Camera Angles: Fight Club

Camera Angles: Fight Club

EXTREME CLOSE-UP

  

This camera angle has been used to focus only on the character's facial expression, particularly the eyes. The eyes give away a lot of how the character is feeling especially in this shot as it is clear the character is terrified. There is nowhere else the audience can look apart from the character's face so it creates discomfort and a claustrophobic effect on the viewer.

ESTABLISHING SHOT / FULL SHOT

       

This shot could be classed as an establishing shot as it makes the location and the characters in that location clear to the audience. The location appears to be a high level parking lot due to the image of the skyscrapers close up outside of the window. The positioning of the characters also leaves their relationship open to interpretation. Due to the full body shots it could also be classed as a full shot.                

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT

An over the shoulder shot is used here to make the audience feel like they are almost part of the conversation. There is dialogue occurring during this shot between the two characters but you can only see the reaction of one character. This could mean the director wants the audience to focus only on how this character is feeling.

CUT IN / CUT AWAY

      

The cut in / cut away shot is used to focus on a particular and significant object. This shot could be used to focus on an object the audience needs to remember or an object that furthers the plot. The Starbucks Coffee is focused on to create the impression of your typical American aspects of an everyday office.

LOW ANGLED SHOT / MID SHOT                        

The low angle shot is used to make the character or the audience feel inferior to a certain character or object. In this case, the audience is put into the shoes of the character and made to feel intimidated and belittled by the character in the shot. This is also helped by the character's intimidating facial expression which is clear due to it being a mid shot of him.

LONG SHOT / WIDE SHOT

A long shot shows the audience a full shot of a character or an object. In this shot the audience can see the full body of the character, analyse the positioning of them, and their body language. These aspects can give away a lot about a character. In the shot the character is standing in the middle of a road but looking at her body language it does not seem to phase her, inferring she is a very careless character.


CLOSE UP / MID CLOSE UP

This shot is known as a close up or a mid close up as it is not close enough to the character to be named an extreme close up. This particular camera angle is usually used to focus on a character's facial expression however, in this shot it seems slightly ironic as the majority of the character's face is covered by sunglasses and cigarette smoke. This makes the character seem extremely mysterious due to them being so difficult to analyse even when the audience has such a close look at her. 

HIGH ANGLED SHOT

High angled shots are used to make a certain character or object appear inferior to the audience, another character or an object. In this particular shot the character is portrayed as incredibly vulnerable due to the high angled shot and also the gun placed inside his mouth by an unknown character. It makes it clear that the two characters are on completely different superiority levels and also almost makes the audience feel like they are holding the gun which will have different effects depending on how the viewer                                                                                         feels about the character.