Analysing Cinematography

Sinister

At the beginning of the opening scene we get a long shot of a family who are about to be hung from a tree, they are all lined up to the left and using the rule of thirds our attention is drawn straight to the left where the family is. This is a great establishing shot because we can understand that they seem to be either in a park or in their back garden, the frame doesn't fill the whole of the screen because it looks like we are watching recorded footage and that's why the screen looks fuzzy and damaged, we get this impression because the film footage cuts to the same shot but it is a bit further forward in time. The whole shot is a closed frame because behind them isn't much open space due to the back garden being surrounded by bushes and trees so it blocks out any open space and the light is only coming through a small gap above them where the trees separate, this gives us the impression that these characters are trapped and there isn't anyway out so it gives the audience a vibe of danger. The only things in focus are the people, the tree that the rope is attached to and that's about it because everything behind them loses focus, mostly everything is fairly blurry so we get the impression that this footage is old because the quality isn't very good. Overall the opening scene shots in Sinister are all the same because nothing else happens.

There are a few techniques used but it is all the same so there can only be so many used, I will make sure I use more techniques then this because my film opening is more action packed, also using more shots shows I have a better understanding of how to make a film, plus using more correctly stands out.