cinematography Camera angles/movement to emphasise mental imbalance in character.

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Dexter7176

Hi, I'm trying to find ways to create the feeling of psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. I have heard of the Dutch angle are there any other methods to do this.
Thanks.
 
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Wide angle ecu might look good.

I used a low dutch angle when someone had an episode, and added a tiny amount of radial blur. It was enough to make it feel really surreal in a flashback scene.
 
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It really depends on what kind of psychological state the character is experiencing. For example, is s/he having delusions? Well, then radial blur or stuttered frames or constantly-shifting focus and shaky hand-held camera work might make sense.

The ECU using a wide-angle lens effectively warps the background, which can give the viewer a sense of tension.

Is the character's world out of balance, or is s/he being pulled toward or away from something ominous? The dutch angle works for that.

Is it more of a feeling of isolation? The relationship of the lens to the actor to the background can certainly have a great impact just as much as camera angle, and set design sells the image. The idea is to pull the actor off the background and to minimize the perceived size of the actor in relation to his/her surroundings. Move everything away from the direct background as well, so that the actor ends up in an empty-ish area of the frame... separated even from furniture and wall-hangings.

There is, of course, the "zolly" made famous by Hitchcock's "Vertigo," which creates a disorienting visual distortion. It's quite overused, though, and is hard to pull off without looking trite.
 
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I loved how D.Lean addressed it in Brief encounter. Or Madeleine. Need to watch more of his work :)

One piece of advice is please,please don't use Dutch angle to create imbalance just because someone else did it. Find your way
 
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baoliun said:
One piece of advice is please,please don't use Dutch angle to create imbalance just because someone else did it. Find your way
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Yeah, don't overuse a gimmick. If it makes sense, do it, but it should add to the effect of the scene, not create the scene.

Don't do any effect because you heard you're supposed to use it. Instead, use effects to enhance what's already happening on screen to make it more immersive or connect to the audience better.
 
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Snorricam (Requiem for a Dream)
Gilliam Lenses (12 Monkeys)
Dutch Angles
Unstable Focus
Handheld
Closeups of sweating, paranoid looking around, etc.
Breaking of the 180 degree rule
Disorienting Shots
Subtle Fastforwarding
Jump Cuts (Check out Pi)

Like stated above, don't overuse gimmicks. Do what suits your film best and is most effective. Play with techniques, mix and match, and make up your own. When you think about it, how do you think filmmakers/DPs came up with these techniques?
 
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ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Snorricam (Requiem for a Dream)
Gilliam Lenses (12 Monkeys)
Dutch Angles
Unstable Focus
Handheld
Closeups of sweating, paranoid looking around, etc.
Breaking of the 180 degree rule
Disorienting Shots
Subtle Fastforwarding
Jump Cuts (Check out Pi)

Like stated above, don't overuse gimmicks. Do what suits your film best and is most effective. Play with techniques, mix and match, and make up your own. When you think about it, how do you think filmmakers/DPs came up with these techniques?
Click to expand...

Whats that?
 
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ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
http://verdoux.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/brazil-35.jpg
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That's exactly the effect I was talking about above.

Okay, maybe just a CU, not ECU. With a wide angle, you have to get right up in the actor's face and it's very distracting to them not to lose sight of where they're looking.

Edit:
Here's a screenshot from a short I did. While she was delivering some philosophic statement, I wanted to create a bizarre effect with this woman, who is mentally scarred and has outbursts of violence.

between-friends-wideangle.jpg
 
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Dexter7176 said:
Hi, I'm trying to find ways to create the feeling of psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. I have heard of the Dutch angle are there any other methods to do this.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Are you limited to cinematography for this state in the character?... Other production techniques might be useful to get this across to the audience:
- Actor movement/dialogue (what was the character doing in the previous scene, i.e., something really "normal?")
- SFX (e.g., in the character's POV, the carpet suddenly moves or vibrates, as if it were briefly covered with insects)
- Scene design

Whatever you use, a big help will be a noticeable *change,* so that the audience picks up on it.

Interesting challenge to think about.
 
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Hi everyone thanks for the tips. I enjoy learning new things, I just wanted to know what tricks people use in my situation. I think at least if I have the knowledge it will spark my own creativity rather than copying someone else's. The scene itself will consist of a character sitting at a kitchen table at this moment in the story the audience are not aware that his family have been killed in a crash. The character has severe OCD(he does everything in a sequence and around the number 3, but that's another part of the story)he is trying to complete a crossword before the cooking timer chimes, also on the oven is the dinner cooking. The pans will be bubbling over the closer the timer comes to an end. Basically the guy is cooking a meal for his dead family, towards the end we will finally see him crack. Hope that gives a little feel as what I will be doing!
 
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kjones said:
Are you limited to cinematography for this state in the character?... Other production techniques might be useful to get this across to the audience:
- Actor movement/dialogue (what was the character doing in the previous scene, i.e., something really "normal?")
- SFX (e.g., in the character's POV, the carpet suddenly moves or vibrates, as if it were briefly covered with insects)
- Scene design

Whatever you use, a big help will be a noticeable *change,* so that the audience picks up on it.

Interesting challenge to think about.
Click to expand...
Great advice thanks.
Yea the story will start out normal but we will slowly see the characters mental state change due to his actions. The final bang being the audience finding out his family is dead due to the actions his OCD make him make.
 
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Dexter7176 said:
The scene itself will consist of a character sitting at a kitchen table at this moment in the story the audience are not aware that his family have been killed in a crash. The character has severe OCD(he does everything in a sequence and around the number 3, but that's another part of the story)he is trying to complete a crossword before the cooking timer chimes, also on the oven is the dinner cooking. The pans will be bubbling over the closer the timer comes to an end. Basically the guy is cooking a meal for his dead family, towards the end we will finally see him crack. Hope that gives a little feel as what I will be doing!
Click to expand...

I'd find a way to subtly plant the number 3 in the viewer's mind throughout the film not just through his actions, but background items in set design, how any extras are blocked, even in the score. As the film progresses, reduce the frequency with which 3 appears in these places. The more his frustration grows, the less the threes appear. Or, the less control he feels, the less his world appears in threes.

And rather than trying some sort of trite camera angle to make the viewer just as uncomfortable, try the editing pace... fast cuts, jump cuts. Even in addition to camera technique and overall production design, this can sell the effect. There are also very subtle ways to edit in threes, which can also change over the character's progression.
 
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AcousticAl said:
I'd find a way to subtly plant the number 3 in the viewer's mind throughout the film not just through his actions, but background items in set design, how any extras are blocked, even in the score. As the film progresses, reduce the frequency with which 3 appears in these places. The more his frustration grows, the less the threes appear (or vice versa).

And rather than trying some sort of trite camera angle to make the viewer just as uncomfortable, try the editing pace... fast cuts, jump cuts. Even in addition to camera technique and overall production design, this can sell the effect.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for the reply, I will be subtley placing "three" around the room, there are shelves with spices and cups on, they will be all grouped in threes. He will be cutting vegatables into three etc. The end will bethe dinner table with three places but only the character sitting there. His wife and daughter are dead, this will be when the audience learns the truth and he cracks.
 
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Hey, there.

Well for the part when the kid flies up in the sky, I thought it would be better, if the camera showed him fly straight up. The camera pans up but then it cuts away. The pan also doesn't follow him and he goes out of frame. There are other shots where people go out of frame, like when the kid says 'yes I am', or when they show the dead kids on the ground. I guess I just thought it would be more effective to keep panning and show him go up in the sky more. That's just one example. For the shot where he rides away on the scooter, you could show something like him ride right past the camera, then swing the camera, as he scoots away and track him as he scoots away.

For the rest, I guess you could just show movement during the fighting. Like maybe have the camera move a little when one character punches another so we feel the punch more. Things like that. Or when an actor falls to the ground, move the camera with him when he falls, so we feel it more. Lots of action movies can give you good ideas. That's usually how I get mine anyway.
 
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Hello there!

Handheld camera movement, some action music, perhaps toning down the comedy, and some color grading and other forms of post stylization (as well as faster cutting might help). Although my biggest concern is the lack of Foley and sound effects.

The camera you have is absolutely fine. But I recommend you invest your money into perhaps a good audio program and mic. Perhaps some lighting and lenses as well, if you are looking to amp up the video quality.
 
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Thanks guys, as you can see I'm clearly just starting out so I have a lot of problems I need to fix. I'm also still a student so money is a bit tight at the moment but I really enjoy making these short clips. Also I do have a video where I fly into the sky and follow my the flight with the camera, I'll post the link for that bellow. Also I'll post my latest short clip and will appreciate any comment on that as well.

Flight Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yee...aMERZ6h8DRgsxWkx2bwwSO&feature=c4-overview-vl

Latest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4psGvtQTcY&list=UUVswQW8zr6Dh7WS-LMaQzeA&feature=c4-overview
 
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Hey I watched the first one. Yeah it's good how you showed him going up more. Can you follow him up with the camera the whole way, and not have him go out of frame? But even so, it still looks a lot better, and there is no rule that says you have to.
 
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