Best Movies about Shot in the knee

Movies about Shot in the knee

Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s fourth feature is an imaginatively directed psychodrama about a director’s artistic and emotional crisis, done in the spirit of such navel-gazing auteurist classics as «8 1/2,» «All That Jazz,» «Day for Night,» and «Contempt.» That probably makes it sound simplistic and purely imitative, coming at the top of a review, but the comment isn’t intended that way. «Ahed’s Knee» is a fascinating movie that evades most complaints of not having anything to say by showcasing its characters struggling to explain free-floating anxieties that have to do with a lot of things. It’s also stylish as hell.

«Ahed’s Knee» observes a gifted but arrogant artist as he moves through the world and delves into his own psyche. The script’s fixation on the life and personal problems of the director, who is identified only as Y (Avshalom Pollak), is a binding agent, unifying what might otherwise seem like a bag of of half-formed political observations and quasi-poetic musings on Israel, its people, and their antagonistic relationship with Palestinians and Syrians, as well as the topography of Israeli desert landscapes, which are so strikingly envisioned that they seem to pulse with a life force of their own.

«Ahed’s Knee» follows Y as he works on a video installation partly inspired by the story of a teenaged Palestinian girl who was jailed for slapping an Israeli soldier. He then attends a screening of one of his movies at a library in an isolated desert community, where his contact is Yahalom (Nur Fibak), a beautiful young woman who organized the event because she loves Y’s films. Unfortunately for Y, Yahalom also works for Israel’s ministry of culture, an organization which—according to Y—determines «which books and plays are shown in Israel, and which writers, directors, or artists appear [in public] or stay home,» thereby controlling their creative and financial lives.

You’d expect «Ahed’s Knee» to make more of that last thing than it ultimately does, but there’s a lot going on in this film. It all leads back to Y, who guides us through the tale and sometimes «narrates» it in first person, by talking over images that represent flashbacks to Y’s past, or fantasies or stray thoughts he has in the moment. Sometimes the movie puts us in Y’s head by using the camera to show us what he’s looking at, from wherever he happens to be standing or sitting.

Lapid, who has a confident, expressive and constantly evolving visual style, uses a technique here that feels new: he starts a handheld shot with a closeup of the hero thinking or looking, then whips it over to a closeup of another character, a significant object, or some generalized phenomenon that his director’s eye finds interesting, such as the way pavement becomes a grey blur as you’re driving on a road. These «point-of-view» shots are typically angled in a way that suggests that we’re looking through Y’s eyes. But when the shot finally returns to Y, we’re looking at him again. It’s like when an omniscient novel switches from third-person to first-person and back.

There’s also a long sequence in film’s midsection where Y tells Yahalom about a disturbing incident that occurred when he was in the army during the war with Syria: his unit was trained to swallow cyanide capsules rather than risk being captured and tortured. The lighting and camerawork in these «flashbacks» feel different than the rest of the movie, to such a degree that you might wonder whose mind we’re in: possibly that of the listener, Yahalom. This would mean that the film has so much confidence in its all-over-the-place technique that it feels empowered to enter the heads of characters other than the hero, then return us to whence we came. (Cinematographer Shai Goldman and editor Nili Feller, both brilliant, amplify beauty while preventing the proverbial wheels from falling off the wagon.)

Y tries to convince others (and perhaps himself) that he’s the most interesting person in any given room by being manic, blabber-mouthed, and diva-esque. Lapid acknowledges how irritating Y can be by shooting some of his behavior in a way that suggests a toddler pouting after being told what he cannot do. There might be a self-critique buried in this character, who is embodied by Pollak with a quietly intense entitlement. For all his gifts, Y often comes off like a student who saw «8 1/2» at an impressionable age and decided he could be as cool as Marcello Mastroianni, especially if he bought the right pair of sunglasses (see photo at the top of this review).

The central incident in Y’s war story plays like a fusion of incidents from two works of fiction, Andre Malraux’s «The Human Condition» and Albert Camus’ «The Guest.» But like a lot of plot elements in «Ahed’s Knee»—including the relationship between Y and Yahalom, which progresses in a series of shots in which the actors’ faces are so close that you expect them to start making out—this one doesn’t pay off as you might expect. (There’s also a throwaway line from Yahalom suggesting that she thinks the story was filched from a novel, but is too respectful of Y’s distress than to come right out and say it.)

Overall, «Ahed’s Knee» is, to paraphrase a line from «The Limey,» less of a story than a vibe, but what a vibe it is. There’s really only one fully developed character in the film, the director. This constrains the film from being an all-time classic—even self-infatuated impresarios like Fellini, Truffaut, Fosse, and Godard surrounded their self-absorbed leads with lively secondary figures who seemed to have lives when they weren’t onscreen—but nevertheless, you can’t say the director didn’t do it this way on purpose. Y is somebody who sees others as a means to an end. Even when he’s making a show of being sensitive and a good listener, he’s still a culture vulture looking for scraps of experience he can transform into an arresting image or viable pitch.

More than one sequence departs from the movie’s stylistic baseline, a tough and gritty, international-indie-flick version of «reality,» and becomes as glossily viscerally as a Michael Bay action film (as in the opening motorcycle ride down rainy highways and streets, with huge flat raindrops quivering ion the camera’s lens). Other sequences use needle-drop music cues to set the stage for surreal «music videos» and impromptu dance numbers. The whole movie seems to be dancing. It’s fun to watch even at its most disturbing, and never funnier than when its hero seems mortified by the possibility that his own troubles aren’t the center of the universe.

Nyní se hraje ve vybraných divadlech.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz je šéfredaktorem RogerEbert.com, televizním kritikem New York Magazine a Vulture.com a finalistou Pulitzerovy ceny za kritiku.

The American shot: The cowboy of camera angles

How do changes in camera shots and field of view produce unique, dynamic looks for the screen? Seasoned filmmakers know the right shot for the right mood is essential to the success of a visual story. Enter the famous ‘American shot.’ If you’re looking to convey an intense, heroic or dramatic feel with your shot, the American shot is the crème de la crème of cinematic camera angles. Here’s why.

What is the American shot?

The American shot — AKA the “cowboy” shot — is an altered cross of a medium shot and a wide shot. It’s framed slightly bigger than a medium shot but is smaller scale than a full or wide shot.

In the anatomy of sizes used in shots, a full shot is a complete head-to-toe framing of the subject. A medium shot frames the subject more closely and with more detail. Finally, the close-up shot fills the frame with the subject’s face, keeping the viewer’s attention on the emotion of the character.

The cowboy shot frames a subject from mid-waist to right above the head, with the camera placed at hip level. The term itself is actually a translation of a phrase from French film criticism: “plan américain.” It also got its name from ample use in American Westerns — think John Wayne, Roy Rodgers and the Lone Ranger.

What these cowboys represented in cinema were might, strength, machismo and just being all-around imposing figures. And that’s exactly what the American shot looks to convey onscreen.

Co the American shot splnit?

Since its conception, filmmakers have used the American shot to convey heroism and confidence from onscreen good guys. And, in some cases — even bad guys.

As a rule, the dramatic shot shows the most exposed parts of the character’s body in the frame. Not out of vulnerability but out of intimidation. Since the American shot falls between the medium and full shot, it balances the framed subject and the background. The filmmaker can express emotion through an actor’s bearing, attitude, posture and expression without having to rely on dramatic close-ups.

In classic westerns, directors used the American shot to draw attention to the actor in an imposing stance. Usually, the actor is ready for action — unholstering a pistol or dramatically spinning a rifle before reloading, the way actor Chuck Connors did in the television western series “The Rifleman” (1958 – 1963).

The American shot is not necessarily a straightforward one. However, it lets filmmakers give audiences the visual effect of looking up at the principal subject. Meanwhile, the camera placement uses perspective to bolster the heroism or intimidating power of the character.

Examples of the American shot in film

The American shot is popular for filming characters as poised and heroic while angling vital actions — such as drawing a weapon — into the shot. The shot ends up revealing the actor’s emotions and mannerisms of toughness, anger, vulnerability or dread. Some examples include classic John Wayne and Clint Eastwood westerns.

The classic 1966 Spaghetti Western, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), frames Eastwood from his gun holster to the top of his head. It’s a stand-off, preparing the viewer for the culminating moment when Eastwood draws his gun from the hip. The opening close-up of Eastwood’s hand hanging over the gun holster immediately establishes a sense of unease in the scene. The tension builds until the moment Eastwood and the other characters draw. Then we see the American shot of our hero, Clint Eastwood, firing the first shot.

Here’s an example of that scene in motion. Eastwood, framed in the American shot, fires his gun first at the end of the clip:

You see this cowboy shot technique in another classic western film. John Wayne’s “The Shootist” (1976). The shot frames our hero with a focus on drawing his weapon while on horseback. Here is that classic scene in action:

In John Wayne’s film “Stagecoach” (1939), the American shot is used to frame Wayne as he spins his rifle. You can see that shot in the opening of the following video. It includes perfect examples of both John Wayne and “The Rifleman” actor Chuck Connors firing their weapons in classic cowboy shots:

The American shot delivers an immediate sense of drama, intensity and doggedness from the protagonist. These are images and emotions not easily evoked by just an extreme close-up or full shot. A close-up shows facial expressions but not body language. Meanwhile, the full shot puts the actor at a distance to capture a sense of strength and heroism.

Examples of the American shot in modern film

In modern cinema, filmmakers have begun to re-associate with classic action and aggression in style and technique by embracing the American shot.

Let’s take a look at the 2011 film “Cowboys & Aliens” (2011) starring Daniel Craig, who plays Jake Lonergan. In this scene, the aliens first attack the old western town. Jake breaks free of his restraints and stands poised and heroic as the alien ships come straight toward him.

Jake is framed from the hip up, with his alien bracelet armed and ready to fire. (See the classic American shot at frames 3:35 and 3:46.)

Another good example of the American shot in modern cinema is from the 2018 18th-century period film, “The Favourite” (2018). The scene shows Lady Sarah firing her pistol at her new servant Abigail (frame 0:28). The American shot portrays Lady Sarah as confident and powerful as she takes aim and fires the weapon.

Another modern example of the American shot happens in the HBO hit series, “Game of Thrones” (2011 – 2019). Here Jon Snow is framed from the knee-up as he draws his sword, Ramsay Bolton’s cavalry advancing toward him. You get a sense of the character’s heroism that can’t be accomplished by a long, wide or close shot.

Proč investovat do čističky vzduchu?

Now that you know more about the American shot, create your own shot list. Think of how you would use the shot in your own projects. Even if you’re still unsure, test the waters with a project you have in mind or one you’re doing just for fun. It’s not just a technique for cowboy movies. Comic book movies have adapted the technique into their films, as well. Even online influencers have used the shot in their video content.

The American shot can be extremely effective for any film or video project looking to capture emotion, heroism and superiority in any genre you can imagine. So if you are itching to try it out yourself, go for it. The only way you will learn is by doing. To recap, the American shot is an altered cross of a medium shot and a wide shot and has deep roots in the Western genre. It can be great for making scenes more dramatic; however, be careful if you use it. It’s a very stylistic shot and will stand out if it doesn’t fit with the flow of your film. Practice, and you will get an idea of when and if you should use the shot.

Stephen Mandel Joseph is a published, professional writer and director of several Sci-Fi 3D animated shorts and a short drama film.

Camera Angles Explained: The Different Types of Camera Shot Angles in Film

Y ou’re looking for a list of the different camera angles in film, but you also want great examples that come with clear explanations of when and why to use specific camera shot angles. Whether you want your characters to seem powerful, vulnerable, or intimate, the power of camera angles cannot be understated. We’ll provide you with downloadable shot lists that feature all of the different types of camera shot angles in film. Lezgo.

The Shot List Ep. 3 — Every Camera Angle Explained

Přihlaste se k odběru dalších filmových videí, jako je toto.

1. Eye Level Shot
2. Nízký úhel záběru
3. Vysoký úhel záběru
4. Hip Level Shot
5. Knee Level Shot
6. Ground Level Shot
7. Shoulder Level Shot
8. Dutch Angle Shot
9. Overhead Shot
10. Letecký snímek

Úhly kamery

Camera Shot Angle Overview

It’s not enough to just understand shot size. Camera angles, and degree of those angles, can totally change the meaning of a shot. As you prepare your shot list, it helps to remember all the options. We’re going to build a shot list using StudioBinder to highlight the various camera angles. Here’s a quick video on how a shot list is created.

Shot Listing in StudioBinder • Subscribe on YouTube

Here is a shot list with the different types of camera shot angles. We used some of the most iconic camera angles from films like The Matrix, Udělat správnou věc, a Pulp Fiction as a sort of cheatsheet. Can you guess what movies are represented here? Follow the image link to see the fully populated shot list, which you can also download and use for reference.

Camera Shot Angles • Shot Listed in StudioBinder

Now that’s we’ve reviewed all the different types of camera angles in film, let’s take a closer look at them one at a time.

Eye Level Shot Example

Eye Level Shot

Our first camera angle is the eye level shot, and this is when your subject is at eye-level. An eye level shot can result in a neutral perspective (not superior or inferior). This mimics how we see people in real life — our eye line connecting with theirs, and it can break down boundaries.

Here’s an example of the eye level camera angle:

Eye Level Shot Example • Game of Thrones

Eye level shots are actually much less standard than one might initially think, because directors often prefer to place the camera at shoulder level to attain a much more cinematic look.

Learn more about Eye Level Shots →

Low Angle SHOT Example

Nízký úhel záběru

A nízký úhel záběru shot frames the subject from below a their eyeline. These camera shots most often emphasize power dynamics between characters — a low angle shot on one character is often paired with a high angle shot on the other character.

Here’s an example of the low angle camera angle:

Low Angle Shot • The Matrix

Low angle camera shots are a perfect camera angle for signaling superiority or to elicit feelings of fear and dread. Here’s a video that dives deeper into the various low angle shot examples and how they have been used by filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Orson Welles, and Spike Jonze.

Low Angle Examples • Subscribe on YouTube

In your next shot list, when you’ve got a character who is powerful (or at least pocit powerful), consider the low angle shot. It will bring that extra bit of meaning to your shot.

Learn more about Low Angle Shots →

High Angle Shot Example

Vysoký úhel záběru

V high angle shot, the camera points down at your subject. It usually creates a feeling of inferiority, or “looking down” on your subject. But, again, with every other camera angle, there are many applications.

Here’s an example of the high angle camera angle:

High Angle Shot Example • Avengers

Here is our video on how you can use high angle shots in your film. But, as the video below shows, there are the standard and more creative expressions of the high angle shot.

High Angle Shot Examples • Subscribe on YouTube

The high angle shot is a versatile shot that can be used in many situations. The most common usage is to make a character seem vulnerable and powerless but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Learn more about High Angle Shots →

Související příspěvky

• Eye Level Shot Guide →
• Low Angle Shot Guide →
• High Angle Shot Guide →

Hip Level Shot Example

The Cowboy Shot or Hip Level Shot

A Cowboy shot is when your camera is roughly waist-high. Hip level shots are often useful when one subject is seated while the other stands.

Hip level shots can also be extremely useful camera angles for when you have action that occurs near the hip, like weapons being drawn, or someone reaching into their pocket. That’s why it’s also known as a «cowboy shot» — we can’t think of hip level shots without seeing a gun, holster, and the enemy ahead in the distance.

Here’s an example of the hip level camera angle:

Hip Level Shot Example • Punch-Drunk Love

The further away you get from the subject, like in this moment from Punch-Drunk Láska, to keep the subject framed with proper head room, a hip level shot will get the job done.

Learn more about Cowboy Shots →

Knee Level Shot Example

Knee Level Shot

This is when your camera height is about as low as your subject’s knees. They can emphasize a character’s superiority if paired with a low angle. It’s not as extreme as a ground level shot but it gets the same feeling across. These are ideal when you want to focus on characters walking, or in this case from Sám doma, creeping.

Here’s an example of the knee level camera angle:

Knee Level Shot • Home Alone

Ground Level Shot Example

Ground Level Shot

A ground level shot is when your camera’s height is on ground level with your subject. This camera angle is used a lot to feature a character walking without revealing their face, but it can help to make the viewer more active and use the actor’s performance to build an idea.

Here’s an example of the ground level camera angle:

Ground Level Shot Example • Burn After Reading

Shoulder Level Shot Example

Shoulder Level Shot

A shoulder level shot is a camera angle that is as high as your subject’s shoulders. Shoulder level shots are actually much more standard than an eye level shot, which can make your actor seem shorter than reality.

Here’s an example of the shoulder level camera angle:

Shoulder Level Shot • Black Panther

Because the camera is aligned with the shoulder, it allows the actor’s head to reach the top of the frame (reducing head room). It also places the actor’s eye-line slightly above the camera, and, in turn, the illusion of a slightly lower angle.

Dutch Angle Example

Dutch Angle or Dutch Tilt Shot

For a Dutch angle (Dutch tilt), the camera is slanted to one side. With the horizon lines tilted in this way, you can create a sense of disorientation, a de-stabilized mental state, or increase the tension.

Here’s an example of the Dutch angle camera angle:

Dutch Angle Camera Angle • StudioBinder

Here’s a video example of the Dutch angle camera angle focusing on the precise moment to use one. Watch as the scene begins with «level» and «normal» shots before switching to Dutch angles for maximum impact.

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