Equipment used to create shots part 2

In my last post I talked about the track and dolly system. I have carried on my research and instead of talking more about the track and dolly system I will be talking about the use of Cranes and Jib arms. This is yet again the sort of equipment that should only be used if necessary as the shots it will create can seem pointless and not pushing the story of your film forward, when creating a film you must always make sure that each shot is making your films story progress further.

I've been looking at a few films and their use of crane shots. The three films I have looked at is 'The Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers and Return of The King' and 'Batman - The Dark Knight'. Even though these crane shots don't last for very long they are very effective.

With the use of these crane shots in both 'The Lord of the Rings' films its use is to show the audience where they are, such as for the Two Towers end scene it is rising above the trees to show how close Frodo and Sam are to finishing their quest. In the Return of the King it is to simply show where Aragon and the rest of the crew are. The first shot is of them walking through the woods but until the shot rises up you do not know that they are actually in Isengard. Not only are these shots very aesthetically pleasing, they are also great in showing the audience rather than telling them. By doing this it lets the audience use their imaginations especially for the Two Towers as it makes the audience think 'why didn't Gollum take Frodo and Sam over the mountain' or 'What will Frodo and Sam encounter in Mordoor'.

In this end shot from 'Batman - The Dark Knight' it is just a small simple message. As the Joker rides off in the school bus and the camera rises above (with use of a crane) it is a metaphor for the rise of the Joker, showing that the bank robbery was just the beginning of his destruction towards Gotham city and is just a simple message to Gotham city that, that was just the beginning.

When I researched into track and dolly shots I also researched crane and jib arm shots in which was also included in our lesson on them the other week. These are some of the examples of what we did last week.

Through doing these sessions on this type of equipment it has helped in my understanding of the use that this equipment has in creating different types of shots. It was also nice to be using different equipment that we had never used before as it has given me more information of how to use it all and when to use it in shots.