The art of cinematography has always fascinated me, and I often look for the different ways scenes are shot in movies and TV shows. This article gave me a whole new vocabulary and outlook on the art and ideas of how I could use a camera to make a video with the storytelling in the shots and not just in the writing. I find the angles that the article talked about to be one of the most important parts of shooting a video. When I watch any type of video media, I notice that when two people are talking to each other, it is shot from the point of view of the person not talking, or an over-the-shoulder shot, and then when the other person starts talking, the camera switches. This is not always the case, but I see it more often than not, and it gives the viewer the prospective of the person listening, so we too feel like we are in the action and are a part of the story. The audience in a character’s prospective is not only done with over-the-shoulder shots when characters are talking, though. It is used in all sorts of different methods, for example flying through the streets and between buildings as we see through the prospective of Spiderman. Characters are meant to be relatable, and while the actual story can give characters traits that the audience can relate to, the cinematography is also needed to show us the point of view of these characters in order for us to really understand what they are going through and what their agenda is.
I also found the information about the high and low angle shots to be helpful for characterization as well. It is important to know not only how characters are meant to be perceived by the audience, which is vital in itself, but also how characters understand themselves to be in relation to other characters. If a character is shown looking up at another from a high angle shot, the character whose point of view we are seeing probably sees them as lesser than they are, and therefore the audience too will see them that way. This goes for characters given a low angle shot as well, giving the audience the notion that the POV character is probably seeing the other character in a “high and mighty” light and wants the audience to see them as grand also. The characterization that is done by the angle of the camera adds so much depth to the video and creates a whole new dimension to the story.
This scene from Mean Girls does a great job of switching between over-the-shoulder shots of both Cady and Regina, giving the points of view of both girls.
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