Media terminology glossary

Camera Shots

Extreme long shot- Normally used when you want to see a wide mise en scene or the whole of the object or person and what is going on around them.

Long shot- A long shot is where you can see all of the character and part of the mise en scene.

Mid shot- A shot that shows half of a character body or part of an object.

Close up- A close up shot is a shot of the characters face or an object. They want you to see this part of the shot for a reason; this is why they have shot so close to it.

Extreme close up- An extreme close up is a close up of a certain object that you would want to make obvious to the audience. It has an importance to the scene at that point.

Two shot- A two shot is a shot that is commonly used to see two people side by side to each other. This is commonly known to be used in an interview situation rather than in any other programme or film.

Over the shoulder shot- Over the shoulder shot are when two people are facing each other and to show both you angle the camera over one of their shoulders and swap between the two. This is normally used when two people are having a conversation to each other.

Composition and Framing

Composition- Where objects are placed into the shot for a specific reason because they want the audience to know they are there for a reason.

Rule of thirds- The shot is split in a grid of three, where the lines cross each other of the frame has some importance to that shot.

Golden Mean- Golden mean is a diagonal line across the frame and the two points of the line are the main features of the shot.

Angles

Low Angle- Where the camera is placed at a lower angle of a person or object looking up to it. Creating a intimidating effect on the audience.

High angle/ bird’s eye view- Where the camera is placed above the person or object looking down on them, like they are a bird in the sky looking down on top of them.

Pan- The camera moves from right to left or left to right in a panning motion to follow something that is moving like a car or a bike.

Canted/Dutch Angle- The camera isn’t looking straight at the object or person, but at an angle so you get an unbalanced feeling.

Analysis of ‘Psycho’ shower scene, exploring how film techniques are used to create an effect

The camera work that is used in the ‘Psycho’ shower scene is constantly building tension as it leads up to the murderer coming into the bathroom. Before she is stabbed the camera editing is at a normal slow pace, it shows that she is no rush and isn’t hurrying around. This tells us that she isn’t expecting anything to happen. However, when it comes to the murderer ripping open the shower curtain, that’s when the pace picks up and the editing is a lot quicker. The mise-en-scene is very plain; the whole of the bathroom is white so if any dirty were to get on the tiles then it can be easily spotted. Especially, if it was blood. The woman is naked when she was murdered so it suggests that she is quite venerable to anything that might happen, she is very open and doesn’t have much protection. The sound throughout this scene changes, you have diegetic sounds and you also have non- diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds are the sounds that the character can hear in the scene and non-diegetic is where they can’t hear the sound but we can. A diegetic sound that is in the scene right till the end is the water from the shower, that sound doesn’t stop it carries on even after she has been murdered. However, when she falls and slumps over the bath and the camera is focused on her dilated pupil the running water reverbs, this suggest that the woman is dying but everything is carrying on around her. The non-diegetic sounds that we can hear but the characters can’t are the backing music, this music on begins when the murder pulls aside the shower curtain and begins stabbing her. It is a very high pitched violin recording, the instrument sounds like it is being strummed at the highest and fastest octave it can reach. It gives the audience an impression that the instrument is screaming in pain, this response with the murder scene that it is being played along to.

Shower Head shot

This is a close up shot of the shower head in which the victim is taking a shower with. This low angle shot suggest that this is the victim’s point of view and what she is looking at. If the victim is looking up at the shower head and water is all around her, it suggests the victim won’t be able to hear what is all around her. You also can’t see what is around you or what might be coming through that door because the water is all around an block or disrupting your view. The shot of the shower head is a close up shot which suggests she is looking closely and very close to it, this mean that the sound will be even louder and the view even more distorted to see anything or be aware of anyone. The impact this has on the audience is that they don’t know what is going to happen as much as the victim knows. It is building on that tension and making the audience want to see why this shower head is important.

Murderer and the knife

This is a mid-shot of the murderer and the murder weapon- the knife- we can see that the murderer is a woman but we can’t see her face to know if we have seen her before. The light is shining down over the murderer which has caused a shadow over the murderer’s face. This is shot is showing what the victim is seeing when the curtain has just been pulled back. The knife has been lifted into the air and the murderer looks like she is going to stab the victim. They have made this a close up shot because they want to the impact of the audience to be shock and to also try and see the features but not clearly see them. This shot is the height of the tension it has been building throughout the scene and this is where the audience will see why this scene is about constantly building that tension.

The victim

This is a close up of the victim’s face, you can see that she is looking into the distance and her eyes are every dilated. At this moment the victim is dead. This shot is a normal level close up shot but the camera is on the floor. This creates an impact that after she was dead she died half in the bath and half out, with her head resting on the floor. The mise-en-scene is still the same from the beginning, she is still in the white bathroom, she is also still naked and that tells the audience that even though she is dead there is still a sense of venality to her. She is looking off to the camera, this gives the audience an impact of she is still looking and watching the audience like they know what has happened to her.

Thriller Genre

There are many genres out in the media industry, whether it is for movies, TV programmes, book or magazine, the genre thriller however is more commonly known for film. Thrillers are known for giving the viewer a feel of excitement and/ or scare them a little. There are, however many subgenres to the main genre thriller, some subgenres are:

·        Crime thriller

·        Mystery thriller

·        Psychological thriller

These are a few examples of subgenre

The conventions of Thriller are that there is stereo typically a villain and a hero; the villain could be one person or an organisation, that are after something or someone. Then you get the hero and he or she is the one to try and stop them, and to get back when they have taken or get the object before they do. The settings can be different in thrillers; it could go from city to city or country to country or stay in one area the whole time. Camerawork is very jumpy in a thriller, you could go from one shot to another for a quick editing for something like a chase or a fight or an argument that is quickly getting worse and grows in tension. The music has a part of controlling how the audience feels towards what is happening on the screen.

Die Hard

I watched the thriller Die Hard, this movie is a very quick pace the camerawork and editing show this. The camera will jump from one actor to another when there is a fight/shoot out or when there is a chase around the mise-en-scene. The mise-en-scene of the film is inside an office building in Los Angeles. Bruce Willis the lead actor in the series of Die Hard film, is visiting his wife at her new company Nakatomi. This is where most of the events happen in the film. To help to put more emotion into the main events and even a small part of it, the use of sound helps to explain it more of what you could be expecting to happen next. If John McClane –the main character and New York Cop, who can be seen as the hero of all this thriller-, is walking down a corridor, the music would get a cautious rhythm to it. It helps warn the audience that something major is about to happen, like a shoot out or a chase or John talking to the terrorists that have taken over the building. All these features will get the audience interested in what will happen next. There are a range of different shots through this whole movie. From mid shots to close ups, over the shoulder shots to extreme long shots. These help to help show the actors or the mise-en-scene from different angles and different camera range and editing. It also doesn’t leave the audience bored, it gives them different angles to focus on.

Analysing shots
Shot 1:

This is a close up shot of John McClane (Bruce Willis) and a passenger he is sat next to on the plane to Los Angeles. In this scene McClane is really uncomfortable and doesn’t like flying, this passenger has picked up on how he is acting, and is trying to calm him down. From the passenger’s body language you can tell that he is very relaxed over everything, he is sat slouched in his seat, with the top button of his shirt is undone. This shows that he is comfortable the way he is and in his environment. The camera and editing in this is very simple, the camera doesn’t move a great deal and there isn’t much editing either. This shot is one of the main shots that you see when the film begins.

Shot 2:

This is an extreme long shot of an aeroplane landing, this symbolises that they have landed in LA. You can tell that it is early evening because the colour of the sky is an orange pink. The sound effect of this shot is of the plane and you can hear the engines. The editing and camera is following the plane as it comes down and lands on the run way. This shows that this is where the film is going to take place, in this country.

Shot 3:

This is a close up shot of someone who is holding a sigh with John McClane’s name on. This is a mid shot of someone’s torso; the camera is focused on this part of the body because they want the audience to notice that this sign is the key in the shot. The sound is a busy and noise airport where you can hear trolleys and talking and the sound of people walking.

Shot 4:

This is a close up of the limo driver that you see throughout the film. He is dressed in the stereotypical limo driver suit and glasses. It is focusing on him because he is telling John that about himself, like how he has never driven a limo, McClane replies by telling him that he has never ridden in one either. This shows that there is a connection between the two characters. The camera also shows that there are a lot of people walking around in the background. This tells us that the mise-en-scene is in a busy place and the use of sound that is also in the background noise, is of trolleys and people talking and walking.

Shot 5:

This is a close up shot of John McClane, he look like he is holding a giant teddy bear. This makes the audience think is it a gift for someone, a child or a wife/girlfriend? This is why the camera editing has left this in the shot. It means something to him. There isn’t as many people in the background as there was in the last shot. This suggests that the crowd that was in the crowd has gone down a lot. This also suggests that the use of sound in the background also wont be as noise as it was. The crowd has gone down quickly showing that the passengers are in a rush. It also suggest that he limo driver and McClane aren’t. The mise-en-scene looks like it is still in the airport. You can see that in the background there is an exit sigh, this shows that it is a normal airport and not a secret high security and that you can get out every easily.