Question

FILM How do camera movements function? What information do they provide about characters, objects, and spaces? Do they guide the viewer’s eye toward particular details? Do they align the viewer’s perspective with that of a character?

Answer 1

A perfect movie is the perfect interplay of camera audio and video. And camera movement and placement are one of the most important aspects for a movie and this is the main job of the cinematographer. Sometimes these visual detailing is very crucial for character development, to the story or for the overall visual effects.

The information provided mainly depends on the story telling method adopted by the director. If the movie is in horror genre probably the director tries to bring fear elements like death or dark themes instead of giving happy vibes. Or he tries to bring a sudden twist in theme by turning into horror suddenly from a happier situation. So these decisions are taken by the director and the cinematographer encompasses all the themes with the visuals to match the audio and situation.

The viewers' eye is often guided to the details through various methods like

1. Positioning important details above on the screen.

2. Increasing the size of the object that needs attention.

3. Providing motion to details.

4. Providing visual cues like arrows, contrasting colours like the girl in red dress in "the Schindler's list".

5. Showing eye gaze, since we are attracted to eyes more than other facial objects.

They also sometimes align the viewers' perspective to that of the character to indulge the viewers more into the movie or to a particular scene by showing the thought process of the lead character for example by showing the tortures he faces by showing gory imagery.

Therefore it is very important for a cinematographer to understand the movie and his role is a very important and his input can either make the movie a blockbuster or mistakes from his side can be a huge blunder sabotaging the entire project and bringing losses to the producer.