The Dutch Angle

The Dutch Angle, otherwise known as the ‘dutch tilt’ or ‘oblique angle’, is a technique in film that involves x-axis camera tilts that increase the sense of unease or disorientation within a scene. Showing the audience a shot with the angle tilted to the side directly indicates to them that something within the scene is unsettling or that a certain character is ‘crooked’.

This effect is created because the brain naturally processes horizontal and vertical lines, like those in standard camera shots. Understanding the angled lines created with a Dutch Angle is much harder for the brain so the shift in horizon makes us naturally uneasy. When used correctly, the Dutch Angle is the perfect tool to set the tone for your viewers without the use of dialogue or setting.

History

The history of the Dutch Angle dates back to 1920s Germany with the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Weire. This movie experimented with shadows, light, and angles in a way that was far ahead of it’s time and brought the art of expressionism to film. This movie was the first to introduce subjective filmmaking, meaning that what we’re seeing unfold isn’t necessarily reality but rather the experience of the narrator. Although it doesn’t explicitly contain a dutch angle, the set itself is crooked and it lends itself to the same effect of uneasiness.

His work inspired that of other local filmmakers such as F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and Erich Pommer. Another notable use of the technique that contributed to its rising popularity is that by Ukrainian filmmaker Dziga Vertov in the 1929 film Man With a Movie Camera. Vertov had a disdain for many movies being made at the time, calling them ‘carbon copies of novel and theater.’ He didn’t like that the camera itself was essentially being used as a boring spectator that simply watches the action of the plot unfold before it.

The documentary film challenged that notion and completely changed the way films were being made by making the camera a character in the film. It walks you through how it pulls off certain shots while simultaneously creating new innovations in so many techniques like slow motion, split screen, and double exposure. The film features no sets, actors, scripts, or title cards- relying solely on camera work to tell the story.

As German filmmakers began to come to Hollywood, the Dutch Angle technique became more popular and began to be featured in films such as The Bride of Frankenstein, Citizen Kane, and The Maltese Falcon. And some modern filmmakers, such as Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan, have utilized several German expressionist filmmaking techniques in their movies.

When to Use

Just like every filmmaking technique, there are both good and bad examples of it in action. For an example of the shot when it doesn’t work well, take a look at the film Battlefield Earth which uses a Dutch Angle for the majority of the film. This is an example that doesn’t work because the technique is specifically used to portray a sense of uneasiness, rather than simply to make a shot look more interesting. When it’s not used purposefully or when it’s used too frequently, the Dutch Angle can simply leave your viewer feeling disoriented and frustrated.

There are, however, many examples of the technique working well for filmmakers. It was used quite frequently in the Batman TV series in the 1960s to emphasize the ‘crookedness’ of Batman’s various adversaries. It was used in Citizen Kane in the campaign promises scene in order to show corrupt politician Charles Kane’s speech. It was also used in Inglourious Basterds to brace viewers for a particularly gruesome scene and in Inception to further highlight that sense of dream vs. reality.

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Low Angle

A low-angle shot involves the camera being positioned low, below eye level, and looking up at an object or subject above. This angle creates the psychological effect that the subject above is strong and powerful. It is also used in film to increase the perceived height of a subject or object. A character shot from this angle will be viewed as powerful, intimidating, or strong. So, if you’re attempting to create this feeling surrounding a certain character, shooting them with low-angle shots can be very helpful. Or even if you’re simply attempting to make one of your actors look taller.

For example, if you’re making a film about a young boy in school and all of a sudden his bully shows up. Shooting the bully from a low angle will allow the audience to get a sense of how much bigger the bully feels than the young boy.

High Angle

The opposite of the low angle, the high angle is a cinematography technique where the camera points down on the subject from above eye level. There are a few different meanings that a high-angle shot can convey for a character. If the shot is a simple high angle with no point of view involved, it can act as an impartial shot allowing the viewer to get a better view of a scene. It could also, from a narrative perspective, be telling the viewer that the person in the scene is in danger or depression by portraying them as smaller than they really are.

If, on the other hand, the shot is from the point of view of a particular character, this shot can be used to highlight the formidability of this character vs. another character in a scene. The character being shot down upon will appear tiny compared to the one situated where the angle begins, thus highlighting differences between the characters and even formidable odds.

Bird’s-Eye

A more dramatic version of the high angle, the birds-eye shot is an aerial shot looking down on a character or scene. These shots are typically filmed using drones in modern-day film. This shot essentially acts as a more drastic version of the high angle. Let’s take an action movie, for example. If you see the protagonist heading into the bad guy’s headquarters from a medium shot, then all of a sudden we see a bird’s eye view, they tell completely different stories.

From the medium shot, the viewer is thinking the protagonist looks very formidable and they’re looking forward to the upcoming action sequence. However, from the bird’s eye view, you see hundreds of armed soldiers ready to take on the protagonist. You see the traps and hundreds of guns and perhaps even the bad guy in a giant tank. Suddenly this scene is looking more dangerous and the audience is feeling more suspense than they were previously.

Dutch Angle

This is a less common technique, but when utilized there are many inferences an audience can make regarding character. The dutch angle involves tilting the camera to one side, creating a frame that is not level. This angle creates a sense of unease by making the viewer feel disoriented and uneasy.

This very instinctual sense of uneasiness viewers get when witnessing a dutch angle shot can be directly used in order to show that a certain character or scene is tense or psychologically distressing. For example, perhaps this angle can be helpful to use the moment the villain in your story is revealed. Or maybe your protagonist is drugged at one point and it is used to show their disorientation. Or when your character is entering a house that we find out later is haunted.

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