Beasts of the Southern Wild Spectatorship question

200 word response in class- Analyse the cinematography in BOTSW and how it convey’s genre and point of view?

In Beasts of the Southern wild, cinematography is used to show genre and establish point of view. For example, in the opening sequence we see the world from Hushpuppy’s eye’s by being continuously positioned with her point of view. This alignment with Hushpuppy is established through the use of low angle over the shoulder shots in which we see the world around her from her eye level. By using a handheld camera on 16mm film stock, it provides the film with a grainy saturation, giving the impression of a documentary style film. This conveys a sense of realism and immersion, presenting Hushpuppy to be a real person, thus seeing her point of view as honest and relatable, creating a direct link to the real world. Cinematography also helps convey POV through the use of closeups when we are introduced to Hushpuppy, giving the audience as close sense of proximity to Hushpuppy as the protagonist as well as aligning the sectator with her raw emotions and responses to the environment she lives in. On the other hand, cinematography also has a different affect as we are occasionally shown short POV over the shoulder shots of Wink when he is apart and distant from Hushpuppy. The lack of the spectator’s alignment throughout the film demonstrate Wink’s closed off nature and narrowmindedness in comparison to Hushpuppy.