Camera angles are powerful tools in filmmaking, shaping how viewers perceive characters and scenes. They can make subjects appear powerful or weak, create emotional connections, and influence the audience's psychological response. Understanding these effects is crucial for effective visual storytelling.

Different angles like eye-level, low-angle, and high-angle shots each serve specific purposes in composition. By choosing the right angles, filmmakers can manipulate power dynamics, control audience identification, and enhance the overall narrative impact of their scenes.

Camera angles and terminology

Defining camera angles

• Camera angles refer to the position and tilt of the camera in relation to the subject being filmed
• Each angle has a specific name and definition based on its height and relationship to the subject
• Camera angles are defined by the vertical position (high, low, eye-level) and the horizontal tilt (straight on or diagonal)

Types of camera angles

• The eye-level shot frames the subject straight on from a neutral perspective
  • This is considered the default, normal angle
  • Creates a natural, relatable view of the subject (person having a conversation)
• A low-angle shot is when the camera is below the eye line looking up at the subject
  • An extreme low angle looking directly up is called a worm's-eye view (framing a tall building from ground level)
• A high-angle shot is when the camera is above the eye line looking down at the subject
  • An extreme high angle looking directly down is called a bird's-eye view (aerial view of a cityscape)
• A Dutch angle, also called a canted angle, is when the camera is tilted diagonally so the horizon line is not parallel with the bottom of the frame
  • Creates a sense of imbalance or disorientation (trippy dream sequence)

Choosing camera angles for effect

Intentional use of angles

• Camera angles can be used intentionally to evoke certain emotions in the viewer or to support storytelling
• The choice of camera angle should always have a narrative purpose
• Angles can heighten feelings, create distance, or immerse the viewer in a character's perspective
• Altering angles during a scene can reveal new information or shift the viewer's perception (showing a character is standing on a cliff edge)

Emotional impact of angles

• Low-angle shots are often used to make the subject appear powerful, menacing, or heroic by exaggerating their size in the frame
  • This can heighten feelings of fear, admiration, or insignificance in the viewer (villain looming over a victim)
• High-angle shots tend to diminish a subject's importance and make them appear weak, vulnerable, or inferior
  • This can create a sense of isolation, entrapment, or emotional distance (sad character alone on a bench)
• Dutch angles create an uneasy, disorienting effect that can enhance tension, confusion, or instability
  • They are often used in suspense or psychological thrillers (character losing grip on reality)
• Eye-level shots create a neutral, natural effect and allow the viewer to connect with the subject as an equal
  • They are often used to build empathy or trust (heart-to-heart conversation between friends)

POV and perspective

• POV (point-of-view) shots mimic what a character is seeing through their eyes
• This puts the audience directly in the character's perspective and is highly immersive
• POV shots can be used to build identification with a character or to limit information (showing a stalker watching someone)
• Perspective can also be manipulated through camera placement in relation to the subject (shooting through a partially open door to create a voyeuristic effect)

Psychological impact of camera angles

Subconscious effects on the audience

• Camera angles can have a powerful subconscious effect on how the audience perceives and emotionally responds to the subject matter
• Viewers psychologically connect the visual representation of power dynamics, emotional states, and spatial relationships created by camera angles to their perception of the narrative and characters
• Angles can make the viewer feel powerful or powerless, emotionally close or distant, engaged or unsettled

Enhancing psychological effects

• The audience's own physical position in relation to the screen can enhance the psychological effect
  • A high-angle shot can make the viewer feel large and in control, while a low-angle shot can make them feel small and powerless
• Altering camera angles during a scene can cause a psychological shift and force the viewer to literally see the subject in a new way
  • This can reveal character, alter sympathy, or create surprise (showing a kind character was lying)
• Unconventional or unmotivated camera angles can create an unsettling, psychologically distancing effect in the audience that removes them from the narrative spell
  • This can be used to create a sense of unease or surrealism (jarring Dutch angles in a horror film)

Power dynamics through camera angles

Visualizing power imbalances

• The height of the camera in relation to characters can visually represent a power imbalance and make one character appear dominant over the other
• If one character is shown in a low angle and the other in a high angle, the character above will appear more powerful while the lower character seems at a disadvantage
• When characters are filmed at eye level with each other, they appear to be on equal footing
  • Breaking this convention can show a shift in power dynamics (a servant standing up to their master)

Controlling audience identification

• A point-of-view shot can be used to force the audience to identify with a particular character's perspective, which can make them more sympathetic to that character's plight
• Filming characters in profile, at far distances, or from behind can create emotional distance and a sense that they are being observed rather than identified with
  • This can diminish their power in the scene (an authority figure viewed from behind a crowd)
• Selective use of close-ups can create intimacy and identification with a character while withholding that connection from others
  • This can make the audience feel closer to certain characters (tight close-up on a victim's face)

Charting power dynamics

• Altering camera angles on the same characters throughout the story can chart the rise and fall of their power dynamics and show internal character growth or change
• A character introduced in low angles may gradually be shown in neutral and high angles as they gain confidence or status
  • The reverse can show a fall from grace (a dethroned king now viewed from high angles)
• Shifting camera angles can also represent a change in how one character perceives another
  • A low angle may become eye level as a character earns respect (a mentor appearing larger than life at first)