Horror

For films in the horror genre, the POV shot can be used to help increase suspense and fear. For example, in the classic horror film Halloween, John Carpenter opened the film with a long POV shot from the perspective of Mike Myers. The shots utilizing this POV are dark and underscored with a scary musical theme, adding to the sense of suspense. Instead of watching Mike as he stabs his sister, the audience is watching the scene through his eyes. They even go so far as to have him pick up his mask so the audience can truly see through his POV.

In this case, opening the film with this technique not only gives us a disturbing look through the killer’s POV but also immediately cements Michael as someone mysterious and frightening. Allowing the audience to see Michael right away would be more of a comfort, at least the audience would know what they’re up against right? But Carpenter deliberately doesn’t allow us to see the killer right away, knowing the unknown is all the more frightening.

The POV shot can also be helpful in the horror genre from the victim’s POV. For example, take the films Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project. These films utilize a documentary style of film where the entirety is filmed through a POV lens. This technique allows the audience to experience the horror and suspense as one of the characters, as opposed to an audience member looking in on a story.

Action

POV shots in action films can be used in order to further highlight the difficulty of specific action sequences. It’s one thing to see someone jump from an exploding building, but when a POV shot is used and suddenly it’s like you’re the one jumping, that fall suddenly looks a lot farther.

Additionally, the POV shot can be used to display the gravity or severity of a situation in which the protagonist finds themselves. For example, take the Omaha beach scene in the film Saving Private Ryan. The use of the POV shot allows the viewer to experience the horror of the scene through Captain Miller’s (Tom Hanks) eyes. In another very different film, Kill Bill Vol 1, the audience gets a glimpse through Beatrix’s (“The Bride”) eyes after the wedding massacre that leads to her journey of vengeance. Showing us a POV shot of her would-be killers, after the viewer has seen her brutalized, solidifies that the audience will be rooting for her to take her revenge.

Romance

The POV shot in the romance or rom-com genre allows the filmmaker to highlight particularly romantic moments or scenes. There are many classic films where, when the couple first meets (or the meet-cute), the first glimpse of the female love interest is from the male protagonist’s POV. This technique gives the audience a sense of how this first sighting of the love interest is ‘striking’ to the male protagonist. Paired with a swell of romantic music and the romantic tint and it becomes easy for the audience to see how the protagonist will fall for this character.

Additionally, as a romance grows there will be moments where we can sense that the characters are growing closer and falling in love. This can come in many forms, from learning new information about each other to one seeing the other be kind to a stranger. In those instances, however, utilizing a POV shot can separate those moments from others for the audience and showcase that the feelings between the two characters are progressing and growing.

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Fall

Fall is a contemplative time because it’s nature’s ‘last hoorah’ before the cold winter season. However, from a directorial point of view, it’s also one of the most beautiful seasons to shoot in. The gorgeous hues of the leaves that tumble down from the trees and the much-earlier golden hour can create some amazing cinematography. How you utilize this season will depend on the nature of your film. For example, if you’re creating a horror movie you can utilize the orange tones to reinforce the ‘spooky season’ vibes. If you’re creating a romance movie, the fall season can give your whole movie a very Hygge feel complete with sweaters, hats, nature, blankets, etc. All of these cozy accessories can accent the couple falling into a love that makes them both feel ‘at home’.

Winter

Winter is the time when all aspects of nature (plants, animals, etc.) go into a sort of hibernation. And visually, winter could either be a very harsh, biting, cold and dark time or it could be a bright and stark-white beautiful oasis. Once again, this depends on the type of film you’re making. If you’re cycling through the seasons, this season could be the time that your protagonist goes through their hardest trek. Perhaps they’re going through a breakup or their family has stopped talking to one another. Lots of shots of them walking alone, the only piece of color against a white backdrop, the sound of a harsh wind in the background. On the other hand… you’ve all seen Hallmark Christmas movies. What could be a desolate wasteland in darker films becomes a magical wonderland in others, one need only to consider their tone and movie arc.

Spring

Spring is the season where everything is coming back to life and typically symbolizes a form of rebirth. If you’re cycling through the seasons in your film, perhaps this is the time when your character experiences a ray of hope coming out of the dark winter season. Perhaps they begin to recover from their breakup and start to go out on new dates or maybe their family starts to reconnect. Either way, visually you’ll want to shoot a lot of colorful flowers and have a lot of greenery in your shots (trees, grass, etc).

In more nuanced takes it can even be used to serve as a contrast to your character and their emotional stage. For example, picture a lush green meadow in the spring. Little droplets of dew are dripping off of the flowers, tiny ladybugs are poking their heads out… and then you have your protagonist who plows through stomping on all of the flowers. They’re dressed in all black, a hood over their head, and deep bags under their eyes. Showing how much your protagonist looks out of place in a season that’s otherwise so beautiful and life-giving is one way to highlight a bad emotional point of your film.

Summer

Finally there’s summer, which is typically associated with warmth and the sun. This is a very interesting time cinematically because it symbolizes several different things, even varying depending on location. For example, summer in a small upper-east-coast town will be an idyllic time. The sun is shining, kids are running around playing, people are going to the pool and going to parties and getting tan and having a blast. On the other hand, take a typical summer day in a location like Arizona. Temperatures can get so high that even going to the pool doesn’t provide respite. It even gets so hot that it’s hard to sustain some forms of plant life, so this becomes more of a desert wasteland season as opposed to one of fun in the sun.

While location is important to consider, it’s also important to consider the tone and genre of your film. You’ve likely heard the term ‘summer romance’ at some point in your life. There is a romanticized idea of the summer time and how fleeting it is. This doesn’t just apply to the romance genre either, perhaps you create a film where for one summer a typically shy kid goes on a convenient store robbing spree, almost gets caught, and then assimilates back into normal high school life once fall comes around. If you’re attempting to write an arc where the character starts and ends at a similar place, this season is the perfect setting for it.

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1) Film On Location

One of the easiest ways to make your film feel instantly more romantic is to choose a romantic setting and film on-location. Paris, London, New York- choose a setting for your movie that you find particularly romantic (provided that you have the budget for it). If it’s Paris, use wide shots of your characters walking along the Senne at night, how the water reflects the lights off of the surrounding buildings so it looks like there is a sky of stars above and below you. Utilizing wide aerial shots to display the setting in all of its glory really helps to set the mood for an iconic romance. And, let’s face it, there’s nothing less romantic than a green screen.

2) Romanticize Setting

If you’re unable to film in one of the world’s most iconically romantic locations, there are still ways to make your setting work in your favor. If you’re filming in a small rural setting, take some wide shots of the open fields or find a very lush green woods to film. If there’s a particularly scenic river or lake, have a scene where the characters are boating. If there’s a barn, have the town hold an annual party and decorate the rustic barn with string lights. Have the protagonist take their love interest to a pond that meant a lot to them growing up.

The best way to figure out how to bring the romance here is to really get to know the setting you’re filming in so that you can find those specific romantic elements that only locals would know. If you’re choosing an area you’ve lived in then make a list of spots that are particularly meaningful or special in your eyes. This way, you can allow the viewer to see those spots through your lens. If you’re filming in an area you’ve never been to, it may be helpful to interview some local people to see if they have any insight on these types of more symbolic or meaningful settings.

3) Use Close-ups

Just as you should use wide aerial shots to set the moods, you’ll need to utilize a lot of close-ups in a romance movie. This is because one major part of building a romance is showing moments where the characters learn something new about each other or start to think of one another in a new way. As with many romances, they’ll likely meet and make all kinds of initial judgments about one another. But then, little by little, they’ll start to realize the person is completely different than they thought.

So, for example, perhaps the story is girl meets boy and girl thinks boy is an arrogant player. Then one day she notices him running toward a family to give a little girl back her stuffed animal. Another day maybe he takes the blame for defacing a sign, but she notices another boy put a can of spray paint in his bag. We need closeups of these little moments so that not only the audience notices these instances, but also that they are alerted that our ‘girl’ noticed these things.

4) The Declaration

Every iconic indie romance has the iconic ‘declaration’ moment. This could either be a good or bad thing, it could be the moment where they realize their love for one another or they realize the relationship can’t be sustained for long (that’s just summer love). Either way, you’ll need to set the mood and do it in a unique way. No one wants to see the rain scene from The Notebook over and over again in every romance they see. When you’re making a declaration scene of your own, try to make it both unique and emblematic of the relationship you’ve build. For example, if you’ve crafted a quirky dorky couple, give them an equally quirky and dorky declaration of their love. Perhaps they both show up to the same Halloween party dressed as Spock, get mad at each other, but the anger quickly dissolves into kissing.

5) How do they change?

Thematically, although the romance is crucial to a romance film, you must keep in mind that the two characters are individuals as well. Regardless of whether or not they end up together at the end of your film, you must keep in mind the question- how do they change one another? The romance aside, these two people are important in one another’s lives and are crucial in shaping each other into the people they will become. For example, in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind going through the experience of losing his relationship makes Joel change his mind about wanting it to be over. And, watching the relationship back, makes him view himself differently and changes the things that he holds as important.

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