Media 150-Blog #2

              There are many feature films and videos and documentaries that contain the very element of camera work as well as style and various shots to really capture the emotions and feel that bring out the mood of what is being presented.  Being that I am in love with the beauty of nature, the particular show “River Monsters” which also can be considered part documentary is the center of my focus.  Especially with videos involving nature, there tends to be very important camera work involved in order to capture every little detail of the subjects as well as the angle to incorporate the main person who is hosting the show and directly dealing with the subject or species. 

            “River Monsters” uses a medium shot when interviewing the protagonist and host of the show as he discloses the dangers or his wild experience in trying to capture or fish a certain specie.  The show goes from a short interview right to the setting out in the wild.  Camera angles here include the “over the shoulder” view sort of the third person view to give the viewer a sense of what the environment looks like as if you were standing next to the main guy in person.  Here includes beautiful panoramic views and scenes of the river which is from a certain “high angle” shot or viewpoint looking down into the river and also you get forests and trees in the background.  At times, the wide-angle shot is present to captivate the entire surrounding environment.  When the species is actually captured, the camera men seem to use many close-ups to capture the frontal face or body the animal of the fish.  Extreme close-ups are also used to capture the details and to explode the size of the fish’s mouth in order to fully view the size of its teeth.  Close-ups are also used to show the protagonist’s fear or adrenaline as he is attempting to capture these species out of the water.  “River Monsters” is deemed in my view as a show that utilizes nearly every type of camera shot with various types of camera angles.  Their methods can tend to get fancy due to the many different details of the natural aspects that the show is trying to present.