount of people.



Point of View:

A point of view shot is where the camera is positioned as though a person or an animal were observing a scene, this can also be called a point of view shot. The camera will usually be placed around 5 to 6 feet off of the ground (human height). This shot is very useful when taken an action shot. Although as seen on the picture to the left you can see the camera man in the reflection which is unprofessional.


Camera Movement

Camera movement is more advanced filming and is required for us A2 students as a development form AS.

Pan:

A pan shot is where a camera scans a scene horizontally. The camera is usually placed on a tripod, and is turned on an axis to reveal a location, and reduce shaking. This is often used to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame, as seen by the bike.



Tilt:

 



This movement is similar to a pan apart from the camera moves in a vertical movement instead of horizontal. This can also be used, similarly to a pan, to follow he movement of an object, or to look a character up or down, or even a building as seen by the picture on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

Tracking Shot:

Also referred to as a dolly shot. This is where the camera is placed on a moving vehicle or a track and follows the action within the scene. It can be used to follow a character’s movements or object. On a cinematic scale a camera will be placed on a track and will follow movements. Cameras can be placed on a car, a plane, or anything stable, (a GoPro is a prime example of this). This is the most effective way to show movement and can reflect the pace of the footage; for example, if the tracking shot is fast then the atmosphere is usually quite tense and obviously action packed. It can also be used from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

 

 Handheld:

This is where a piece is filmed as if a character is holding the camera or from a character’s point of view. It is sometimes used to reflect upon a frantic atmosphere. This technique is most commonly used in horror films or thrillers.Using this technique allows the audience to feel more immersed with the action and makes the feel more involved. A prime example is Paranormal Activity and makes the piece full of suspense and tension.

In Conclusion
 

When thinking about the making of out music video, we will have to take into consideration the camera angles and movements we are going to do which we will be part of the planning process.