back to basics

Cinematography- In this film the director likes to jump between a medium shot and a extra long shot. When he uses the medium shot I believe that he is doing this because he wants to stress the character and their interactions with other characters. One of the scenes that shows this is when Alex talks to the hippie on the beach. By use the medium shot it allows the view to focus on the characters more than their surroundings. On the hand when he uses a extra long shot he is emphasises the surroundings. The best scene that shows this is when Alex is in Alaska right before he finds the bus. when he uses a extra long shot it also helps the viewer to get that Alex is alone. In these shot the viewer focuses on the scenery more then the character.The medium and extra long shots are not the only shots the director uses. He also use a long, close up, and extra close up shot.
The extra close up shot is hardly used in this film. The scene that i believe that this shot was best in was when Alex shoots the moose. I believe that he uses the extreme close up of the moose's eye to help show Alex's emotion about killing the moose. When ever the director wanted the audience to know about Alex's emotions he would shot a close up. The scene were this technique was most impact full in my opinion was when he was dieing and looking up at the sky. The long shot in my opinion was not stressed as much as the extra long shot or the medium shot because I feel in this film it would not of helped out the film. The scenes that had a long shot I feel that they were not as important to the viewer as the other two shots.
The camera distance was not the only aspect that this film stressed it also stressed camera angles and movement. In the beginning of the film they use a birds eye view switching to a high-angle view in the scene were Alex is graduating. I believe that he used this angle because it stresses the mass group more than if he had used a stationary movement on the same level. In that same scene they also pan across the graduating class to show number of people their. I also believe that the director did these to stress how he Alex was just like the other kids. Once Alex starts his journey the camera movement switches to a tracking movement. This helps the viewer to feel as though they are traveling with Alex.