Camera Angles

Camera Angles are very important to a Thriller film, as this genre allows very diverse and unconventional angles. Camera angles can affect the audience to a certain degree, or portray a character of location in a specific way, it can change an atmosphere with a single change of shot.
Bird’s-Eye view
This is a shot, directly above the action, this is very unnatural and a very expensive angle to film from. Objects from an angle such as this may be unrecognisable at first. However this position puts the audience into an almost godlike position looking down on the characters. Hitchcock and his admirers such as Brian de Palma are fond of this particular shot.
High Angle
Not as extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview however for our low budget film a simple ladder could be used to achieve this angle. The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.
Eye Level
This is a very good angle to capture an actors full facial expression, this could also be used for suspenseful moments. The camera is usually placed five or six feet from the ground to achieve this level.
Low angle
This is particularly good if you want your audience to feel overwhelmed by the camera on the screen, as they are looking down towards the camera, unlike the bird’s eye view where the audience are in the dominating position. This particular angle could be used to film a character running, with just the shot of his/her feet.
Oblique/Canted Angle
This is when the camera is held at tilt, i.e. not horizontal from the ground. This is usually used for the eye view of a character. This is common in thriller movies, where the animalistic character is watching its prey through a push. This angle is usually used with out a tri-pod so that the hand can get a realistic angle and movement.