Camera angle evaluation lesson - different shots and how they combine

In this lesson, we watched the opening to the film 'Pleasantville' and this was a good example of showing a wide range of different camera angles, and also how they can create certain meaning to what is happening on screen.

The first camera shot in the opening is a wide shot. This allowed me to see that the location was set at a school and this information was communicated as I could see students busily walking along in a massive crowd, wearing backpacks etc. It also allowed me to see that the location wasn't set in this country. It was set in America, and this was told through the even further background in the shot which showed more sandy/desserty hillside and it also looked hot.

The next shots were cleverly done. They used the idea of a 'shot reverse shot' to create meaning that the boy and girl character on screen were having a conversation. This was then disrupted with a 'wide shot' showing him standing on himself and we find out that the boy is actually just talking to himself and that the shots were placed in that sequence so that we felt a sense of conversation and because it wasn't, I felt sorry but also cringed at the boy character. These shots told us meaning that the boy character is more nerdy and shy, and she is popular. He obviously didn't have the confidence to talk to the girl, and that's why it was shot so it could look this way.

The idea of the shots making the characters look like they were having a conversation was corrupted by another 'wide shot' showing the audience that the two characters were far apart and that he looks like a loner and that he is talking to himself. This created meaning to the character and also made him look isolated and lonely which added to his characterisation and also helped me to start setting up a story that this boy is obviously unpopular, not cool enough and a bit of a loner.

The music in the opening uses an upbeat (non-diegetic) soundtrack as we go through the opening shots of the school, and then the shot reverse shots to make it look like the characters are having a conversation. This idea of the conversation is not only set up and broken by the shots, but also the music. The music creates a background noise to the conversation making it seem a bit more normal, the conversation is then corrupted by the school bell (diegetic noise) to represent that the boy character is talking to himself. This also creates humour for the audience.