Point of view (POV) is one of the most crucial components in creating a film because it defines how the audience sees the events at play. Point of view, as the name suggests, is the way the audience is introduced to the world of the characters. This technique is about much more than just the placement of the camera; it is about the narrative approach, the characterisation, and the portrayal of feelings.
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A History of POV in Film
POV has been used in filmmaking since the early part of the twentieth century, although it was most commonly used in the 1920s. The first films that incorporated POV were some of the silent films, one of which was Abel Gance’s Napoleon. In this film, Gance uses POV shots to demonstrate the young Napoleon’s view during a fight with other boys.
To achieve this, Gance encircles the camera with a sponge to mimic Napoleon’s view of being attacked. This approach made the camera an actor in the scene, and the audience felt the rough experience that the character was going through. With time, the use of POV has advanced to become a professional tool in the hands of the filmmaker in his or her toolbox, which can be used to depict psychological states and emotions.
Mechanics of POV in Cinema
POV is not restricted to the physical sight of a character. It can also tell the viewers about the character’s emotional or psychological condition, known as their state of mind. A POV shot is a shot from the character’s point of view, meaning the position of the lens is parallel to the eyes of the character, thus giving the viewer a direct view of what the character is seeing. However, POV does not always mean that there is only one correct point of view that has to be adopted. For instance, when the camera is placed over the character’s shoulder and shooting at another character, the former is felt to be present while the overall picture is also seen.
This technique has been employed in so many films with positive results. One of the most famous examples of the use of POV shots can be regarded as Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, where the POV shots contribute to increasing the suspense and letting the audience get inside the characters’ heads, especially during the shower scene. Through its framing, the audience gets to see the scene from the perspective of the victim as well as the attacker, which is quite emotional.
Types of POV in Film
In using POV, there are several types that filmmakers use, and each has a specific function depending on the story being told. These types of POVs are advantageous and disadvantageous in their own ways.
First-Person Point of View (Subjective)
It lets the viewer see things as the character does. This technique may be very intense, as it makes the viewer see what the character is seeing in the same manner as seeing it. But it must also have its drawbacks; for example, the audience is deprived of the opportunity to notice some movements of the character or his or her facial expressions.
Such films as, for instance, The Lady in the Lake aimed to implement this method, and as a result, the audience sees only what the main character sees. On one hand, this can help the audience develop a rather personal attachment to this character; on the other hand, this approach can limit the audience’s view of the film as a whole.
Third-Person Limited Point of View (Objective)
It is probably the most popular of all the POVs used in cinema. This approach helps to address the issue of too much focus on character and, at the same time, gives the audience a feel for the character and the general scene. This POV is commonly applied when there is a lot of dialogue between characters, where the camera is placed just above the characters’ shoulders, so the audience feels that they participate in the conversation.
Omniscient Point of View (Objective)
The omniscient POV presents the audience with a god-like view and can provide information that is unknown to the characters in the story. It can give a feeling of suspense or drama to the story, which the audience is aware of but the characters are not. A good example is the television drama Desperate Housewives, whose narrator is a dead character who watches the real-life drama that unfolds among the living characters. Such an omniscient view enables the series to be concerned with issues of concealment and disclosure, trickery, and truth-telling, with the viewers as knowing spectators.
The Impact of POV on Audience Perception
POV is one of the most crucial factors in a story since it determines the way the audience will view and understand the narrative. A POV shot can make the audience feel pity, fear, excitement, or anything else that the director wants the audience to feel because of the alignment of the viewer with the character or the story.
For example, in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, POV shots are employed to create a sense of eerie environment; the exploitation of such shots is particularly creepy in scenes where the camera appears to take the viewpoint of some supernatural force, which increases the horror aspects of the film by making viewers feel as if they are being observed.
In addition, POV can also be employed in order to play a trick on the audience. In many films, such as Memento, the notion of POV is used non-linearly, and the audience is presented only with a slice of the actuality of events and the world. This manipulation of POV thus shifts to a major aspect of the narration, as it mirrors the protagonist’s amnesia and, thus, his unreliable perspective on reality.
Point of view in cinema is not just a technicality; it is a tool that defines how a story will be told and perceived by the audience. When applied to build trust, build tension, or give the audience a god-like perspective, POV can alter the very DNA of a narrative. POV as a narrative technique still holds the potential to develop more and more layers of story and characters’ feelings and emotions as filmmakers go on experimenting with new points of view. Thus, mastering the specifics of POV can enrich both the processes of making and viewing films, as well as provide new approaches towards interacting with characters, plots, and the very concept of the film as an art form.
