Camera position and angles

Giacomo

The choice of the shooting angle is never random: each
type produces different
effects on the audience.
The possible angles are infinite,
but to facilitate communication,
both in the critical and in the
realization phase, a certain nomenclature is used.

Vertical angles are the shots that can be achieved by rotating the camera around it’s horizontal axis. It is customary to distinguish plumb, top, horizontal, bottom and supine angles.

The angle from above is obtained by rotating the camera downwards, possibly increasing it’s height.

The horizontal angle corresponds to the usual way in which one is used to seeing people and things in real life: at eye level.

In the frontal angle the camera and subject are facing each other. In the case of a close-up we see every part of the face. It is an angle that corresponds to the position of when talking to a person in everyday life.

In a three-quarter angle the subject’s face shows a part of the head which, being inanimate (hair, an ear, etc.), does not arouse much interest. Also, usually the character’s line of gaze does not meet the audience.

The profile angle is not very common, because it relegates the expressive part of the face (mouth, eyes) to the margins (sacrificing one eye and half of the mouth).

In the angle backview the subject is seen from behind and his face is hidden. When in a dialogue the frontal or three-quarters of one of the two is filmed, the other is often left behind.

Margherita

CAMERA ANGLES-ANGOLAZIONI DI RIPRESA

the camera angles are the point of view through which the camera looks at the subject..

each produces different sensations to the public and combinations of different angles are used to explain a scene differently or to communicate various things.The content of an image can be manipulated by changing the perspective.

Margherita

TREQUARTI-THREE QUARTER

We have this camera position when 3/4 of the person we are filming is visible.The three quarter front angle is more often used than the frontal angle or profile because it shows more depth and volumes but we are a bit less involved.There I also the three-quarter rear that is the camera position from behind, in this angle the face is almost completely hidden, is used to film conversations between two people

Matilde

High angle: angolazione dall’alto

The high angle is obtained by rotating the camera downwards and increasing its height.

 the character appears crushed, someone or something seems to loom over him. This shot makes the subject weak and vulnerable. It can give the audience a motherly feeling toward the character.

Low angle: angolazione dal basso

The low angle is obtained by rotating the camera upwards and reducing its height.

the character appears magnified and, therefore, acquires greater majesty and importance. This shot can make the audience feel vulnerable because the protagonist looks at it from top to bottom.

The actor will also achieve a better height and the environment or background will have less importance

Sara

Worm’s-eye view/vista dal basso

Called worm’s eye view because it makes us feel like we’re a worm observing the scene, is a view of an object from below. When you utilize this type of framing you want to positively emphasize authority or instil dismay, also used to make an object look tall. This shot makes those who look at it, feel a sense of vulnerability, admiration or fear, although it doesn’t allow us to realize what is happening around, so it’s used when you want to enhance the chaotic and excited aspect of the situation. They are like the perception that a low angle makes us feel, the difference is that in these angles they are amplified. An example of use could be during a battle, to make it clear what is happening you must necessarily use a bird’s eye view, but using the worm’s eye view will make the viewer feel more emotionally involved and the scene will be more appealing.

It is also used in photography for the representation of buildings from below and this choice emphasizes the verticality of the subject.

Bird’s eye view/vista dall’alto

Called bird’s eye view because it makes us feel like we’re a bird watching the scene, is an elevated view of an object from above. This shot is taken often very far ahead. This is a very uncommon viewpoint in reality which is why it is specifically thematic it serves to give us a very accurate idea of the movement of subjects. used also to show a certain background, or to make us experimenting an emotion similar to vertigo. When we use this angle on a warfare, as I said before, it allows us to have an objective point of view of what happens, but the scene will be cold and you will not get emotional involvement Because from this angle we can’t see the expression of the characters or even their gesticulation.

Andrea

Sideview and Backview

the side view is used together with the rear view in the representation of objects, cars, buildings, etc…

We can find them in camera movements which are divided into simple and compound.

The simple ones are overviews and tracking shots, the compound ones are the combination of simple elements.

In the tracking shots we can find the side and rear shots.

The shot from behind is also present in the middle way between the subjective shot (the point of view of the character in the first person) and objective, it is called semisubjective or pseudo-subjective, and corresponds to a shot in which the camera socket is positioned behind the character, usually slightly to the side (“fifth”, they say), and takes up the shoulders and the nape of his neck.

Sometimes it also happens to witness a false subjective, that is, a shot in which the point of view of the camera is very close to that of a character, but is not exactly coincident with it; a shot in which one has the impression of witnessing a subjective, but only at first glance, because suddenly something will make it clear that the shot is actually objective.