Research- Waking up- Camera Angles

Research- Waking up- Camera Angles

Due to fact that we have chosen to include a waking up scene to our coursework there will be a scene included where the ‘sleeping’ character will wake up. For the appropriate effect this should have on the audience I have conducted research into the different camera angles and ways people have woken up in different forms of media.

Taking an example from the opening scene of ‘A Single Man’ (2009), this drama film also takes an aerial shot, but in this sample the shot is limited as a close up. The character is gasping as they wake up but no other movement apart from the slight motion of their head leaving the pillow slightly is visible. The scene itself is emotional so they rely of the character’s reaction to the dream they had as the effectiveness. Although the scene carries on with voice over from the character the passage itself is effective in its simplicity. The scene itself is not in the style that we want to use but it is good to look at separate examples to widen our perceptive. we could possible do this minimalist effect from a side view to make it seem more relaxed.

The film ‘Inception’ (2010) also uses emotion in the waking sequence of their main character in the end of the film. Although the film is an action film it heavily relies on the score to make the scene complete, the dramatic effect as the character opens their eyes is amplified by the non-diegetic music. By using a close up on the character’s eyes as they open them can be effective as it is their sudden opening and then the few blinks as if to make sure their still awake. After the majority of the film is based in a dream it feels like sudden relief to the audience and evidently the character as well.

The side on view of the protagonist waking in the second Hunger Games film (Catching Fire 3013) creates an effect as you can see the character breathe deeply before taking in their surroundings. This, like the others is subtly effective but there is no dream that it follows so it lacks the more emotive reactions. The scene keeps the mid shot side on view as the character wakes up, using the angle to effectively gauge the protagonist’s reactions without giving an aerial shot which is expected in this type of scene.

The horror genre usually relies on long shots of the character waking up, sitting straight up screaming this is demonstrated in the 2012 film ‘Silent Hill: Revelation’. The effect it has is more dramatic than the previously simple examples that I have chosen to use and I think the style of the scene is too reflective of the genre to use in a drama/ social realsim film. We see the camera looking at a blank wall before the body of the character is seen and the hot becomes a mid-shot as they become visible. Although the character is not visibly screaming they are disturbed and breathing heavily as if they have seen or experienced a frightening image.

In the 2010 remake of 'Nightmare on Elm Street', a character awakens in their classroom after a dream. Having the character already sitting straight up makes the pedestrians around the character confused and amused by the sudden outburst of the character screaming. The use of a change in depth as the camera focuses on the character but not her surrounding classmates you sense the distance and separation of the characters that are present. This has a contrasting effect as the character is still recovering and acting as though she is in a foreign environment whilst being surrounded by what she would usually call ‘normal’.

In our coursework I believe that we should look at the more subtle approaches to a character waking up, the idea of a large outburst will have to be specific if we want it to conform with our chosen genre.