Abstract:
Film has been a tool of storytelling for as long as a century. It becomes the most famous type of storytelling due to its ability to take to audience to the world of the story through audio and visual.1 Film gives its audience the experience they will never get from any other types of storytelling medium. When film was first introduced, people are amazed at how real it was look. They jumped out of their seat when they saw a train moving towards them through the frame of a movie. Film has been evolving since then. Now it becomes more and more realistic than ever.
Even though it is evolving, there are several fundamental aspects of film that will never change, one of them is type of shot. Type of shot is the first tool of filmmaking used by the filmmaker to convey their story.2 Filmmaker back then knew that they cannot put everything inside the frame, therefore they need to be aware and careful of what they put inside it. That is when the type of shot became more and more important. Due to its power, filmmakers then carefully shape the type of shot they want to put in a film because different type of shot will create different meanings.
That being said, every type of shot has their own purpose and uniqueness. It is the director’s decision to choose which type of shot they will use to deliver their messages to the audience. The close-up shot has the power to deliver character’s emotion through their facial expression. It was used by the filmmakers to evoke audience emotions and to bring them closer the said character.3 Close-up shot can also be a powerful storytelling tool when it is used to highlight the important details of the film that cannot be captured by any other type of shot. By highlighting certain detail of the film, filmmakers force the audience to see it. Thus, making the story more definite to the audience. The writer implements the use of close-up shot variations of face and object details to help him create the psychological reactions of a character that describes their anxiety. By using close-up shot in “Membisu”, the writer wants to bring the audience closer to the character into a more intimate level.
