Research into Cinematography- Miss Miller

Cinematography is significant to a thriller film, as it builds a relationship between the audience and the characters, through emotion and their actions. It helps creates an understanding of the film, allowing the audience to be drawn in.

One of the shots that I acknowledged was a ‘point of view’ shot. In this meticulous shot it shows one of the nuns of the orphanage and a married couple looking through a gap in the door looking at an orphan girl, before walking in. This shot views a child isolating herself from the other orphans in a room and instead painting. It shows that there is something suspicious about the child to why she may not want to mix with others and do normal ‘childlike’ activities. This ‘point of view shot is conventional to a thriller film as it creates tension, an enigma and makes the audience question the child; there’s something not normal, as her maturity does not match her age. This could lead to the audience coming to some sort of conclusion to what’s going to happen next with the expectation being that her identity is false. 

The second shot I found was a ‘close up’ shot. The camera is zoomed up on the orphans face smiling innocently and childlike, as she introduces herself to a married couple. This shot is made to look as if she is a perfect, well behaved child that any parents would want to adopt. This is conventional to a thriller film as the audience can see that she is the perpetrator with typical pale white skin and dark hair, which is a classic narrative within a thriller. 

The third shot I chose to analyse was a ‘mid’ shot. This particular shot portrays that the orphan, Ester overlooking her new sister, Max. This image foreshadows that something bad is going to happen to max. This is conventional as the setting is all very predictable; pitch-black room with a thunder storm occurring outside, flashing images of Ester in a white gown; supposedly the colour of innocence. This creates contrast. This scene relates to most features of a conventional thriller with the setting, sound, cinematography and mise en scene. The audience begin to worry and sympathise for Max's safety as they feel harm may come to her in time.

Within this piece of work, it has taught me that the choice of camera shots is vital within a thriller film in order to grab the audience’s attention and create understanding. Through my analysis of Orphan I found that the ‘point of view’ shot was the most interesting out of the three. I felt this way, as for me being the viewer, it built numerous emotions such as suspicion and made me question the orphans character. Drawing in an audience’s emotion, I feel is vital as it creates vivid understanding, and I will focus on this aspect when I come to making my own 2 minute opening for a thriller film.