The Dutch angle, also known as Dutch tilt, canted angle, or oblique angle, is a type of camera shot which involves setting the camera at an angle on its roll axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame, or so that the horizon line of the shot is not parallel with the bottom of the camera frame. This produces a viewpoint akin to tilting one's head to the side. In cinematography, the Dutch angle is one of many cinematic techniques often used to portray psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. The word "Dutch" in this context is a bastardisation of the wordDeutsch, the German word for "German"; it is not related to the Dutch people or language. It originated in the First World War, as Navy blockades made the import of movies impossible. The German movie scene was part of the expressionist movement, which used the Dutch angle extensively.
Method
A Dutch angle is a camera shot in which the camera has been rotated relative to the horizon or vertical lines in the shot. The primary use of such angles is to cause a sense of unease or disorientation for the viewer. Many Dutch angles are static shots, but in a moving Dutch angle shot the camera can pivot, pan or track along the established diagonal axis for the shot.
History
's 1929 experimentaldocumentaryMan with a Movie Camera contains uses of the Dutch angle, among other innovative techniques discovered by Vertov himself. The angle was widely used to depict madness, unrest, exoticism, and disorientation in German Expressionism, hence its name , meaning German, was often conflated with the etymologically similar word which gives the corruption of the term now commonly used. Montages of Dutch angles are often structured such that the tilts are horizontally opposed in each shot – for example, a right-tilted shot will be followed with a left-tilted shot, and so on. The 1949 filmThe Third Man makes extensive use of Dutch angle shots, to emphasize the main character's alienation in a foreign environment. Director Carol Reed has said that William Wyler gave him a spirit level after seeing the film, to sardonically encourage him to use more traditional shooting angles. Dutch angles were used extensively in the satirical 1960s BatmanTV series in which each villain had his or her own angle, as they were "crooked". Dutch angles are frequently used by film directors who have a background in the visual arts, such as Tim Burton, and Terry Gilliam to represent madness, disorientation, or drug psychosis. In his Evil Dead trilogy, Sam Raimi used Dutch angles to show that a character had become possessed by evil. The Dutch angle is an overt cinematographical technique that can be overused. The science-fiction filmBattlefield Earth, in particular, drew sharp criticism for its pervasive use of the Dutch angle. In the words of film criticRoger Ebert, "the director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why". Dutch angles are often used in horror video games, particularly those with static camera angles such as early entries in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises. Similar to their use in movies, these angles are used to bring about a feeling of unease in the player.
