Miss Miller, Inception clip (Media Essay)

In this Essay, I will be discussing cinematography in the thriller genre.

Cinematography is the art or technique of moving photography including both the shooting and development of the film.

The clip that I chose to  analyse is from "Inception" , the scene "Ariadne learns how to build dreams".

I chose to analyse this particular clip because I feel that there are a wide range of camera angles and effects used.

The camera is positioned at a high angle which makes Ariande (the main character of the scene) appear to be gazing at something very high above her ; this is effective to the thriller genre because it gives the audience the impression that there is something overwhelming above her. This creates a sense of fear making the audience feel a sense of paranoia; the audience feel unsure of what will occur next in the scene as the camera shot makes the scene seem very unpredictable to the audience.

The handheald shot is also used to add emphasis when Ariadne is walking hastily out of fear, this shot creates jerky and unsteady moments to produce a sense of urgency.

Steadicam is used right at the beginning of the scene which is effective to the thriller genre because it shows that at the beginning of most thriller scenes: the tension builds up gradually and doesn't begin straight away. Each of these cinematography effects add to the thriller genre as they leave the audience with suspense, fear of the unknown interest. 

In conclusion, cinematography is conventional to the thriller genre because is has the ability to add the element f surrealism to thriller films; by using a range of different camera positions, causing events in a scene to come across in a more exaggerated way which adds to the the scene.