Camera Angles, Shots, Movement, Composition In a Movie - Blog Post

 The movie that I chose to watch was Spider-Man: Far from Home. This movie has the genres of action, adventure, romance, and comedy, and it is effectively demonstrated throughout the movie with the use of specific camera shots and movements. 

Camera Movements: 

This is shown at the start of the movie during the opening scene, for example, when the main character Peter Parker, who is Spider-Man, is being interviewed at a large press conference area. During this scene, many interviews and paparazzi crowd him with cameras, microphones, and flashes of light to try and get information out of him about his current situation in the Avengers. At one point, a person asks, "What's it like taking over for Tony Stark," a superhero named Iron Man who died in the previous movie. After this question, the camera shows a mid-shot of him and does a push-in effect with a Steadicam to zoom in on his face and show his stress when asked this question. This use of this camera movement shows how that question and topic is affecting him very much since he does not want to take on this role of leading the Avengers with the burden of Tony Stark's death upon him. He is uncomfortable with the question and the zoom-in of the camera shows his discomfort for this topic. 

When Peter and his friends arrive in Prague for the trip, there is a fire monster that appears in the city. Peter's school is occupied at an Opera so Peter can sneak out and fight the monster without any trouble being caused to the school. During this fight, there is a scene where Peter runs up the side of a building and the camera is positioned above him and continues to move along with him when he jumps off of it and backflips. This is the use of a crane shot where there is a crane that mounts the camera and allows for the high angles and smooth movement of camera. This helps create the smoothness of the action being portrayed in the film and helps the viewer see the perspective on how Peter is fighting the monster.

Composition:

During a scene where Peter and his classmates are going on a trip to Venice, Italy, Peter shows how much he wants to sit next to his love interest, MJ. He talks about it with his friend Ned before the trip even happens and how he wants to sit next to her. However, on the day of the trip, Peter unsuccessfully sits next to her by having to sit next to one of the teachers which causes peter to be bummed out about the situation. He is frustrated since a good looking guy in his class is sitting next to her instead. During the flight, it shows the guy showing MJ a movie and she starts to laugh. The camera is positioned in a way that shows their faces and Peter is a couple rows behind them watching the whole interaction. The film then uses a Focus Pull to direct the attention of the viewer from MJ and the guy to Peter sitting in the back. This shows Peter's discomfort about the situation and how disappointed he is that he is not able to sit next to his crush and have a good time with her.

During the trip, the students are directed towards London for the rest of the trip. It is revealed that Mysterio is not actually a superhero but a person putting on a facade and uses holograms to fake every action he does, imitating a superhero. He creates a fake scene in London with large hologram monsters that are creating a lot of destruction and it is reckless. There is a scene where Spider-Man's Coworker, Happy, is in a room with MJ, Ned, and two other students because Mysterio is trying to target them since they know his secret. In this scene, there are drones trying to kill them which were sent by Mysterio, and this causes them to hide in a room that is in what seems to be a museum with medieval weapons. The characters all start anticipate death and start revealing truths about themselves and the film uses Framing to portray this by using a fixed camera angle. Happy then reveals that he is in love with Peter's aunt May and everyone pauses for a second. This scene provides comedic value to the situation as they are all about to die but he sneaks in a joke that would make the audience laugh and enjoy the scene more.

Camera Shots:

After arriving at the airport in Venice and getting off of the plane, there is a scene that shows Peter and his friend Ned having a conversation about what happened to Peter on the plane and his discomfort to the situation between MJ and the guy. During the conversation, the girl who was sitting next to Ned on the plane, who previously had no interest in Ned, all of a sudden kisses him and calls him her boyfriend. The conversation had the use of over-the-shoulder shots in order to show the conversation between Peter and Ned, which helps emphasize the conversation and give the viewers a perspective on whats happening. The use of this shot also exemplifies Peter's confusion about their relationship since it happened so fast, which also may provide a comedic value.

When Peter is walking around the city of Venice, there is a mysterious water monster that appears out of nowhere and causes destruction on the city. The monster was very strong and Peter could not do much to handle it, but a mysterious man that goes by the alias Mysterio appeared and fought the monster. He eventually defeated it and everyone applauded him. Peter was confused as he did not know who he was and he was saved. After this scene, a strong figure who plays a role in the superhero organization of the Avengers named Nick Fury appears and brings Peter to a mysterious hideout. At this hideout, it shows Mysterio and Peter finally gets to meet him and understands who he is. There is a two-shot of Peter greeting Mysterio and this scene helps solve the mystery of who he is. It emphasizes the idea that Mysterio is a superhero who is helping out the people, and shows the viewer the importance of this scene to foreshadow possible superhero events in the future. 

Camera Angles:

After Peter arrives at the airport and gets off of the plane, a person who has a dog used to sniff for dangerous items walks up to Peter's briefcase and sniffs it. Afterwards, it shows an airport worker opening his bag and checking what is inside. During which, it shows her opening the briefcase and shows a frame of his Spider-Man suit that Peter's aunt May secretly packed in his bag, since Peter did not want to bring it on vacation. It then shows a low angle as if the camera was inside the briefcase facing up towards Peter's face, showing his shock and surprise to the situation. This use of a Low-angle helps emphasize Peter's reaction and also gives the viewers a surprise reaction since they are also unaware. The placement of the camera shows the area Peter was looking at and emphasizes this scene.

When Peter flies on the jet that his accomplice Happy picks him up in, they go very high into the sky above London. Peter then jumps out of the jet in his Spider-Man suit and soars down into the chaos that is occurring in the city because of Mysterio's facade. There is a large figure that seems to be destroying the city, but realistically it is a hologram made up of a bunch of drones inside of it and it is creating a fake image. Peter deploys a parachute from the sky and then, the film uses a birds-eye-view perspective of the shot and it shows Peter flying into the center of the giant hologram. This scene helps emphasize the task that Peter has at hand and it shows the severity of the situation. It also helps show the viewer the action being portrayed in the film as Peter jumps out of the plane and falls down into the massive disaster.