Vulnerability/Timid/Suspense

Although I don't intend to use this cartoon style I intend on addressing the emotion 'timid' so i thought it would be useful to look at the way in which the characters body language expresses this to it's audience. In this particular episode of Tom and Jerry 'Timid Tabby' the character on edge and you can tell this by the way the character clings to Tom, curling himself into a ball when alone and constantly looking around for danger. These characteristics could be shown throughout my animation to connote the characters vulnerability.

I then looked into the use of camera angles and shots to see how they effect the way in which the audience understand the characters power/vulnerability. I came across Kubrick's film The Shining and I found something very exciting and unexpected. It is said that Kubrick uses symmetry around the dominant focus (being the character) and the effect it has on the human eye and our reaction towards it.

'In Kubrick’s film “The Shining”, the use of symmetry is everywhere. This does subliminally hints at a number of aspects in the horror film..The first, and purely spacial change it can make comes from the psychology behind the use of symmetry to induce greater fear on the viewer. This comes from the emphasis of one subject in the particular shot. A focus of the viewer’s attention on one point for an extended period of time builds up suspense (as opposed to allowing the viewer’s eye to wander around the shot). There is an somewhat uneasy and unnatural feeling to a symmetrucal shot that adds greatly to the sense of suspense. By framing the subject in a symmetrical shot, it nullifies the set to an almost artificial backdrop. This, paired with the slow camera zooms, slowly torments the viewer into focusing on one thing and wondering what will happen to the single subject.'

You can see in these to film stills that the carpet and surroundings do create a symmetrical feel making me as a viewer feel slightly uncomfortable as this wouldn't happen in the natural world. This could be a perfect solution to create an unusual, uncomfortable experience to go with the feel of the music.

In this scene taken from the film you can see the symmetry as character Danny is moving around the corridors, the doors are opposite each other on either side and the carpets patter is symmetrical to where Danny is positioned.