Research into Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of capturing and putting together different shots and frames. It includes the shot types, camera movement, camera focus, lighting and much more.Good use of cinematography can make a film more engaging and suspenseful. The scene I analysed is from the film Se7en, a psychological thriller directed by David Fincher. I chose this scene as cinematography is used to create suspense as well as shock and surprise the audience.

Near the start of the scene a point of view (POV) shot is used. The shot is from the point of view of one of the policemen aiming his gun at the person underneath the bedsheets. This shot creates suspense as the audience is put in the same scary situation as the character and is made to feel his unease as they are just as in the dark as he is. This is a common way for thriller films to slowly build suspense right before something dramatic happens, like in this scene where the man under the bedsheet suddenly starts moving and then dies.

Here the camera slowly zooms in on the writing on the wall. This is to draw the readers attention to it as "sloth" is one of the seven deadly sins and a key plot element in the film. The audience read this and feel uneasy and are made to wonder about the mental state of the antagonist and how evil he is. This is typical for a psychological thriller as the plot often revolves around something of an eerie nature and the antagonists are usually portrayed as crazy and cruel.

Here shallow focus is used to highlight Detective Mills facial expressions, Detective Somerset is blurred in the background. This occurs while they are investigating the scene and shows how Mills is deep in thought. The film has mystery elements and this shot is used to tell the audience that these two characters are the protagonists and that it is their responsibility to catch whoever is responsible for these crimes. Thriller films often have mystery elements to keep the film suspenseful throughout.

Here a reaction shot is used to show the fear on the characters after discovering the body was still alive. This succeeds in surprising the audience which all thrillers aim to do. It succeeds in this because as the body had been shown previously and was completely still, leading the audience and on-screen characters to believe that the person was already dead. When it starts moving the characters and the audience share the same surprise. A technique like this is conventional to the genre as jump scares and surprises increase adrenaline and stop the film from getting boring.

Here we have a high angle shot of the body recently discovered to still be alive. Here the high angle shot is used to show the horrible state the body is in increasing the audiences shock at the fact that the body is still alive. We get to see how the body is bruised, discoloured and mutilated making the antagonist more fearful as we think about how cruel and messed up he must be to do this to someone.

When making my own thriller film I will be sure to follow these conventions to make it scary and suspenseful. During my research I learned how I could use zoom to bring the audience's attention to key plot details and how I can use point of view shots in order to make my characters more relatable. I have also decided that I will include a reaction shot in my sequence to show the victims sudden fear when she sees the antagonist for the first time. This will change the tempo of the scene and will create a sense of fear and panic.