Media Analysis of Captain America The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger
Camera angles determine how an audience interacts with a character in a film they are watching. This makes shot angles and camera angles some of the most significant aspects of a production. The emotions a character is going through can be highlighted by having the camera focus on them. When they are vulnerable, the camera can focus on them from a high angle. Further, the kinds of cameras employed in the film are important since scenes are shot with different cameras and then edited together. In Captain America: The First Avenger, the emphasis is on the key viewpoints and elements so as to inspire different emotions in the audience. It is possible that a greater perception of space as portrayed in the film leads to the audience being better able to empathize with the film’s audience. This is especially true when you consider the fact that space orientation is a big part of the visual stimuli that make the film great. The orientation used by the film allows the audience to focus their attention on several aspects of the general space environment and this feeds how they feel about the situations the characters are in. Further, with more details about the environment being shown, the more information the audience is able to gather about the object. Context is a big part of how humans interpret events and situations (Lotman, 2016, 96).
In the film, Steve Rodgers tries several times to get enlisted by the army during the Second World War but he fails as he is sickly and skinny. Nevertheless, he eventually gets accepted into a super soldier defense wing and increases in size. It is evident from the production that special effects have been used to thin the character (Johnson). Further, as Captain America, Rodgers actions are highlighted mainly by the use of creative camera angles. The action takes place over a long period of time and the pace of the action is maintained by the production even as it takes place in scenes that were obviously hard to shoot. This was made possible by the film crew using motion picture cameras that can take shots in small bits for future editing.
Joe Johnston directed the film. From the results, it is clear that Marvel made the right decision in hiring him. Johnston has been on the director’s chair in many action film sets over the years. Most of these films were relatively successful but they weren’t outright classics. One of the films that set him up for the Captain America role is the 1990s movie The Rocketeer which is a comic-book movie inspired by the events of the Second World War. Save for a few details, there are lot of similarities between the Captain America movie and The Rocketeer. The patriotism and the fast-paced action sequences seen in the first movie can be seen in the second movie as well. Johnston has seen tremendous success with action films but his directing and shooting process is very conventional. Unconventional camera angles such as those in Thor are not in Captain America. Further, compared to other Marvel movies, Captain America feels a bit more animated. It is fast paced and it tells the story in a formula that is uniquely different from other Marvel movies.
After production, the live action plates were tracked for the exportation of the Maya 3D scene. They also exported a camera at the same moment. The results were indicators showing the points at which the buildings began and the various points the artists could construct geometry for replacements. The exported camera has a movement that mirrors the live action to reveal and parallax or shifts in perspective. For this to work, the artists have to ensure that their geometry is very accurate. It is not a complex process, though (Stam et al. 1992, 188).
References
Captain America: The First Avenger. Directed by Joe Johnston, Paramount Pictures, July 19 2011.
Lotman, Elen. “Exploring the ways cinematography affects viewers’ perceived empathy towards onscreen characters.” Baltic Screen Media Review, Vol. 4, 2016, pp. 89-105.
Stam, Robert., Burgoyne, Robert., & Flitterman-Lewis, Sandy. New vocabularies in film semiotics. London, New York: Routledge, 1992.