Practical Investigation of Chase Scenes

Here, Annie pretended to be the victim, so she ran past the camera which I had pointed towards the floor because when I placed it on the floor, it was too low. This low angle shot is good because it shows a different angle of the chase, thus intensifying it because the audience will be able to see many aspects to the victim trying to run away from the killer.

In this video, we used a low angle shot from the ground and Annie ran past very quickly because I thought that could be the killer's speed against the victims slower pace, making him look more powerful and agile. This will make the audience feel anxious and begin to wonder whether she gets away or not.

Next, we did a panning shot of the victim running and it is effective because we can see her speed and desperation to escape the killer. We could include a panning shot which could be framed as an establishing shot so the audience can see that she is running in a dark wooded area with branches and trees trapping her (as with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre deconstruction).

We used a low angle shot of the victim to highlight her terrified, tired and desperate expression. Also, we can hear her breathing heavily and see her looking back to highlight her anxiousness.

I decided to use an over the shoulder shot but looking over a tree. Being behind a tree highlights the number of trees and bushes in the woods, which are the victim's obstacles because they trap her in the woods. We could insert titles on the tree which would make our opening seem more professional. 

I filmed a Point of View shot from the killer chasing after the victim. This will be effective for the opening because it makes the audience feel more involved and that they are the killer who is chasing this vulnerable victim.

Another POV of the killer was filmed, but this one is of him catching the victim because she was tired and stopped to catch her breath. This, paired with intense non-diegetic music, will intensifying the catch and scare the audience because they know that he has finally caught her, and now he is going to kill her.

I filmed a high angle shot of the victim running through the woods and this makes her look smaller because she is vulnerable and weaker than the killer. Also, because she appears smaller, it makes her seem inferior to his power, almost foretelling the audience that she will get caught because he is faster and strong than her.

On our storyboard, our opening will have the camera moving into the victim's mouth while she is screaming to show that he has caught her and will be killed soon. I tried this with the victim, and did this as a POV shot from the killer so he is standing behind bushes waiting to get her. As we can see him waiting for her, this makes the audience feel helpless because they want to tell the victim not to stop running otherwise he will get her, but he does. This is effective because it makes the audience feel involved, so they will want to continue watching.

For our opening, I think we should include the low angle ground shots and the POV of the killer catching her with the camera going into her mouth. I also think we should include the high angle shot of her running because it makes her look weaker and inferior, and the panning to establish the settings and to show the audience the victim's expression.