The role of photography expression angle

In the process of film and television creation, the choice of shooting angle determines the shooting position. The change of angle will affect the difference of screen modeling effect. Different angles often have different emphases and expressive force. Determining the shooting angle of the picture is a decisive process of comprehensive materialization of the picture content and various composition factors. The material means involved in this process mainly include the shooting direction and shooting height of film and television animation.

The use of shooting angle is not a purely technical means, but its control is based on the overall requirements of shooting content.

The frontal angle refers to the angle of the camera in the frontal direction of the subject. The front angle can best reflect the main external characteristics of the subject and present the whole front of the subject to the audience. Life experience tells us that the best way to observe an object clearly is to have face-to-face "visual contact" with it, and the positive angle is to play such an unobstructed picture effect.

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The picture taken from the front angle can fully show the horizontal lines of the subject, resulting in a symmetrical, balanced, stable and solemn effect. For example, in the TV series Yongzheng Dynasty, in the early days of Yong Zhengdi's court, he used a positive angle to show the solemnity of Jindian and the majesty of imperial power. Shooting people from a positive angle is conducive to showing their facial expressions and demeanor, as well as positive movements and postures. If we combine the horizontal angle with the close-up scenery, we can show the face-to-face communication between the people in the picture and the audience, and let the audience feel involved and intimate. When shooting buildings and other objects from the front, it can produce a calm and harmonious visual effect and highlight the magnificent momentum of the building.

Positive angles can also show some juxtaposed images with certain connections or differences, forming contrast and association, guiding the audience to think further, thus expressing the extended meaning outside the picture and enriching the connotation of the picture.

The disadvantage of frontal angle shooting is that it highlights the horizontal line, which is parallel to the edge of the frame, making the picture lack of vertical perspective change, no dynamic composition direction, unable to show more space and volume, and looks dull. Moreover, the perspective of the object photographed from the front is poor and the stereoscopic effect is not obvious. If the layout of the picture is unreasonable, it may make the subject appear indifferent, dull and lifeless.

Side angle means that the camera is in the positive direction of the subject and shoots at 90 degrees from the positive side of the subject. This angle is mainly used to express the profile characteristics of the subject and outline the profile shape of the subject. The side angle has a strong expressive force, which can be seen from the artistic modeling of China folk art shadow play. Shadow play mainly expresses rich drama plots through the modeling of side angles.

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The side angle can clearly explain the direction and orientation of the subject. This is because when shooting from the side, the line-of-sight direction of the subject is located at one side of the picture or outside the picture, so it has clear directionality. The side corner can show the outline of the character. If matched with backlight, you can clearly see the silhouette of the characters. As far as the aesthetic effect is concerned, the shooting angle of the side contains a potential dynamic trend, which can not only show its characteristic side lines, but also show its aesthetic feeling and momentum.

When shooting a game, in the middle of the game, it is often necessary to shoot athletes from the side, which can not only show the gap between athletes because of the difference in speed, but also show the sense of movement and speed of athletes in the process of sports. For another example, shooting objects with obvious dynamic situations, such as trains and cars, with side angles will cause strong vibration.

The lack of side angles is also not conducive to the expression of three-dimensional space.

The back angle refers to the angle of the camera behind the subject. The angle of the back makes the visual direction of the TV picture consistent with the visual direction of the audience, and makes the audience produce a subjective effect consistent with the main line of sight. The back angle is a less used angle. In fact, if handled well, this angle can often receive unexpected results.

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The back corner shows the subject and its focus on the same picture, which often brings a strong sense of participation to the audience. Because when the character's back is facing the camera, the audience can't get any information, which accumulates more and more suspense. The shooting angle on the back is a common means in horror movies. In the movie The Shining, a long back and the follow-up of an unknown viewpoint gradually promote suspense and horror. In documentaries and news interviews, the interviewer's back in the picture will give the audience a sense of direction (Bowling in Columbine by Michael Moore). In some films, when telling the main characters to appear, first give a shot from the back corner, and then cut into the front corner, which will have the effect of "hearing the voice before seeing the person", giving the audience strong expectations at the moment when the front corner has not yet appeared.

When the back corner is used to represent a character, the front facial expression of the character is invisible to the audience, and there is almost no picture expression, but what the audience can see is the posture and movement of the subject, which has become the main image language of the picture.

Therefore, when shooting a picture from the back corner, we should pay attention to depicting the movements and contours of the characters and extracting expression lines.

Flat angle refers to the angle between the camera lens and the subject on the same horizontal line. The visual effect of straight angle shooting is very similar to the visual effect of observing things in daily life, which accords with people's daily observation viewpoints and visual habits.

The pictures it takes are almost the same as those observed by human eyes in terms of structure, perspective, scene size and contrast, which makes people feel equal, objective, fair, calm and kind, and can be used to express the communication and inner activities between characters.

Yasujirō Ozu, a Japanese director, consciously lowered the camera position when he showed the daily life of Japanese people in Tokyo Tale, because Japanese people usually chat, eat and drink tea on tatami. Ozu lowered his plane position and shot the characters in his films, thus gaining a head-up view.

In Xiao Lu's films, the head-up perspective has become an important aspect of his personal narrative attitude and style-more peaceful and calm. There is a good horizontal shot at the beginning of the movie Alien: a man is running, and the key chain on his waist jingles in front of the audience. This shot assumes that the audience is at the same height as the little boy in the film. This angle highlights the film's point of view and puts the audience in a teenager's world view. At the same time, the selected angle shows the importance of this prop.

When shooting a flat angle picture, we should pay attention to the treatment of the composition factors of the horizon. In general, the horizon in the picture should be avoided to divide the picture evenly in the middle of the picture, which will cause the whole picture composition to be dull, monotonous and stable. Generally speaking, in order to avoid the horizon dividing the picture, we can handle the foreground well and enhance the perspective effect of the picture; You can also use rough composition elements such as mountains, trees and winding paths to distract the audience. But in some cases, if we make good use of this segmentation phenomenon of the horizon, such as shooting various reflections, we can get the visual effect of symmetry up and down.

The prone angle, also known as "prone shooting", refers to the shooting mode in which the visual axis of the camera lens deviates from the apparent horizon. The camera is in a position overlooking the subject, which is mainly used to show the scenery below the apparent horizon.

The prone angle is characterized by:

(1) The horizontal line in the painting rises obviously, even falling outside the painting, which is conducive to explaining the level, quantity and distribution of the scenery in the painting, and can show a complete picture layout, which is broad and magnificent;

(2) The vertical lines in the figure tend to focus downward. When shooting a tall building with a wide-angle lens, the scene on the roof and the ground can have a strong perspective contrast, which plays the role of "narrowing the scene". When shooting people from a slightly downward angle, they can be slightly more delicate because of the downward perspective of the lines;

(3) When shooting the relationship between environment and people, it will cause psychological effects of loneliness, smallness, loss and depression.

The angle of prone shooting can produce spectacular momentum when dealing with massive scenes, but it is necessary to grasp the discretion when shooting close-up people, and the angle of prone shooting is too close to cause perspective deformation.

In the film Schindler's List, when the Nazis launched a terrible massacre against Jews, the director arranged Schindler and his wife to ride on the hillside and witnessed the massacre with their own eyes. Schindler and his wife rode on the hillside by accident, but it was because of their high cooperation that Schindler got a god-like perspective overlooking all beings. In the film, Schindler witnessed the suffering of the Jewish nation with melancholy and sympathetic eyes, which constitutes an important part of the structure of the play. Because Schindler witnessed the cruelty of the Nazis and the suffering of the Jewish nation, he changed from a businessman who only sought self-protection and profit to a "saint" who saved the Jews regardless of his personal interests.

Elevation, also known as "elevation shooting", is a shooting method in which the visual axis of the camera lens deviates above the horizon. The camera is in the position of looking up at the subject, which can be used to shoot both aerial scenes and ground scenes.

Because the lens is lower than the subject, it produces a visual effect from bottom to top and from low to high. When shooting from an oblique angle, the camera shoots upward below the horizontal line of the subject, and the horizontal line in the picture drops obviously or even falls outside the picture, which can highlight the subject in the picture and lower the secondary objects and background to the lower part of the picture, making the picture look clean and full of emotional meaning.

When shooting a character, it produces a sense of sublimity and greatness, and it can also make the close-up character look slightly plump;

Taking pictures of buildings can produce moths to the fire, which is magnificent. When shooting at an upward angle, the vertical lines in the picture tend to concentrate upward, resulting in an upward feeling. When shooting in the middle or close range, if the angle is too upward, it is easy to deform. When using the back corner, we must master the discretion according to the specific content.

Elevation lens is often used to imply sublime, solemn and great. In a negative sense, it can also show individual strength and power. Shooting from an upward angle can also form the contrast and connection between the upper and lower scenes, deepen the theme and enrich the connotation of the picture.

1. Narrative function

What kind of angle to choose, the first thing to consider is whether you can portray the characters more perfectly, describe the plot well and express the scene well. If you need to show people in motion, you can choose a profile.

In Battleship potemkin, the shot man fled from top to bottom, using the angle of the back and diagonal composition to show the dynamic trend of the characters and the messy scene.

At the beginning of Black Boy Not Too Cold, when filming the appearance of Fat Man, luc besson chose a overlooking angle, implicitly expressing that he had become the "prey" targeted by Leon. At the same time, this angle is consistent with the camera angle of the "fat man" in the previous scene, which constitutes a natural visual connection. In short, with the development of narrative, it is very important to choose the best angle and adjust it constantly.

2. Express a certain emotion, express a specific perspective and connotation.

In Du Qifeng's film underworld 2, there are two scenes of Louis Koo and You Yongzhi, which form a subtle contrast in shooting angle. Combined with the identity and status of the two people in the play, the different shooting angles of looking up and looking down metaphor the strength and strength of the two sides.

3. Directors with their own unique style often choose a certain type of angle, and different angles can express different narrative attitudes and profound cultural connotations behind them.

In Citizen Kane, orson welles creates a depressing atmosphere in the space covered by the ceiling by looking up at the ceiling from the ground. At the same time, this angle is also the perspective of the audience sitting in the front row of the drama stage and the actors in the stands. Because orson welles entered the film industry from theater and broadcasting, the stage experience will inevitably affect his film creation in visual concept. Citizen Kane has left traces of stage art in both photography style and scene scheduling.