Preliminary tasks.

We were instructed to create a short preliminary video which included a few of the main shots used when creating a film. One of these shots, and the one used first, is the establishing shot. This shot should, in theory, create a setting for a beginning of a scene so that the audience can understand the narrative. In a thriller, an establishing shot would usually put the scene into context. A close up accentuates a particular aspect or important detail in the film. It can also be used to create confusion. For instance, in a thriller movie, a close up of a gun could be shown, but the gun would not be identifiable right away, only later would the viewer learn that the close up would of been a gun. Another important shot is the 'match on action shot'. This is of paramount importance when you are wanting a scene to flow. Action is shown from a different point in time and is relative to the previous shot. An example of this is when a door opens you get a shot of the door opening from inside the room. It allows the viewer to catch the reaction of the character going into the room. A 'Reaction shot' improves fluidity as well as encouraging the audience to believe that characters are in the same scene and geographic space. Although, if over used it can become tedious for the viewers. Long shots are primarily used to show 2 or more characters in a scene. In the case of a thriller, it may be used to show characters' positions relative, both to one another as well as their surroundings. An over the shoulder shot allows the audience to gage the reaction of the opposite character. Also, it can be used to emphasize dominance as the character we are seeing in front of the shoulder can appear smaller.