Assignment 3 Part 2

Review of Camera Angles from Ex Machina (2014) Dir. Alex Garland 

Last year I did my Laureate presentation on the question: Should governments encourage automation in the workforce? My research led me to the movie, Ex Machina. In essence, the movie follows a programmer, Caleb, who is invited to spend a week with his company's CEO. Caleb discovers that he is actually apart of a Turing test. His CEO designed a humanoid, Ava, that has artificial intelligence. He wants Caleb to test if Ava has independent thoughts and consciousness. 

This shot is from the beginning of the film. It is an extreme long shot where the subject, the helicopter, is in the distance. This scene is when Caleb is taken to is CEO's mansion via helicopter. The extreme long shot is used to show the audience how secluded the CEO's house is. 

This is a close-up shot of Caleb's cell phone. Again, the director chose this shot because he is trying to make a point of how secluded Caleb is from the outside world. This shot is foreshadowing that Caleb could potentially in trouble without any way of getting help.

This is another close-up. Here Caleb is exploring the CEO's house. His is aware that he will be testing the humanoid but he has not met it yet. Caleb stumbles upon the humanoid testing room. The crack in the glass is warning that there is something suspicious about how the humanoid behaves, perhaps even dangerous. 

This is an over the shoulder shot. It shows Caleb's point of view. This is his first time seeing the humanoid, Ava. An over the shoulder shot is crucial here because Caleb's first impression of Ava sets the tone for the Turing test. This shot helps the audience sympathize with Caleb's curiosity towards Ava.

This is an eye level shot of Eva. At this point in the film, she has talked to Caleb a few times. With each day she is becoming more curious about the outside world. The director most likely chose an eye level shot to convince the audience that she has human desires. The audience can see in her eyes that she longs for more.

This is an over the shoulder shot from Ava's perspective. She and Caleb are getting to know each other. The audience is clued in on the feelings that they have for each other, despite her being a humanoid. The over the shoulder shot shows how Ava percieves Caleb, which allows the audience to see Caleb from her eyes and understand why she likes him. 

This is a two-shot. It shows one of the many conversations that Caleb and Ava have during the course of the Turing test. I believe the director chose this framing to show that maybe Caleb and Ava are not so different after all. Their poses reflect each other like a mirror.

Caleb begins to go insane after a few days. He discovers that his CEO made many attempts at creating life-like humanoids. Caleb questions whether or not he is a human or a robot. He tries to cut himself to reassure himself that he is a human and a not a humanoid. This close-up shot focuses on the wound that Caleb gives himself. It makes the viewers feel horrified but forces them to suffer along with Caleb.

The movie ends with a long shot of Ava finally getting to experience the outside world. For her entire life, she was trapped inside of the CEO's house, which had no windows for her to look through. This shot is essential to the end of the movie. It makes the viewer question what she is going to do with her freedom. How far can a humanoid get in the real world? Does she actually have her own consciousness? Overall, the audience is left feeling bittersweet. We want to feel happy that she is finally free, but we also wonder about the fate of the human race if humanoids, such as Eva, could exist.