Overhead/Birds Eye

In 'Arcana', the witch performs rituals on the floor. The use of Birds Eye View shots perform the same function as an Over Shoulder shot, which shows what she is doing and that she is focused upon that. We can see clearly what she is doing, more so than an oblique angle.

Birds Eye Shot

A Birds Eye View shot (also called an Eye of God Shot, or an Overhead Shot) is when the camera is positioned over the character or scene, looking straight down or from a very steep angle.

This gives the impression of looking over something, and removes the 'powerless' connotations of the High Angle Shot, and replaces it with more of 'an observer'. The presents the information shown by the shot in a rather neutral way, but it positions the audience in a way that they feel like they see everything.

This shot does not get used very often, and usually it is used to reveal a location, or a character moving through a location, or as a way to break up fairly repetitive shots.

As there are not many uses of this shot, I will draw from multiple films...

Banshee (Matt Ditko, 2022)

Girl just manages to escape wooded tunnel. BEV amplifies her exit from a very bad situation, momentarily eases tension by presenting her escape as factual.

Kookie (Juston Harding, 2019)

Opening shot of the film. This BEV shot presents the world the characters are based in. This presents a very familiar world, and the BEV shot gives the impression that life is normal here.

The Heretic (Veselin Effremov, 2020)

This ELS in BEV shows the protagonist walked out onto a platform to confront the antagonist. This shot amplifies the light from which the protagonist emerges, and the vast void surrounding the platform which enhances the danger.

The Smiling Man (A.J. Briones, 2018)

This BEV shot shows a little girl who is being lured towards a psychotic, twisted man. She walks closer, and in this shot we can see she is almost there, and we also get our first glimpse of the villain - if only a little bit. This shot cranks up the tension, because we can see something that the character can't, and we know that it is bad...she doesn't (dramatic irony).

Smiles (Javier Chavenal, 2022)

This BEV shot captures the aftermath of a violent act. It reveals to the viewer the bloody results of a twisted family's violent actions. There is strong juxtaposition in this shot, of a smiling family looking over a violent scene.

Stucco (Janina Gavankar & Russo Schelling, 2020)

Opening shot of the film, this BEV Shot shows the main character in her kitchen, fussing around making a meal. An ordinary everyday task, made interesting by using the Birds Eye View Shot. The familiarity and interest generated by using this shot, makes the audience interested and connected to the character.

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