Workshop 1 - Film Study

In English, our class got split into two random groups to have a workshop. This is the paragraph we made in our first workshop on camera shots and angles:

Photo for the first scene:

Camera shots and angles are used effectively in the film 'The Hunger Games'. For example, in the scene after the tribute parade where first see the character of President Snow.  Gary Ross uses a combination of over the shoulder and high angle with an extreme long shot to show Snow addressing the crowd. This makes us understand that Snow is a powerful individual in the Capitol as everyone is listening to him. The purpose of this is to show Snow's supremacy among the people in the Capitol and the tributes. Coinciding with this, the use of setting shows a special above other for Snow and below for the tributes. This can be juxtaposed to the scene later in the film where Katniss and Peeta reclaim power by threating to eat the poisonous berries in the arena.

We had to do another one on a different scene:

Dutch tilt - angle - to show things are out of place - Katniss is out of place because she volunteered as tribute to save her sister
Low angle - angle - because she volunteered she is more important - Katniss is the first volunteer in the district 12 and because she has been selected to be tribute above all other
Mid shot - shot - makes the viewer an onlooker - makes the audience feel like she is alone
Facial expression - she looks vulnerable

Photo for the second scene:

In 'The Hunger Games' camera angles and shots are used strategically. Viewers are able to see examples of the skill that goes into the movie in the scene where Katniss stands on the stage after volunteering for her sister, Primrose, at the reaping. A mid shot is combined with a dutch tilt and a low angle so the audience is able to decipher that things are unusual and out of place, as Katniss is the first ever volunteer in district 12. The dutch tilt is purposely placed in this scene to give the effect of how unfamiliar this part of the movie is. Gary Ross's unusual use of a low angle makes us understand how significant Katniss is in this moment of time. Although a low angle is typically used to make someone look vulnerable, in this scene its the facial expressions that show us how scared Katniss is. During this scene, the camera angles and shot make viewers able to see how weird and abnormal things are, further in the movie shots and angles are also used to show how strange it is that someone from district 12 won the hunger games, especially when other districts train their whole life for the games.