From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Using high and low angles

Using high and low angles

From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Using high and low angles

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- Usually when framing shots, you want the center of the lens to be about the same height as the center of the subject's face. However, if you alter the height of the camera, you can get some interesting results. If you raise the camera up and then tilt it down on the character, this has a tendency to make characters look smaller or weaker. It's almost as if the filmmaker is forcing us to look down on the subject. This is also referred to as a high angle shot 'cause it's coming in from a high angle. This sequence at the end of Gravity where Sandra Bullock's character is at her weakest point uses high angle shots with great effect. Generally I tried to stay away from too many low angle shots in The Assurance. I did want Korda'a to seem weak and fragile to illicit empathy, but I didn't want to make her seem so weak that we couldn't believe that she could save the world at the end of the film. But in this slow motion shot where she gets discovered, we did use a high angle shot to…

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