Analysis of different camera shots in the Descent

1. Unit 1 - The Descent
Cinematography
Jessica Owen

2. Clip 3
This clip shows the camera
panning toward the cake and
young girl as well as coming into
focusing, then staying on the
cake while the girl attempts to
blow them out it also moves
from a wide shot to a mid shot.

3. Close up - The camera stays close to
the face with her off center, and with
her at an angle. A close up was used at
this point to show the consequences
of the crash and how it has affected
her.
Cutaway - The camera cuts from a
close up of Sarah and focuses on
the heart rate monitor. This is so
the audience can see the heart
rate monitor stop when she rips
the cords out.

4. This scene starts off as a wide shot as she exits
her hospital room for the first time. The off
colored empty corridor is used to make the
audience feel on edge as they can clearly see
something isn’t right.
Close up - The trombone shot focuses on
Sarah’s face as the lights start turning off, this is
to clearly show her scared reaction. This shot is
done by zooming out while moving the camera
forward. It creates a good effect with the
background making the audience feel tense and
on edge.

5. Mid shot from behind with Sarah in focus
and the corridor out of focus. This shot
allows you too see the lights that are quickly
going out.
Wide shot of Sarah running toward camera
whilst a Steadicam moves back. The
Steadicam is used to smoothly capture fast
moving scenes like this one.

6. Wide shot of Sarah running from behind
with the Steadicam following her. This is an
effective shot to use here as it makes the
audience feel like there is something
following Sarah from the darkness.
Camera pans around Sarah and does a
full 360 around them, almost surrealist
as the way the camera moves close and
back as it pans. This is an effective shot
to use as it helps show the emotions of
both characters in the scene.

7. This is a close up of Juno as a cutaway to
show her emotion to the scene, while you
still hear Sarah and Beth crying in the
background.
Wide shot tracking away from Sarah and
Beth, staying level as it does so. This is a
good way to end the scene as it slowly
fades to black.