shot conventions

1. z
Shot Conventions
for Thriller and
Romance Films

2. z EXTREME WIDE SHOT / EXTREME LONG SHOT
 Extreme wide shots/ long shots are used to help establish the
setting to an audience and are great in giving the audience a sense
of the location. These can be used in Thriller films to establish the
isolation of a particular building or show the location the character is
in. These can help create an eerie feel to the audience in when
used in this genre of film. These shots can also can be used in
romance films to help establish the common setting associated with
these films such as a city or beach, so the audience are aware of
what to expect. An example of this shot used in a thriller film called
‘When a stranger calls’ is seen below.

3. z MID SHOTS AND MEDIUM CLOSE-UPS
 Mid shots and medium close-ups help convey a sense of realism as they appear
how they would when having a conversation with someone, they reveal the main
parts to the subject and are common within most film genre's especially for
conversational sequences, usually they are seen in romance films. They also
help capture body language so these can be good for romance movies and
thrillers as we can tell from an actor's/actress' body language in this shot
whether they are frightened or feel comfortable around the other individual. They
also help represent the character to the audience in a certain way, for example
the shot below on the far right makes the character appear as intimidating due to
his facial expressions and body language. Examples of mid-shots used in both
romance films and thriller films are seen below, even one of the films which
inspired my own, safe haven uses mid-shots which I feature below.

4. z
 CLOSE UP
 Close-ups are great for showing in full detail a certain facial expression or
feeling common within a character, they are great for showing how
uncomfortable a character is. Close-ups tend to be used in thriller films
more so than romance films as they can capture the character's fear for
example in full. The audience also are able to get an understanding of their
feelings. These however can be used in romance films to convey a closer
insight into the emotion between two people in this genre of film. Below is
an example of a close-up used in a thriller-romance film and also in the
thriller film ‘Shutter Island’ both capture the character’s facial expressions
and therefore emotions they are feeling, differently. This is done for
narrative purposes, of creating the appropriate mood in a film.

5. z EXTREME CLOSE UP
 Extreme close-ups are used to focus one particular detail, i.e. a
hand or an eye in which draws a lot of attention to it, this stresses of
course the subject's importance and usually these shots are taken
for a specific reason or importance to the plot, they're not usually
used in romance genre films, unless drawing attention to a specific
object which plays an importance. These types of shots can be
seen in Sci-Fi's, thrillers and horrors. Below is an example of it used
in the film ‘INCEPTION’ where the film is drawing close attention to
the actor’s eyes to show how they play an importance, they are
moving around a lot and he seems distressed and confused this of
course then makes the extreme close up relevant.

6. z
 POINT OF VIEW
 A point of view shot is usually used to show a character's perspective of the
situation within a film, it shows the audience what it is like to be there and gets
them more involved within the movie. These can be great shots to use in horror
films as they help scare an audience and make them feel as if they were there
and can also be used in thriller's to make the situation the character is in seem
all the more realistic and thrilling. Point of view shots can usually hide
information too as they can be in the perspective of a monster or beast within a
film and we can see from this, the fear of the main character. POV shots can
also be used to show the character’s current state for example in the shot below
from the film ‘CLAUSTROPHOBIA’ which is a thriller film; the shot’s focus is
altered so it blurs and focuses to show the character’s unease. Also it is used in
a clip from the thriller film “INCEPTION” where the character’s perspective of the
situation is revealed.

7. z
 BIRD-EYE SHOT
 Bird-eye shots also known as high-angle shots are great in thriller and horror
films to create a sense of something greater. They are useful in showing the full
emotion/body language of a person which helps make them seem as vulnerable.
They help make the character seem powerless and being controlled of a higher
presence. These shots can be combined with pov shots where the audience are
the villain or beast looking down upon the other character. They can also be
used to show other themes of death, movement, magnitude of a setting,
isolation and many more things. The thriller film zodiac below shows an example
of this, but it used in terms of drawing attention to the movement of the car
rather than a character. They can be used to show death, movement,
magnitude, isolation and many more things.


8. z
 TRACKING SHOT
 Tracking shot's are most commonly used in thriller and horror films to
convey the sense that someone is being followed. They create the
impression of movement. Usually, they follow one character which usually
helps stress their importance in the film due to the screen-time and such
focus upon them. However they also can establish a setting to the audience
and can help point an over-looked clue to the audience which the character
don't notice around them. Below is a tracking shot used in my inspired film
‘SAFE HAVEN’ where it is used to show the character’s fear of running
away from something, this helps also create the theme of isolation due to
the confined setting she is in. The main protagonist is featured here.

9. z TILTED ANGLE/ DUTCH ANGLE
 Tilted shots are great in showing unease of a character and only usually
seen in thriller and horror films to convey a sense that something isn't right.
They can show the victim as being the eyes of the camera and show the
character seen in the tilted angle as intimidating or dangerous. They add a
lot of tension and can represent a character in a more intimidating way.
Below I found a tilted angle shot / dutch angle used in the action film
‘Mission impossible’ where it is purposely achieved to represent the
character in a threatening way and to show the tension between the two
characters in conversation. Although it was quite difficult finding a thriller
film that used this camera angle, we feel we may consider using it for a
thriller as it can help establish and fits well with the genre.

10. z
 LOW ANGLES
 Low angles act as the opposite to high angles and create the sense
the character is intimidating and is looking down upon the
subject/other character. They can emphasize how dangerous
another character is and are great in establishing who the villain is
within a film. This can put the audience in the situation of the
character and feel intimidated as well, which may create a hatred
towards the character. The director, Quentin Tarantino is well known
for using these angles for these purposes and below is an example
from one of his films which help make the character’s appear as
having a lot of authority and threatening. Also a less exaggerated
low angle shot is used in the film ‘inception’ for the same purpose.

11. z
 HAND HELD CAMERA
 Hand held camera movements can be great in showing unease or
to make the audience feel more involved. These can be great in
distressing the audience as the shaking of the camera can help
convey this idea of fear. They add a sense of reality to the film as-
well as if the audience are part of the film. In a romance film I found
‘Birdman’, this was used to convey unease of the character when
he was walking down the street, we get to see every aspect as if
the audience were actually there.


12. z
 TWO SHOTS
 Two shots are great in showing two people's relation and response
to one another, they are very commonly used in romance films to
capture the body language between two characters. From two-
shots we can genuinely pick up how the character's within the
movie feel about each other, i.e. show a comfortable body language
with closer spacing or uncomfortable/annoyed body language with
a larger spacing between the two characters. The following shot
taken from the romance film ‘Twilight’ shows how the male
character due to being positioned behind the female character,
comes across as intimidating and with her body language faced
away from him it conveys her anger.