Camera Ideas and Influences

Before creating our final shooting script and our first sketched storyboard, I looked into the types on shots, angles and camera movements common of Mystery/Thriller trailers, and also the type of shots that I thought would work well with our storyline.

Using a lot of my research into teaser trailers of different genres and our own genre, I had already found a lot of shots that I found particularly interesting and relevant, and therefore had a good base to work with.

Here are a few specific shots I analysed in my teaser trailer research that I think link well to our production/storyline.

These shots include the setting of the woods, which we will almost certainly use in our trailer, the characters of the little girl sleeping in her bed, and the mother watching the swing, whom will both be present in our trailer, and the mise-en-scene of the swing, the newspaper cuttings and the photographs which will all be necessary in adding to the missing child storyline.

I specifically liked the use of the close up of the swing, however we may change this slightly by creating footage of a child on the swing, but still using a close up. Maybe of her hands holding on, or her legs swinging.

The woods shot, although establishing/wide, is also a blocked vision shot due to the tree on the left hand side. We are considering using the idea of placing the child in the woods, and therefore this could specifically be something we consider doing; the blocked vision giving the impression of spying, or being watched.

The top two shots are blocked vision, and also a halo effect. The halo effect is something I felt would be appropriate when showing our suspect as he/she is supposed to stay hidden throughout the trailer. The use of the light behind the suspect could be used to create just a silhouette and block out any features. The blocked vision could also be useful in this.

Although not a shot from the actual trailer, this well-known image from Schindlers list is very appropriate for our film. We like the colour red against the de-saturated/black and white background, and it is something we have talked a lot about using in our production. It helps draw all of the attention to the girl, and with the idea of using the woods/forest in our trailer, we have contemplated using the image of a girl in the colour red, in amongst the trees with a de-saturated shot to explore this idea.

Another key shot we may use in our trailer is statistics - in the form of graphics - over a black screen or another scene. We will explore the use of graphics and special effects at a later date, but this shot from the teaser of Man On Fire shows the style of the shot we would use, and also the exact type of statistics that we would need to find for our text.

Exploring camera angles, I found a common theme that we will most probably stick to of using high angle shots to represent the vulnerability of the girl, and low angle when showing the suspect, to show their power over her. Involving the suspect, our best option would be to use a lot of blocked vision shots and extreme close ups to help mask his identity, however where the girl is concerned, we are able to focus on a wide range of shots.

When it comes to camera movement, in this genre of trailers, there tends to be a lack of gradual movement, and more fast cuts to other shots. However, when camera movement was involved, it tended to be zooms, or fast pans. We may consider to use the idea of zooming out when we discover the wall in the suspects house to help enhance the gradual realisation and the scale of what the audience is being shown.