Film & TV Language: Cinematography blog tasks

Being able to confidently analyse camera shots and movement is essential for media textual analysis and may well be required in both media exams (e.g. TV drama or music video).

Your cinematography blog tasks are as follows:

Find the opening sequence to a film or TV drama of your choice on YouTube and embed the video in a blogpost called 'Cinematography blog tasks'. 


1) Write an analysis of the cinematography in the opening sequence. Highlight your use of media language and try to cover camera shots, angles and movement using the terminology we have learned in lessons.
There's a medium tracking shot at the start scene of this film which is of the 2 males. After that there's a long shot tracking the 2 males showing their clothing which gives an impression of what type of people they could be, along with a blurred out over the shoulder shot of a woman starring at them. There's multiple Medium shots as it shows their expressions and body language in full length along with it being in focus. There's a pan shot which shows an instant reaction from the shop keeper instead of jump cutting it to show it as one motion and a medium shot once again to show body language and facial expression and back to the 2 males.  There's a pan shot which turns into a over the shoulder shot. The zoom in when the guy gets shot creates suspicion and curiousness of whats about to happen as it zoomed in quickly and wobbled which could show panic. The close up of the bottle smashing displays how shocked the male was.

2) How does the camerawork give the audience clues about the setting, narrative and character?
The tracking shots displays the shop as theres multiple basic items along with drinks alcohol e.t.c.  The narrative of this clip is that 2 males went into a store by drinks and the owners felt scared and intimidated so she follows them. The males didnt like what was going on and began to argue. After paying for the drinks the owner made a sly comment and one of the males got aggressive and reacted by shooting him.  Then he threats the owners wife to get the tape so there's no evidence. This made the characters look dominant and can be agitated quickly and will result to violence. The camera angles made them look like thugs and reckless people as of the way theyre shown in the shop and their attitudes.3) Find and analyse four film or TV stills. Embed the images in your blog and analyse the camera shot/angle and what they communicate to the audience.  


Image result for rush hour action scenes

This shot is from Rush Hour towards the end of the film where they begin to fight. There's tension created through this medium shot as it shows both peoples facial expressions and the way they look in each others eyes which connotes the scene is serious and that it'll only end badly. The blurred image of the woman hanging could display that they're fighting over her safety. The camera shot displays both swords which are shinning which can also be used as an enigma code.

Image result for badboys action scenes
 This shot is from the end of bad boys. This shot is a low angle shot which connotes that both males are powerful and look intimidating as the camera is looking up to them. The gun is placed in the center of the shot which is shown to be an enigma code of what are they're going to do with the gun as the cameras looking up on them. The shot also links with their clothing as its meant to show them to be scary as they're wearing police vests which shows why they're in power and why they have a gun in this situation.


Image result for hot fuzz action scenes
This shot was captured from the film Hot Fuzz towards the end of it. This is a also a medium shot showing that the police in this are angry by their focus and their posture because they're aiming in incase anything happens, This shot foreshadows action and violence as there's already blood on someones face. The medium shot also connotes they're ready for anything and that they have power over the situation as they have heavy weapon guns.

Image result for american gangster action scenes

This shot is from a film called American Gangster. This close up displays the fear on this persons face as there's a gun pointed to his head which also demostrates the man holding it is has more power over this person. The gun is also an enigma code to why he has it incase its illegal and what type of person he is. This is also gathered from the way hes pointing the gun at this persons head and the fear hes got.

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