Cinematography - Sinister

In this blog post I will be identifying and analysing how different angles and camera shots are used in thriller films and how they are used to create a impact on the audience. Camera angles and camera shots in media terms is called cinematography. There are many camera angles and positions in films which help the film to build suspense and tension. I will be analysing these in the film Sinister as after watching it I could clearly identify how they was used to create impact.

• When the scene starts the first sign of cinematography is at 0.30 seconds whilst the man is searching around his house with the baseball bat there is a close up on his face in which there is a gap next to his face and one of the children's faces pops up and screams which would make the audience jump and scare them which shows thriller conventions, because it was so close up this would create more of a impact because of the girls image.

•  At 0.37 There is a panning shot and mid shot of the man standing in the front room and the child runs past him and he is completely oblivious to her being there the camera follows her into darkness which symbolises that she is dead and that he wont be able to see them which builds suspense and creates tensions because the audience no what the ghosts are capable of and puts the man in jeopardy and you don't no what's going to happen.

• At 1.32  there is a shallow focus showing the man standing terrified and clueless of what is happening with the little girl behind him blurred so the audience cant see her properly shows that she's not real and she's a ghost and again creates frustration for the audience in which the 'she's behind you'  may be shouted even though the man cant hear them.

•  At 1.54 there is a longshot of a tracking shot of the man walking and the camera moves backwards with him and you see the girl start to run towards the man in a sort of slow motion which makes the audience think she is going to get him which creates tension and builds a atmosphere.

From my research I can now identify clearly why camera shots and angles are used in films. I can see that without them there wouldn't be as much suspense and tension which would make a weaker thriller film. They are put there so you can see things in different perspectives and from different views so someone's you feel like your in the film rather than watching it.