Camera Angles and Movement

Camera angles and movements are of vital importance when directing a film. Different camera angles add different tones, moods, images and opinions about what is happening in the film at the time. I will be describing three of my personal favourite opening sequences about how they are effective and highly intriguing for the audience viewing them. 

The Dark Knight

The first sequence, which is my the introduction from my favourite film The dark Knight, is an absolute pleasure to watch. The sequence starts with an establishing shot which gradually zooms onto a dark building. The establishing shot grants the audience into an insight of the location which the film is set, and the zoom adds surprise to the shattering of the glass which happens immediately after the zoom has finished. The camera then zooms slowly onto the back of a mysterious character, keeping him unknown, them shows a close up of the clown mask. This plants the idea that this man is a criminal as we have not yet seen his face. Then as a car pulls up, the camera tilts upwards to see a long shot of the man. 

During a rooftop shot of two men harping across rooftops, the camera pans around to follow them, which emphasises the distance they had to cross, and the camera does a tracking shot to follow them to give the impression we are going from rooftop to rooftop as well, which adds thrill and a sense of danger. 

There is also an over the shoulder shot in the back of the car. This gives the audience the feeling that they are criminals too, as the criminals are re-capping their plan out loud to each other, letting the audience know their plans. Then it cuts to a close up of the two men in the front, to once again portray the mysterious and dangerous image we have of them because we cannot see their true faces. 

Finally, their are two effective tracking shots in the sequence. The first one is when the three men enter the bank at 2:05. This shot makes the audience once again feel part of the operation as we seem to be following the men into the bank, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable, as we feel like we are about to do some illegal actions with the men. Additionally, at 2:18, the tracking shot is used to show the scale of the bank as the entire length of the bank is in the frame. And it is also used for the audience to be able to see what each of the three men are doing at each moment. 





Finding Nemo

The next opening sequence I love is Finding Nemo's. The audience is immediately introduced with an establishing shot to clarify the location, which is this case is the outskirts of a coral reef. Throughout the majority of the dialogue between the two characters, mid shots and over the shoulder shots are used. This is to try and get the audience an emotional connection with the characters by sharing their joy about them about to be parents, and being very physically close to them. The audience feels as if we are there with them.

Panning shots are used to emphasise the greatness of the neighbourhood, which brings joy the audience as this is where their future children will grow up. It may also have been used to bring back nostalgic memories of childhood for adult viewers about their neighbourhood and where they grew up. 





Two close up shots are used. The first is when the camera tracks back from all of the eggs, whilst being very close to them. This is to reveal the tiny, baby fish in the eggs and to see their small eyes. This is to add more grief and sorrow when, later on, it is revealed they all died apart from one. Additionally, an extreme close up is used to show the size of the deadly fish's teeth. This adds a huge sense of panic and danger for the audience, and emphasised how insignificant and helpless the clownfish are against them.  



I Am Legend 

Finally, the last opening sequence I will be analysing is I Am Legend. Similar to Finding Nemo, we are immediately introduced with an establishing shot of a deserted, empty New York City. There is also a tilt upwards to emphasise the scale of the city, and to show the many skyscrapers in the city. I also think that it is maybe to show how such a powerful and over-standing city like New York is just as vulnerable and unsafe to global catastrophe as any other city. 

In this shot, a bird's-eye view tracking shot is used. This is to give the impression to the audience that we are some sort of hunter stalking their prey, which I think is a drastic correlation with the film, as the leading actor Will Smith is hunted by the monsters in the entire film. It is also used to highlight the destruction and desertion of the city, which adds a sense of shock and bewilderedness to the audience. 

A weapon

The characters weapon is the first object that we see in the car, and we see it even den before we see the characters face with a close up shot. Through the use of this close up shot of the main characters weapon, it is emphasised majorly that in order to survive the mysterious and unknown dangers in current times, a weapon if this calibre is needed. This illustrates a huge sense of danger for the audience. 

Finally, a point of view shot is used when the character is driving through the deserted city. This is to demonstrate what the character is seeing, which is to try and make the audience feel the same emotions as the character. It also makes the audience feel like we are in the car with him and his dog, which is a major contradiction as the majority of this film is him on his own. I think this shot is used to make the audience feel like we are with him to try and help him survive, despite knowing full well we cannot do so.