This chapter showed the importance of a director towards a finished work in television or film. While everyone involved in the project is important (the camera man, editor, on screen talent etc.), they are all ultimately doing their work in a way that carries out the director’s vision of the script. The director carries out his/her vision not only through picking camera shots and angles, but through casting actors and supervising the production staff with the producer as well.
First the director must look at the script and determine what camera angles will best execute the feeling and words of the script. The text brought up the idea of “classical continuity” which is the continuity of time/space that was used in Hollywood movies in the 1920s-60s. This makes the film feel smooth and flows quickly/ easily so the audience is drawn into the world the film creates. It also mentioned that often the camera will zoom in as the action gets more intense. A close up shot can make the audience realize that they need to focus on this particular event.
A smooth moving camera makes the audience feel relaxed while still showing new information, while flipping to a camera in a different perspective can make the audience feel uneasy. Asymmetrical shots make the audience feel more uneasy than symmetrical shots. The shots used in a particular movie can greatly alter the way an audience feels when watching a movie. A good example is the recently released movie ““Get out.” “Get out” was a recently released scary movie, and unlike some scary movies, nothing that could be seen as blatantly scary happens until at least halfway through the movie. However, the quick moving shots in an environment that would otherwise seem “safe” make the audience realize that they are in an environment that is scarier than it seems. The close up shot of the main character’s girlfriend when she is eating cheerios shows that there is something more sinister about her than she seems.
Another way to alter the audience’s perception is through sound. This can either be done in a way that cements the audience’s perception of the world they are in, or makes them feel disoriented and uncomfortable. The former would be seen in a movie like Star Wars, especially the newer ones where sound technology has improved. The sounds used are realistic for the world the story takes place in (gunshots, lightsabers, spaceships, little amounts of music) and make the audience feel that they are in this world without being distracting. The latter would be seen in a movie like Nightcrawler. In a movie with this kind of feeling, the sounds may not match up with what is being seen on the screen (voiceovers out of sync, speed of sounds and sounds heard do not match up with images etc.) However, music can be used in an otherwise realistic looking film for a variety of reasons. It can make the action on the screen feel more intense (Indiana Jones music during action scenes), establish time period (Hairspray and the Help have music from the time period of the 1960s playing), or it can set the mood (Little Miss Sunshine has hopeful music at the end). Through these many different mediums, the director can show their artistic vision in the movie.