I was not the only one to have the opportunity to film videos on different camera shots and transitions, my classmates did some as well. I was able to pick 2 of my classmates and critique 2 of their videos on camera angles, and 2 on camera transitions. My opinions about them are below.
Vivien Tang
Camera Transitions-
1. Video 5:
This video depicts a girl on the phone, then it dissolves into her fights someone else. This video evokes an intense feeling because of the quick transition of her talking to then her fighting. Since it cuts off at the end, it makes you wonder who won. It also makes you think about why they are fighting.
2. Video 1:
This video shows of the garden in our courtyard in two different shots and perspectives. The tilt allowed me to see the landscape. I like the calm feeling you get when you watch this video. The music is also nice, adding to the calm feeling in this video.
Camera Angles-
1. Video 5:
This video shows a bee crawling around a purple flower. You really feel connected to nature when you watch this video because of the flower, bee, and the slow pace of it. The slow pace also gives off a calm feeling. The extreme close up allows us to see what is going on better.
2. Video 1:
This video is a low angle shot of a tree. Since we are seeing the tree from a lower angle, it makes the watcher feel inferior and powerless. This also implies that we are seeing this from a short person, animal, object, etc's point of view.
Ashley Marshall
Camera Transitions-
1. Video 5:
This video shows the subject talking to a tree. This makes the audience confused because of the obscurity of it. This also needs the audience curious, wondering why she is talking to the tree. The smash cut reveals that she is talking to the tree.
2. Video 4:
This video uses a wipe to show the subject is coming closer to the camera. This gives the watcher a scared and creepy feeling. There is also no audio so it adds to it.
Camera Angles-
1. Video 1:
This video depicts the subject on the phone at the top of the stairs. Since she is on the top, it makes her seems powerful. Her looking over the ledge also adds to that.
2. Video 4:
This video shows a girl looking up. The video gives off an ominous feeling because we do not know what she is looking at. Since it is a high angle, it also makes the subject seem powerless or less powerful.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a movie about a middle schooler, Greg, and his life. Throughout the movie, he builds a relationship with his brother, Rodrick. Many camera shots, angles and transitions were used to execute the movie.
The first time in the movie we see Greg and Rodrick's relationship in the roller skating rink party Greg's middle school was having. When they get to the rink, a cowboy shot is used to show that Rodrick does not want to be there, and throughout this scene we see how Rodrick entertains himself. While in the rink, Rodrick comes up with the idea to bet Greg to roller skate with the girl he crushes on, Holly, at a specific time. A whip pan is used to show when Greg has to skate with her. When the time comes for Greg to ask Holly, romance music starts playing, so that made Greg very nervous. Right when he is going to ask Holly, Rodrick pays the DJ to play rock music instead of the romantic music. An overhead shot is used to show that Holly and her friends left, leaving Greg alone. A ground level shot shows that while people are leaving, new people are coming into the rink. It is later found out that these are intense roller skaters. In a dutch shot, you can see how Greg was getting knocked over by the skaters. The camera then zooms into Rodrick to show his evil smile as he was able to prank Greg. As shown in this first scene, their relationship is not the best.
The next scene also shows Greg's and Rodrick's relationship. This scene takes place during Sunday church. Before they go in, in a cowboy shot you see how there is chocolate on Greg's butt, making it look like poop. A close up of Rodrick insinuates that he was the one who put it there. This forces Greg to wear his mom's jacket on his waist to hide the stain. While the family was walking into the church, a low angle shows that Rodrick pulled the jacket down, revealing the chocolate stain. A zoom in shows a girl who noticed it and yelled "poop". This made Greg very angry and embarrassed. So angry that he jumps Rodrick, knocking him to the ground. You then see them fighting on the floor in an overhead shot. Again, you can see that Greg and Rodrick do not like each other, but this is gonna change.
Because of what happened at church, Greg and Rodrick are not allowed to go to the family vacation and will be left alone. One of the rules they had to follow was no parties, a close up insinuates that Rodrick will not listen to this and is going to have a party. Later that day, Greg and Rodrick prepare for the party and Rodrick tells Greg to go into the basement to get something. A high angle shows how deep and dark the basement is. When Greg goes in, Rodrick locks the door and Greg is locked in the basement, so he cannot go to the party. During the party, there are pans and aerial shots to show how many people are at the party and how they are trashing the house. In the middle of the party, an insert shot shows how their mom is calling. Rodrick makes everybody be quiet, so his parents do not suspect anything. A swipe transition shows their parents and their little brother, Manny in a hotel room. Greg and Rodrick's mom called to see how they were doing. Rodrick lied and said everything was fine and Greg was asleep. Another swipe shows how Greg jumps on the line, blackmailing Rodrick into getting him out of the basement. When Greg gets out, a dolly movement shows how he is walking around the party, thinking he is cool because "no middle schoolers see things like this" Throughout the party, Greg and Rodrick begin to hang out with each other and have fun. Dissolve transitions show all the different things they did together. Their relationship is beginning to get better.
Since all the teens trashed the house, they had to rush and pick it up before their parents got home. One thing they had to do was replace the door, because someone stained it. A match shot shows that the door has a different lock. Greg gets scared, but Rodrick said not to worry about it. When their parents and Manny get back, their parents do not suspect anything. However, a couple days later when Greg's mom goes to lock the door, she noticed how there was no lock. She asked Greg and said there were people over, but he lies and says that it was only a small get together. Greg's mom gets mad, but convinces his mom to not get mad because of how good his relationship has gotten.
A couple days have past, and an insert shot shows that their parents found a video of the party. Whip pans show the arguments that come up from this. Greg's mom finds out Greg was lying to her, Rodrick then gets mad at Greg for not being able to keep the secret, and Greg's dad is mad that his mom kept a secret from her. This ruins Greg's and Rodrick's relationship because Rodrick's punishment is that he cannot play in the talent show, something he wanted to do. However, this all changes on the day of the talent show.
When it's the day of the talent show, Rodrick found out that his band mates are playing without him in the talent show. This makes Rodrick sad, a close up shows him crying. To make it up to him, Greg tells his mom that he will help his friend with his talent show act, which is something that Greg finds embarrassing. A medium close up shows how happy Greg's mom is that he would risk his embarrassment for his brother and Rodrick is able to play When Rodrick finds out, he forgives Greg and their relationship is better than ever.
In conclusion, these different camera shots, angles and transitions play an important role in movies. Below is a video that includes some of the things I previously listed.
Similar to the camera shots and angles, we learned in class a few types of camera transitions. we have now been given the opportunity to try some of them. With the help of my family and my friend, I was able to make 5 videos. The types of transitions I used were fade, wipe, match cut, dissolve, and smash cut. The videos are below.
