Cinematography And Camera Angles Of ‘The Haunting in Connecticut”

Cinematography And Camera Angles Of  ‘The Haunting in Connecticut”

Camera angles vary greatly over the coarse of any film and are designed to make the most of a plot and to draw in the audience with great effect. They set the mood and atmosphere of the scene and add extra detail to an already developing plot. This is particularly important in thriller films as cinematography can demystify plot twist and help make the audience understand what’s going on and which objects ect. are vital to the film.

In the film clip I analysed I noticed many cinematography techniques but 3 stood out in particular:

Low Angle

When the character was searching for the box the camera was positioned below the object this made the object look bigger and the man look smaller. This realistically is not the case, by it highlights for the audience how important this mysterious box is and the frantic expression we see on the man’s face is highlighted with his hand movements as they fumble around trying to search for the box.

This camera angle also makes the audience feel empathy for the man as we can clearly see the detail of the box as the camera is zoomed right in, and for the man not to grab it perceives him to us as helpless, vulnerable and desperate as he can not complete the simple task of picking up a box.
Low angles give the audience a sense of foreboding and it makes tension build so they think something is going to happen.

Zooming In:

I noticed this camera shot at a clear moment in the clip, without the zooming in technique this scene wouldn’t have made much sense. Its used when the young man is suddenly covered with cuts from a supernatural source. The camera zooms in and out rapidly making it clear to the audience that cuts have suddenly appeared all over the mans body, this creates fear as the cuts suddenly appear in gruesome detail. Without the zooming in cinematography technique we would not be able to see the cuts in such a horrific way, which is obviously the aim of any thriller film to shock and scare the audience. Zooming in can also focus on emotion and show characteristics. This lets the audience get closer to the characters and feel better connected to them.

Point Of View:

This angle was the hardest of the 3 to spot and took a lot of time to put in the right category. Towards the end of the séance scene, the camera flashes back in time; this is shown to the audience by the sudden change of colours to a darker sinister sepia colour. The camera angle is situated so the audience feels like a member of the circle witnessing the event. This engages the audience more and makes them feel like an eyewitness. The camera then becomes shakier showing some handheld qualities, as a young boy is suddenly possessed. This is shocking to the audience as we can clearly see the members of the family distressed and the cameras cinematography makes the audience feels like a member of the family.

The zooms in this clip are detailed as the camera position highlights how this demon is effecting the boy in making him have a fit and shake we are left in suspense as the boy just lays there and the camera once again switches to modern day. This transition is made smooth and clear by the camera and the audience can tell exactly what’s going on.
This gave me ideas on how i would like to put my own techniques into my thriller film. I think zooming in is a key point. Its simple but can focus an entire audience onto one point and also reveal vital characteristics of a chosen character.