film techniques
The name of the technique:
Point of View Shot
An explanation of the technique:
A shot which shows the point of view of one of the characters
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
I believe that the technique, Point of View Shot is used to show how a certain character is seeing something or what it looks like to them. It gives the audience an opportunity to see events through the character’s eyes as if they were experiencing it themselves.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
In the Movie, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, there is a scene where Charlie attends a party. One of the people there gives him a ‘cannabis brownie’ without him knowing that it contains drugs. During this scene Point of View shots are used frequently, showing the audience that Charlie’s vision becomes blurred. This demonstrates to the audience why Charlie is acting weird and looking around a lot.
Point of View Shot
An explanation of the technique:
A shot which shows the point of view of one of the characters
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
I believe that the technique, Point of View Shot is used to show how a certain character is seeing something or what it looks like to them. It gives the audience an opportunity to see events through the character’s eyes as if they were experiencing it themselves.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
In the Movie, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, there is a scene where Charlie attends a party. One of the people there gives him a ‘cannabis brownie’ without him knowing that it contains drugs. During this scene Point of View shots are used frequently, showing the audience that Charlie’s vision becomes blurred. This demonstrates to the audience why Charlie is acting weird and looking around a lot.
The name of the technique:
Zoom
An explanation of the technique:
A zoom is changing smoothly from a long shot to a close-up or vice versa.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
A zoom-in picks out and isolates a person or object. A zoom out places that person or object in a wider content. I think it is used to make a person or object more important or less important during that scene.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
The technique ‘Zoom’ is used when Charlie is helping Sam pack for college. Sam asks Charlie if he has ever kissed a girl. After Charlie says no, Sam tells Charlie that her first kiss was from her dad’s boss. While Sam is telling him this, the camera zooms in on her face. This showed that what she was saying is important and serious and allows the audience to feel sorry for her.
Zoom
An explanation of the technique:
A zoom is changing smoothly from a long shot to a close-up or vice versa.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
A zoom-in picks out and isolates a person or object. A zoom out places that person or object in a wider content. I think it is used to make a person or object more important or less important during that scene.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
The technique ‘Zoom’ is used when Charlie is helping Sam pack for college. Sam asks Charlie if he has ever kissed a girl. After Charlie says no, Sam tells Charlie that her first kiss was from her dad’s boss. While Sam is telling him this, the camera zooms in on her face. This showed that what she was saying is important and serious and allows the audience to feel sorry for her.
The name of the technique:
Sound
An explanation of the technique:
Sound can include the following: diegetic sound (sound that the characters can hear as well as the audience) and non-diegetic sound (sounds that the audience can hear eg. Narrator’s voice, film score.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
Sound is used to enhance a scene and give the audience a deeper meaning of what’s going on.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
Throughout the film, Charlie reads some of his letters, which were written in the book. This is non-diegetic sound as only the audience can hear him. The technique was used mostly to tell the audience how Charlie was feeling at the time, which was something that the characters didn’t know.
Sound
An explanation of the technique:
Sound can include the following: diegetic sound (sound that the characters can hear as well as the audience) and non-diegetic sound (sounds that the audience can hear eg. Narrator’s voice, film score.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
Sound is used to enhance a scene and give the audience a deeper meaning of what’s going on.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
Throughout the film, Charlie reads some of his letters, which were written in the book. This is non-diegetic sound as only the audience can hear him. The technique was used mostly to tell the audience how Charlie was feeling at the time, which was something that the characters didn’t know.
The name of the technique:
Pan
An explanation of the technique:
(Abbreviation of Panorama) Movement of the camera from right to left or left to right.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
The effect of the technique, Pan, shows the audience a broader perspective of what is going on at one point in time.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
In the scene when Charlie is sitting alone in the cafeteria after being told to stay away from his friends he looks around at everyone. A pan shot was used for this area and it showed everyone else sitting a talking to his or her peers. This shot was used during this scene to show the audience how alone Charlie felt and looked to everyone else.
Pan
An explanation of the technique:
(Abbreviation of Panorama) Movement of the camera from right to left or left to right.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
The effect of the technique, Pan, shows the audience a broader perspective of what is going on at one point in time.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
In the scene when Charlie is sitting alone in the cafeteria after being told to stay away from his friends he looks around at everyone. A pan shot was used for this area and it showed everyone else sitting a talking to his or her peers. This shot was used during this scene to show the audience how alone Charlie felt and looked to everyone else.
The name of the technique:
Special Effects
An explanation of the technique:
This techniques helps to create illusions or trickery and can include 3D, blue screen, CGI, stop motion etc.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
Special effects have such a variety of techniques in it so it’s hard to say what effect they have on the movie and the audience. They are all used differently and for all sorts of reasons. For example 3D is used to make the film look like its coming at you, and a blue/green screen is used to change the background/scenery in which the character is in.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
When Charlie starts to have visions of his Aunt Helen touching him the way Sam did, there are multiple ‘Charlie’s’ in the same shot. They are all walking down a road in different positions but they all look confused and distressed. This demonstrates that Charlie’s thoughts are all over the place and he’s unsure about what’s going on.
Did you prefer the book or the film? Why?
Both the movie and the book were fantastic, but I prefer the movie because I generally would rather movies over books. The book went into more detail because Charlie explained how he was feeling, but because I read the book first I was able to remember what was going on in the book. Although the movie still went into some detail as Charlie still read some of his letters as a ‘voice-over’.
Special Effects
An explanation of the technique:
This techniques helps to create illusions or trickery and can include 3D, blue screen, CGI, stop motion etc.
What effect does the technique have? Why do you think that technique was used?
Special effects have such a variety of techniques in it so it’s hard to say what effect they have on the movie and the audience. They are all used differently and for all sorts of reasons. For example 3D is used to make the film look like its coming at you, and a blue/green screen is used to change the background/scenery in which the character is in.
Choose one scene from the film and explain in detail why the technique was used and what effect it has on the audience.
When Charlie starts to have visions of his Aunt Helen touching him the way Sam did, there are multiple ‘Charlie’s’ in the same shot. They are all walking down a road in different positions but they all look confused and distressed. This demonstrates that Charlie’s thoughts are all over the place and he’s unsure about what’s going on.
Did you prefer the book or the film? Why?
Both the movie and the book were fantastic, but I prefer the movie because I generally would rather movies over books. The book went into more detail because Charlie explained how he was feeling, but because I read the book first I was able to remember what was going on in the book. Although the movie still went into some detail as Charlie still read some of his letters as a ‘voice-over’.