We had a good turnout of 23 members for a change.
Getting the angle right for your next film
Glenn kicked off the meeting with Why Low Angles are used Twice as much as High Angles. Different camera angles can evoke different emotional responses from viewers. For example, a high-angle shot can make a character appear vulnerable or powerless, while a low-angle shot can make the same character appear powerful or dominant. A classic example of using camera angles to create emotional impact is the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." In this scene, the camera is positioned above the character, giving the viewer a sense of vulnerability and helplessness. By contrast, in the scene where the villain is revealed, the camera is positioned below the character, creating a sense of power and domination.
A low-angle shot is one taken from below the eyeline and pointing upward:
When a director wants to use a subtle low-angle shot, they will lower the camera just below the eyeline. Filmmakers sometimes use this type of shot to introduce films’ heroes, communicating their importance in the narrative while not making them feel imposing to viewers.
Low-angle shots are also effective in making objects appear large. The 3D animated movie series “Toy Story” uses low-angle shots to make humans appear massive in comparison to the toys.
Low-angle shots can also convey vulnerability or loneliness, particularly when used as the subject’s point of view. For example, if a filmmaker were to use a first-person shot of a character looking up at towering skyscrapers in New York, the shot could convey the character’s fears and vulnerability in a new setting. Additionally, a low-angle shot can give a sense of scale, making settings appear larger-than-life.
Filmmakers often use low-angle shots to convey fright or intimidation. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003), director Peter Jackson uses a low-angle shot in the sequences where Frodo battles the giant spider Shelob. The shot is frightening because it emphasizes Frodo’s vulnerability by showing how small he is in comparison to Shelob. This type of low-angle shot is common in fantasy, horror and gangster movies.
Filmmakers can use low-angle shots to establish authority. When pointing their cameras upward at subjects, filmmakers can create the illusion that the subject is larger and more imposing, which assigns status and power to those subjects.
Another way filmmakers use low-angle shots is to play with the perspective of the environment characters are in. For example, if a character is trapped in a box, a low-angle shot can make the box feel claustrophobic. Also, in skateboarding videos, skaters are often filmed doing tricks on their boards with a fish-eye lens from a low angle. This gives the impression that a trick is big and gravity-defying
The high-angle shot has many names: bird’s eye view, overhead shot, god’s view, top-down and above shot. Achieving the high-angle shot can be as simple as raising your camera on a tripod above a character’s eye level. It can be as complicated as using a helicopter — although the latter is often accomplished these days with an affordable drone. Though each has different executions and effects, all have one thing in common: The camera angles down at the subject.
This shot establishes the layout of a landscape or the size of a crowd. This high-angle shot provides a wider view of a space or setting. “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (2001 – 2003) uses this technique. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002), the film uses a high shot to show an army of trees (known as Ents) attacking Saruman’s fortress of Isengard
Filmmakers use the visceral high-angle shot to draw the viewer into the action. This makes them feel as if they have vertigo, a sense of unease, anxiety, thrill, tension, fear, disorientation and/or a feeling of danger
Alfred Hitchcock is well-known for his use of the visceral high-angle shot. To experience his use of the technique, look no further than the aptly named “Vertigo” (1958). Hitchcock and his cameraman, Irmin Roberts, invented what we now call the vertigo shot, the Hitchcock shot or the dolly zoom. This effect is achieved by moving the camera forward or backward from its subject while zooming in the opposite direction at the same time. This creates the illusion that everything around the subject is moving while the subject remains motionless.
As often as the dolly zoom has been used, it’s not the only example of a visceral shot. Let’s return to “The Matrix.” Early in the film, before Neo knows anything about the Matrix, Morpheus instructs him to climb out of a skyscraper’s window onto some scaffolding. While on a ledge, Neo looks down twice. The viewer sees what Neo sees: giving them a sense of extreme danger and fear of heights. We share this feeling of uneasiness and anxiety from Neo’s point of view, bringing us intimately into the story. The visceral high-angle shot creates an emotional connection for the viewer. It makes us feel like we are part of the scene
A high-angle shot that looks down on a character often gives the impression that the character is small. By physically making the character look smaller in the shot, they appear weaker, more vulnerable, pathetic, diminished, submissive, depressed or helpless
The above text was adapted from https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/shooting/camera-settings/the-high-angle-shot-defined/ and https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/shooting/composition/what-is-the-low-angle-shot/
Getting Euphoric
Neal pitched a performance called Euphoria from a local performance artist. A separate email has been sent out.
Getting Creative: David Renn - artist and creature effects specialist
David Renn is a self taught fine artist, sculptor, and designer of coastal southeast Queensland, Australia. David’s creativity has led him to many projects including set design and scenic painting for opera, theatre, and TV advertising; sculpting and painting animatronic creatures, characters, and props for feature films and TV productions; and cartooning and Illustration for books, magazines, and educational programs.
David actually started out as a window dresser for Myer's doing an apprenticeship doing Christmas window displays. This taught him the basics of composition, anatomy, conceptual drawings and hand crafting displays using wireframes, polystyrene, fabrics and everyday objects and basic materials. Nowadays he uses digital tools and sculpting techniques to digitally and visually represent his ideas/imagination for seamstresses, prop masters and modellers to create real life props using latex, polystyrene, 3D printing, animatronics and fabrics. He took us through a number of examples in his stored career, by showing us images he had taken or captured at the time:
David had to create a fat suit for Tom Hanks to wear based on a few in person modelling sessions with the actor himself. Besides having a good knowledge of designing a suit that accurately represented the human anatomy, David had to build in a cooling function into the suit to make it comfortable to wear for extended periods of time
He sculpted the aliens in The Fall Guy which had to appear anatomically correct
He did the character for Mortal Kombat, and designed a multi-component face mask for the character to wear which he 3D printed at home. It was then assembled on set
Worked with Industrial Light and Magic to sculpt the crocodile in Peter Pan which was then digitised and recreated using CGI techniques
Created the animatronic crocodile in Crocodile Dundee, whose teeth fell out in the first take due to the immense pressure of the water rushing over the teeth
Worked on Thor Ragnarok in 2017. There his work was in costume design, sculpting helmets, epaulettes and armour in leather and fabric.
His creations featured in the movie Aquaman where he worked as a digital sculptor and concept designer, creating underwater guns, oversize shackles (as worn by Aquaman), leading lady Mira’s GPS and the trident which is the symbol of the film. Here we have David Renn posing with his creation before it was painted and had LED's attached to it to make it look even more impressive!
David had plenty more examples and images to show and it made for a very entertaining evening. Thanks must go out to Stewart Gordon for introducing David Renn to us. I see a SFX prop from David appearing in an up and coming Sci-Fi production from BMM!
Getting Scripting:
Club members were asked to pitch their scripts for the upcoming script writing competition. We heard from Glenn, Heather, Sarah, Stewart and Pamela. The scripts have been sent for judging with the winner to be announced on 18 July.
Getting Editing
Jenn showed us her assembly edit scored by a local musician using free footage highlighting domestic violence.
Upcoming Meeting on 18 July
Film Bite: Michael
Announcement of Scriptwriting Competition winner
Pre-production planning for a movie - an interactive conversation
My Journey as a Film Maker- David Fletcher
First screening: 'Tweed Caldera' by Paul M.
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