LogFAQs > #929679124

35. Dutch Angles (19 points)
Nominated by: Anagram (1/5 remaining)
https://vimeo.com/205244503

Importance: 9
Fear: 5
Snake: 5

The dutch angle is a type of camera shot that is angled rather than straight, crafting a sense of confusion, or making you question something in the scene as if you yourself were to tilt your head to the side. You can very obviously how this could be used effectively in a horror scene. The dutch angle actually had its start in horror films, with the 1920 German expressionist piece, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The shot is used in Caligari to accompany the surrealist visuals of near every scene, warping the viewers sense of reality and making them question what they are witnessing. You can get a lot of mileage out of this particular shot, but an amateur filmmaker can easily overuse it. Any fans of RLM here should know of the film Skull Forest, which uses an almost obnoxious amount of dutch angles for no discernable or theme-based reasoning. But, use it in a film like Gremlins and you can easily convey the chaos and entropy the evil Gremlins bring to the town of Kingston Falls. Or you can use it as seen in the first Twilight Zone episode, "Where is Everybody?", emphasizing a sense of panic and relfecting the mental state of the main character as he quickly goes mad from loneliness. Dutch angles also work amazingly in fixed-camera survival horror games. They can make it feel like you're being watched, or could disorient you enough to accidentally run into the hungry arms of the undead. Silent Hill 2 uses a dutch angle in its opening scene, reflecting not only the town's ever-changing nature but James' crooked mental state. I enjoy dutch angles when used sparingly, since they're made for a very specific purpose. Other times, it can be nauseating for all the wrong reasons.
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I try in vain to slumber, my reveries gripped by violent terror. My only salvation, the shock of awakening. Something is very, very wrong here.