Presentation 2 (Part 3)

I am not sure if the rest of us need to find clips as examples, but I don't know how to "show panning/tilting/etc" otherwise... Here're my answers:

III. Define what are “pan, tilt‐up, tilt‐down, zoom, close up; extreme close‐up; wide‐angle; high‐angle; fisheye, and telephoto”
 Show us how to pan, tilt‐up, tilt‐down, zoom, close up; extreme close‐up; wide‐angle; high‐angle; fisheye, and telephoto. Discuss the suitability, meaning and purpose.

Pan: Twilight saga, New Moon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fmk7ucnbI0 (0:41-1:26)

Panning is the horizontal movement of the camera, which scans the subject on a vertical axis.

I remember watching this scene in the cinemas and felt extremely giddy watching it. Although it shows the passage of time (as the scenery changes but Bella is still sitting at the same place), the pan is too repetitive and rather fast, which makes it boring though giddy at the same time.


Tilting: Up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkqzFUhGPJg (0:46-0:48)

Tilting is the vertical version of panning, tilt-up means that the camera tilts from bottom up. tilt-down means from top to bottom.

The tilt-up in Up is suitable as it mimics the viewers looking up at the house as it is flying. Tilt-down will be in the opposite direction, and can be used to show someone looking down at something. I afraid I can't find any examples offhand ):


Zoom: For the way I live (MTV) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccvJvowKdK8 (5:14-5:42)

Zoom is changing the focal length of the camera to make the subject appear further or closer from the viewer.

The camera zooms in on the singer from a mid shot to an extreme close up. It zooms out and pans after 5:42. This lets the viewer feel as if the singer moved closer to him or her, which complements the repeating lyrics of “Honey I'll try... for you I'll try”, as if the singer moves closer in trying to persuade the viewer that she is trying to change the way she lives.


Close-up: For the way I live (MTV) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccvJvowKdK8 (5:34)

A close-up shot frames a certain feature of a subject, and the feature takes up the whole frame. For example, at 5:34, only the singer's face is in the frame.

In this music video, the close-up is a passing stage to the extreme close-up, which meaning/purpose is as explained next. Usually close-up can be used to break the monotony of long/mid shots.


Extreme close-up: For the way I live (MTV) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccvJvowKdK8 (5:42)

An extreme close-up only frames a fraction of a feature of a subject. At 5:42, only the singer's pupil can be seen.

The extreme close-up of the pupil capitalizes on the saying that one's eyes are the windows to his or her soul. Hence the close-up shows that the singer is sincere and willing to bare her soul in persuading the listener that she hopes to make a change.


Wide-angle: Hero trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyBtdVVjLA (1:39-1:45)

Wide-angle enables wide fields of view. It can be used to set a scene (e.g. during the introduction of a movie) as it has a wider frame.

The wide angle sets the scene where the two swordsmen fight. Viewers can see their skill in navigating the wide river/lake. Without the wide angle, viewers may mistake them as fighting on a small river, near to the banks instead, which undermines the swordsmen's skill. The other scene allows viewers to see the majestic palace and the strong army of the king.


High-angle: Hero trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyBtdVVjLA (2:10)

High-angle is when the camera is set above the eye level. It usually makes the subject look small and vulnerable.

In this video, high-angle is used to make the subject look vulnerable as she is under attack.


Fisheye: Fisheye Test - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WPRVv_9f8U

Fisheye is a type of wide-angle with hemispherical distortion. Most people use fisheye for aesthetic purposes. It is also used by photographers and videographers who want to get action shots as close to their subjects as possible while capturing the context.

In this example, fisheye is used for the latter purpose to film the skateboarder while capturing the background (street, houses, cars, etc.).


Telephoto: Anima shot - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk7vCq2I4nQ (0:30-0:41)

Telephoto lens is a kind of long-focus lens where the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. It is similar to zoom as it allows one to make subjects that are far appear close. This is particularly useful when one cannot be close to the subject, such as in the above video, which films animals in a zoo (telephoto is used as we cannot go up close to film them).