Week 4- Camera Angle Movie Review

Review of a few Camera Angles in the Movie:

Children of the Corn (1984)

From Producer Donald P. Borchers and Terrence Kirby

    I chose to comment on a few angle shots from the 1984 horror movie Children of the Corn, an adaption of the famous 1977 book written by Stephen King. It is a major motion picture movie and I noticed a wide variety of camera angles used throughout the movie. The CGI at the ending and climax of the film are definitely not the best, but considering he time the movie was made and the special effects at the time, I would say the movie is still extremely good in today’s standards and would be enjoyed by any horror or thriller fan with taste.

    The movie opens with a café scene about the kids in an old town murdering all the adults under the command of a small child who they believe is a prophet. There are many camera angles used for that scene, but I am starting a bit farther into the movie, after the main characters are introduced and they have just ran over a little boy who was murdered in the corn fields for running away.




This is a Point of View shot, clearly depicting the person watching the main characters while being hidden in the corn fields. Like the article says, this shot makes me feel creepy, and the context adds to that creepy feeling. Seeing the hands in the corner of the frame also adds to the feeling that we the watchers are the ones spying in on the main characters without their knowing. At this point in the movie, it is not yet revealed who it was that was watching the main characters, so that added a mysterious effect to see someone watching them.




Further along in the movie, after the main characters leave the mysterious run-down gas station, the mechanic is seen alone and hears a noise coming from inside the station workshop. While inside looking for the source of the noise, the scene cuts to the hood of the mechanic’s truck slamming shut, before quickly flashing back to him. This is a Flash Shot, as the camera only briefly showed the action before returning to the main shot. As this is a horror movie, it created a jump-scare effect that was meant to shock the viewers and catch them off guard. The loud slammed hood randomly flashing on the screen catches the eye for sure.




Soon after the murder of the mechanic and his dog, we get an Establishing Shot of the main characters entering the town of Gatlin, which the mechanic warned them not to go to since the town had no useful technology for them to call the cops about the dead kid in their trunk and was full of religion-crazed people. The establishing shot really set the scene for the rest of the movie, showing just how empty and abandoned the town seemed to be. There are several clips of establishing shots that follow this one, and they all show the town being run down, littered with stray corn stalks, and eerie.




Skipping to the middle of the movie, when the children have kidnapped the main character Burt’s wife, this scene shows some of the kids looking down at the wife, Vicky, as she lays tied up on the ground, waiting to be sacrificed to the corn god. The camera must have been on the ground to get this upward angle of the kids, and it makes the characters seen feel larger and more intimidating. The kids in this movie are obviously evil, but this shot of them staring down at the victim makes their small frames seem more domineering. I felt like they were staring down at me and the eye contact was uncomfortable.




Skipping again towards the end, the directors used a Head-On Shot. In this scene, Burt is about to burn down the corn field, with the help of one of the non-believing kids, since the Bible says fire was the only way to destroy the demon. The demon personifies as a blazing fire and comes rushing towards Burt and Job, which is when the director cut to a Head-On Shot to make the viewers feel the demon was heading towards them and not the characters. It created an anxious and dramatic feeling, even though the CGI was definitely not the best for today’s standards.