Camera Movements

Pan- A pan is a movement that scans the scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned.

Tilt- A tilt is a movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise it is very similar to the camera movement of pan.

Dolly Shots- This involves the camera being placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up.

Crane Shots- These are basically Dolly shots in the air. A crane can be used as a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it.

Steadicam- Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

Handheld- Handheld camera movements can provide specific tones and emotions to a viewer. In found footage films such as Cloverfield, the shaky camera effect is used to represent a home video effect.

Zoom- This involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. 

Reverse zoom- A single shot which moves away from a particular subject. When done very quickly it can displace the audience, but it can also be used to show the wider picture or context of an image.

Mise en scene plan and real thing!

   Plan-

                Real Thing-

Semiotic Analysis

Semiotics are often used in adverts to portray signs that the consumer will understand or get, from looking at the advert. For example a thumbs up or smile would be used as semiotics in adverts.

The advert I will be finding semiotics in is the hair removal company Veet. The first or main semiotic you get drawn to as the consumer is the picture of the smiling beautiful woman. The smiling woman could represent the happiness and beautifulness you will feel after using the product. Also as a sign of someone smiling you automatically have the feeling that this person is happy and joyous about something, and that something must be to do with the product. The second semiotic in the advert I noticed was the images of the flying trousers. This semiotic is represented as a sign of the new lease of life you can feel after using the product. Also the flying trousers may also represent the hair which will fly off due to the Veet hair removal cream, and the sign of confidence you will gain after using the product because you won’t need to wear jeans anymore to cover up the hair on your legs. The third semiotic is the pink colouring at the right hand side of the advert. The reason for this is that the colour pink is signified as a feminine colour, and the use of the pink background is a sign that the product is for females and isn’t a male product. Also pink is symbolic of gentle emotions and considered a colour of good health and life, this links to the fact that this product offers you a good or better life. The final semiotic I will be looking at is the slogan “what beauty feels like”. This sign suggests the benefit women will get after using Veet, which is feeling and also becoming beautiful. Women get attached to the advert as they want to “feel beautiful” and want to know what it feels like to be beautiful. This then encourages women to go out and purchase Veet as they wanted to feel and become beautiful.

Shot types and Camera angles

Shot types

Extreme long shot- This is a shot that is taken very far away from the actual image, and is usually used as a scene-setting, establishing shot.  It normally shows an exterior, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. 

Long shot- This shows the image as approximately life size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema. For example a women appearing 5 ft tall.

Median shot- This is a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for speaking scenes. Variations on this include the two shot (containing two figures) and the 3 shot (contains 3 figures). Another variation is the over the shoulder shot (as shown on the right). 

Close-up- This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail in the scene. Everything else is just a blur in the background. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character.

Extreme close-up- An extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. Directors will use this for dramatic effect.

Camera Angles

Birds eye view- This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognizable at first. This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action.

High angle- Here the camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). 

Eye level- Here the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus.

Low angle- These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) . Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling.

Oblique/Canted angle- Sometimes the camera is tilted , to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest point of view shots 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new media blog. I will be using this blog to record all work relating to my OCR Media Studies Foundation Portfolio, including research, planning, drafts and final constructions. I would like to introduce myself. I am James Upham just embarking on my AS studies at Cherwell School. I study History, BTEC Sport double and obviously Media. In my spare time I enjoy playing sports like cricket and football, I also like playing games on my Xbox.

Here is a link to my exam blog, where you can take a look at what work relating to the OCR exam unit: Key Media Concepts in relation to TV Drama, and Institutions and Audiences.

http://juphamcherwellmediaexam.blogspot.co.uk/