Camera Angles/ Shots and Editing

"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot" - Buster Keaton, Director/ Actor

The Simpsons Guy (2014) 
Camera Shots
The Simpsons Guy is a 2014 episode of popular sitcom Family Guy. In the episode The Griffins find themselves in Springfield and they meet The Simpsons. I chose to analyse this episode of Family Guy because I believe it uses camera angles in a quite talented way.

In most scenes involving multiple characters a wide shot is used. This is a convention within the comedy genre because in most cases the audience do not want to see what the characters are thinking/ feeling because it is the situation that is funny. While we do want to see characters reactions to the situations, it is usually the situation that if funny. Also a reason for wide shots in comedy is because comedy usually relies on the interactions of more then one character so it is better to have them all on screen at once.

While wide shot are important it does not mean that close up shots are omitted completely. In this episode during a comedic fight scene between Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin there is a good use of close ups. These shots are used to get more detail of the fight and are very funny.

These close up shots add to the comedy by showing extreme detail of how much damage each punch does to the other character. During the rest of the fight Homer and Peter punch each other but not much damage is caused, but then according to this close up one punch can knock out Peters teeth and make Homers eye pop out.



Reaction shots can be very helpful in comedies. They are usually used when a joke is made about a character, for example in Friends whenever they would mention Ross' divorces it would cut to a reaction shot of Ross.

In the above screen shots Homer is reacting to a angry stare(left image)  and a incoming punch (right image). I found these shots to make the scene funnier. I think these shots have appeal because it can be very funny to see the characters face right before/after something has happened. A reason for the importance of reaction shots in comedies is because it is a psychological cue for the audience about how to respond to the situation.

Camera Angles
Like most comedies the camera angles are fairly simplistic, most being eye level angles. But through out the episode there a few instances of experimentation with the camera angles.

Multiple examples of low angles are evident through out the episode. All but one is used for the conventional reason of showing power.

Also in the episode there are a few examples of bird eye shots but these are used to establish the scene.

All in all there is not much experimentation with camera angles which is normal within the comedy genre. I personally think this is a shame and would like to experiment more with camera angles when I make my short movie.

Camera Movements
Features a mostly static camera but does zoom in for reaction shots or conversation scenes. Early in the episode the camera does rotate for the big reveal that they are in Springfield. Also during the fight scene there quite a few moments in which the camera pans and tilts. But the majority of the episode is a static camera which fits with conventions of comedies.

I think this episode features a good range of camera shots but could benefit from more camera movements. I also think that there could have been more variety in the camera angles. Despite this however I believe the episode works and the cinematography, as fairly simplistic as it is, is well done and is more varied than some other comedies.

Editing
Through out the episode the shots are well edited together and sound is done well. The cuts in shots never feel awkward they just help the flow of the narrative. I hope to achieve editing of at least the standard seen in this episode in my own work.




WKUK - Job Interview 
This sketch features a man going for a job interview but completely messing it up. Each time he does something wrong another man appears on screen to inform us what you should do in the situation.
Camera Shots
This sketch like a lot of sketch shows uses very simplistic camera shots.

The three shots above are essentially the only shots used it just switches between them, with a few exceptions near the end of the sketch. This technique of only using a very limited amount of camera shots can be useful in my opinion but I would like to experiment more in my own work.

I am honestly not a fan of the conventional simple camera work found in most comedies (although in some the simple camera work does help) and would like the challenge this convention because using simple camera shots has connotations that you do not really know much about filming.

Camera Angles
The angles you can see in the above images are the once again the only ones used. I do not really like the lack of variety in the camera angles but in this sketch more camera angles were not really required.

Camera Movement
Features a static camera, the only time it moves is when it cuts to a different shot.  I do not mind this as zoom in/ out may have looked out of place during this sketch because it is supposed to be a training video for job interviews.

Editing
As minimal as it is the editing is well done. Shots are not awkwardly and they flow well into one another.

Overall I have decided that I want to experiment more than most comedies do when it comes to camera shots/ angles. I believe that breaking these conventions will actually make the movie funnier because people wont be expecting fancy camera work in a comedy.