Sharpe's Peril Camera Work

Sharpe’s Peril

This episode of Sharpe’s Peril starts off with a wide shot of Sharpe’s little army then cuts to a mid shot of a man that pans it to Sharpe as he gives him the telescope. As he looks out, it then cuts to the opposite army which is possibly a point of view shot to show what he is looking at. It then cuts back to Sharpe a she puts his telescope down with the same shot to show his expression and it the cuts to a mid shot at his army as it tracks through to show their expressions too.
Then there is an extreme wide shot to show the immensity of how big the opposite army really is and maybe showing their point of view as well. It is back on Sharpe with another character behind him to the left of the camera to show he is new and being introduced to the scene. It cuts to a reverse shot of Sharpe as he turns around to see him as they converse. As they do, the camera moves to a over the shoulder shot for the old man and vice versa, this is to show they are having a conversation. It is then onto a side on view with a hinted angle as another character is introduced and the camera stays on them as they talk. As the other two characters leave the conversation, it stays on Sharpe as he turns around and the camera moves backwards and more to the left to get another character in to show that Sharpe and this other character are important and about to have a conversation and it is also to show that Sharpe’s attention will now be on him.
It then is back on the same shot but with a gap between them as another character is introduced as Sharpe’ turns again to the sound of his voice. They then walk away as the camera faces them as it tracks them and they move into a position so that the camera is on a mid shot side view of the characters which is the master shot. This is also used to show the scenery in the background with the opposite army in the distance to show the circumstances are still there as they talk. It then goes to over the shoulder shots as they converse. After they finish the conversation, it stays over Sharpe’s shoulder at the boy as he is told to leave, the camera is fixed and the boy walks off the view to show he has left and then Sharpe leaves after him to show he has left.
He then returns back to the man with a normal mid shot as they talk about the army, as they talk about them, the camera keeps on cutting to different parts of the army as he then calls out to them and the camera cuts to a normal shot of Sharpe quite far out with a lot of the army soldiers faces still view for us to see their impressions to what Sharpe is saying and the camera tracks him as he speaks. I then goes to a close up of Sharpe as he get show the more important part of his speech to show impact and emphasis.
As a man walks out onto no mans land, one of Sharpe’s men notices it and shouts out to Sharpe as he is far away in a tower, Sharpe turns to look at him, the camera focuses on the man as he shouts the news to show he is the important person giving the news and then it focuses on Sharpe as he looks for himself using scenes of transition.
Then war breaks loose and there is a reverse shot as Sharpe and everyone take cover as they run past the camera and it goes on a to a wide shot of a side on view as the camera tracks the army running to war as the action comes into place. The camera cuts much more often as the tension rises and more action is coming such as cutting from the horses running to Sharpe’s army getting ready and then cutting to a worms eye view of the horses feet to show how fast they are going but to also show how quickly the pace is quickening up. Both armies then meet and then it quickens even more as it cuts almost more than a second every second of people shooting, people falling off horses, people running, people having sword fights. This is just to emphasise the action side of the episode to grab the viewers eyes. There is a lot of different camera shots used in these actions sequences but they are mostly close ups and there is some scenes of transitions.
It then shows Sharpe fighting but is a side cut showing his full body and it tracks him as he moves and it is a long cut to show he is more important and different from the rest. Sharpe then has a fight with a man with the camera facing Sharpe and the man with his back facing the camera. He kills him and the camera then swirls around Sharpe so it is then facing Sharpe’s back to show what he was then looking at and what was his next target so we come more involved in Sharpe’s character.
As Sharpe takes a knife for another one of his mates from the leader of the other army, it then focuses on the fight between the leader and him and the camera is really shaky as it watches them fight to add to the drama as if we were there watching. It adds dramatic effect to the scene.