CAMERA ANGLES IN THE GIVER

Camera Angles
The Giver (2014, dir. Phillip Noyce)

For this week's assignment, I decided to watch and analyze the use of various camera angles in the 2014 movie "The Giver," based off of the novel by Lois Lowry. Since I'm a huge fan of the book, I thought that it would be interesting to see how the director would adapt certain scenes from the book into visual form, what kind of camera angles and framing he would use, and things like that.

One of the first shots in the film is a tightly shot, dynamic REACTION SHOT of the main character, Jonas, as he experiences his first glimpse of color. In the movie and the book, everybody is colorblind, and maybe I should have expected it but for some reason I hadn't really considered that this would translate to the movie being in black-and-white. With the reaction shot, the audience is put in Jonas' shoes as he first sees color, and with some clever editing the audience experiences that too, as some light blue and green begin to seep into the background at the same time Jonas sees the colors.

With this OVER-THE-SHOULDER SHOT, the audience is able to see Jonas from the point of view of one of the minor characters, and so we get the chance to see him from the outside, how everyone else sees him. In the scene he is awkward, nervous, and scared, and with this kind of shot we are able to look at him from the perspective of another character, emphasizing and accentuating these emotions.

In the same scene, a TWO-SHOT is used in order to show Jonas's two best friends, Fiona and Asher, talking to each other about the drama surrounding Jonas, who is being chosen to receive special privileges and responsibilities within the community. With the two-shot, the audience feels included in the conversation, like an active participant, and it is able to fully capture the expressions and much of the body language of the characters.

After Jonas begins his new job as the Receiver of Memories, he goes to the office of his new mentor, and his interactions with the elderly man are captured through a series of FULL SHOTS, which illustrate how nervous and anxious Jonas is in his new, unknown environment, and enhance the audience's observation of Jonas and his mannerisms.

Now almost completely in color, after Jonas has continued enough in his job to regain the ability to see color, there is a DOLLY SHOT that gradually grows tighter and tighter in on Asher, Jonas's once best friend, who now stands in the way of Jonas and his freedom. As Asher grows bigger in the frame, the audience feels a growing sense of dread as they come to realize that Asher will not allow Jonas to go without a fight.

After Jonas punches Asher and leaves him lying on the ground, Jonas goes to the hospital where his younger brother is being kept with the intention to take the baby with him when he escapes. However, waiting for him at the hospital is Fiona, Jonas and Asher's best friend and Jonas's love interest, who is shown with a FOLLOW SHOT that tracks onto here as she moves around the pod Jonas's brother is being kept in. She is trying to convince Jonas to stay, and as the camera stays locked onto her the audience starts to believe what she has to say: why would Jonas want to escape with his little brother? Does he even know how to take care of a baby? However, as the shot drags on, Fiona starts to become more and more erratic and anxious, and these movements are reflected with the camerawork as the audience begins to doubt how stable Fiona really is.

One of the last shots in the movie is, perhaps ironically, and ESTABLISHING SHOT of Jonas approaching a small lodge, strung up with Christmas lights, with the sounds of laughter and music coming from within. With this shot, the audience realizes along with Jonas that he is finally safe, in a happy and loving environment free from the tyranny of the society he just escaped from. Although the movie ends before he actually reaches the building, the audience can assume that he is going to be accepted with open arms by the people inside.