This document analyzes and describes several cinematography techniques used in the film The Descent. It discusses shots including a wide shot that tracks into focus on a birthday cake to set the dark tone of the film. Mid shots emphasize a character suddenly waking in a hospital bed. A trombone shot is used to show the expression of terror on a character's face. Wide steadicam shots show a character running down a darkening corridor as the lights go out, with another from the point of view of the darkness chasing her. Close-up and 360 track shots combine views of two characters' facial expressions as the world falls apart around one of them. A close-up of another character shows their reaction to a loss.

1. Cinematography - Analysing The
Descent
Caleb Knowles

2. Clip 3
Out of focus wide shot that tracks into
a focus shot that zooms on Jessica’s
birthday cake. The theme of darkness
is shown to give an idea of what the
film is going to be like; dark with very
little light.

3. Mid Shot – In this shot, the
camera is static so there is
more emphasis on Sarah
suddenly waking up in her
hospital bed.
Trombone Shot – This shot
is used as an effect to
show the expression of
terror in Sarah’s face when
she sees the darkness of
the corridor approaching
her.

4. Wide Steadicam Shot – This shot is
used to show the rest of the
corridor that Sarah is running in as
she is trying to escape from the
darkness behind her.
Its effective because you can see
how the darkness is growing
behind her due to the lights going
out one by one, and still see Sarah
clearly sprinting in the center of
the shot.
Wide Steadicam Shot - Another
wide Shot taken with a steadicam,
but it is taken as almost a Point Of
View shot from the darkness that
is “chasing” Sarah. Not only that,
but the amount of darkness gives a
hint of what the main theme of
the film will be, in this case,
Darkness.

5. Both of these shots are Mid/Close-up Shots
that are combined together by a 360 Track
shot, in order to get a view point on both
Sarah’s and Beth’s facial expressions.
Although the camera rotates around them,
the two women still stay as the main focus in
the center of the shot.
The 360 shot itself could suggest how Sarah’s
is falling apart around her, like everything
else doesn’t matter anymore and she is just
left on her knees, wounded and sorrowful.

6. This Close-up shot of Juno which only lasts
for a few seconds shows how Sarah’s
friends are reacting to the loss of Sarah’s
husband and daughter, Jessica.
This is the final Zoom Out shot that
shows Sarah and Beth still crouched in
the center of the hospital’s corridor,
ignoring everything else going on
around them, as they are too sad to
acknowledge anything that is going on
around them.