If you've seen our videos about high-angle shots,
you know that a high-angle makes characters appear weak or vulnerable.
Everything stops.
In this video, we're going to look at the opposite of the high-angle.
The Low-Angle Shot.
A low-angle shot is a shot
where the camera points up at something.
It can be subtle like this.
Or extreme like this.
Low-angle shots have three primary functions.
They can make a hero seem powerful.
And they can make a hero seem vulnerable.
Although, this is generally true.
Low-angle shots can sometimes combine elements
of both types of low-angle represented in the same shot.
So let's take a closer look
at low-angle shots
and figure out how we can use them to improve our visual storytelling.
German expressionist`s films of the late 1910s and 1920s
consistently employed the use of low-angles.
Here's an example from "Nosferatu."
The prototypical vampire film from 1922.
Murnau chose this low-angle
to make the vampire appear more menacing in the frame.
Now, check this out from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" from 1927.
We get a low-angle shot
that gives us a real visceral sense of the massive scale
of the Subterranean City.
Since the German expressionists
filmmakers have used low-angle shots to depict frightening or intimidating things.
Like in this scene from Orson Welles "Touch of Evil."
But the thing that makes characters frightening or intimidating
is their power.
And it wasn't long before filmmakers realize
that the low-angle shot can depict a good kind of power too.
Check out this legendary shot
that introduces John Wayne's character in John Ford's "Stagecoach."
With a camera just below eye level
our movie`s hero seems particularly heroic and grand.
For the last ninety years or so,
movie heroes have been given the same treatment.
And these low-angle hero shots
don't need to be very extreme.
As long as the cameras, just a bit below their eye.
The effect works.
Filmmakers who know their film grammar,
they might combine it with things
like camera movement for a more pronounced heroic effect.
Like in this moment from Tarantino's "Django Unchained."
But some filmmakers have used
low-angle shots to achieve a very different effect.
Let's take a look at this famous scene from "Citizen Kane."
Here, we have Charles Foster Kane played by Orson Welles on the left.
He is just been defeated in an election
that he was certain, he'd win.
"- Better go home. Get some sleep.
- You too."
To Welles the low-angle shot was so important here
and had to be so extreme.
He actually built the set with removable floorboards.
So the camera could get tucked into the floor.
And he knew that if he'd shot up at his actors,
there'd be nowhere to hide the microphones above their heads.
So he built the ceiling out of canvas
which is acoustically transparent,
and put the microphones above it.
Welles understood
that this scene isn't about Kane strength.
It's about his weakness.
"It`s the way they wanted.
The people made that choice."
And to show him boxed in
with the floor visible in some of the shots in the ceiling
visible and low in others
were given not the sense of boundless heroism,
but the sense of confinement of entrapment.
At this point, you've probably picked up on
schizophrenic nature of low-angle shots.
We've got low-angle shots
that make a hero seem powerful,
and low-angle shots that make a hero seem vulnerable.
But check out this moment from the third film
in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" series.
Here, we have both types of low-angle
represented in the same frame.
The slight low-angle here depicts both Frodo's heroism
and his vulnerability.
Remember that the low-angle shot is more versatile
than you might have thought.
They can achieve a very broad range of emotional tones.
Now that you've got a good grip on low-angle shots.
It's time to put them to use.
Give low-angle shot some love in your shot list.
So if you'd like to give StudioBinder a try
it's free to use and make shot listing actually fun and collaborative.
And share the results with us in the comments.
We'd love to see what you can come up with.
When you're ready to expand your cinematic knowledge a little more
check out our other videos.
We've got great stuff on our channel to hone your craft.
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Keep your cameras rolling and until next time.
Break a lens.
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