Side effects: shot examples

The movie Side Effects (2013) is a great inspiration for my group in the production of our two minute opening.

We have chosen to go down the route of psychological thriller, and the main character in our opening has a psychological disorder.

The character Emily Taylor from Side Effects possesses similar traits to our main character, and is presented as vulnerable and anxious in a number of shots. This is achieved by the effective use of high angle shots and close ups (left).



Jude Law, who plays the psychiatrist is interestingly presented as vulnerable in a slightly high angle shot (right) which fits perfectly for our character as she herself suffers from a psychological disorder, kept secret from the public eye. The subtle use of slight high angles could present our character's obscure weakness in the same way.

I love this canted angle and I think it is really effective, as you can clearly see the vacant expression on Rooney Mara's face and the frame draws in a powerful element of disorientation.

Similar canted angles would be perfect to use for our own two minute opening to increase the unsettling feeling of a disturbed character in an uncomfortable atmosphere.

We have also thought about the use of pills in our opening sequence, and how they might help us with our title sequence. We like the idea of using pill bottles or doctors notes to print our titles on, making them look realistic.
(Left) is an example of a bottle with my name on it which we could replicate to fit our title.

Finally, one of my favourite shots in the movie is this low angle shot (right) because it gives the effect that the patient is empowered by her release from these pills however (SPOILER ALERT) we know that she is inevitably dependent on such medication, to help with the real psychological disorder that she is diagnosed with at the end of the movie. This shot is really interesting and I hope we can use a similar technique in our own two minute opening to show our character's conflicting personality.