History Main / DutchAngle

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Here's a challenge: try and find a steady, level shot of Samuel. Helpful hint: [[spoiler:none exist.]]

* Here's a challenge: try and find a steady, level shot of [[Series/{{Heroes}} Samuel]]. Helpful hint: [[spoiler:none exist.]]

* Used in some of Creator/TerryGilliam's films, e.g. ''{{Tideland}}''.

* Used occasionally in ''{{Brick}}''.

* Used extensively in ''TheElementOfCrime'', and combined with wild but slow camera movements, to induce a sensation of loosing directions and gravity perception in the audience (justified because the whole movie is a hypnosis-induced flashback).

* Used twice in Film/BoogieNights. First time when Eddie announces he will do porn, which underscores the turn his life will take. Second time when he is introduced to the new guy, Johnny Doe. His life again will turn again, for the worse this time.

* This happened a lot in the old ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' series.

* ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', especially during the Green With Evil arc. The Evil Green Ranger is so nasty that even cameras become twisted in his presence...

* [[http://www.exiern.com/index.php?strip_id=127 This]] ''{{Exiern}}'' strip, when the evil sorcerer Faden (temporarily?) regains his powers during an eclipse of the moon and breaks free. Actually, the tilting starts with [[http://www.exiern.com/index.php?strip_id=126 the last panel]] of the page before that, when the heroine notices something is wrong with the light.
* Used in ''{{Fleep}}'' to symbolize Jimmy's shock after the news that [[spoiler:his wife is dead]].

* ''WapsiSquare'' uses this sometimes, such as the first panel [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/indestructiblegirl/ here.]] This is most likely due to the author's background in photography.

* The great late Osamu Dezaki was fond of these and popularized its use in anime in Manga/RoseOfVersailles. In OniisamaE it's not rare to see him using a diagonal dutch angle. Combined with rather quick cuts and even montages of dutch angle shots combined with [[TropeMaker his famed]] PastelChalkedFreezeFrame technique. He used this often daring combination to generate a sense of dislocation to [[RuleOfDrama raise the drama]].

* ''RoseOfVersailles'' had two directors: Tadao Nagahama, who used the dutch angle on occasion, but OsamuDezaki was totally nuts for the shot and uses it to play with the scenery, let it be a sparkling palace or a sewer at night.

* ''Videogame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' used this as one of many visual cues indicating that Batman is under the effects of Scarecrow's fear gas.

* ''RoseOfVersailles'' had two directors: Tadao Nagahama, who used the dutch angle on occasion, but OsamuDezaki was totally nuts for the shot and uses it to play the scenery, let it be a sparkling palace or a sewer at night.

* ''Series/GoodEats'' is saturated with Dutch angle shots, taken from just about every conceivable place in a kitchen that one could fit a camera. Most of his appliances were built with clear backs so that these could be achieved.

* Infamously overused (to the point that ''nearly every shot is slanted'') in ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'', causing Creator/RogerEbert to remark, "The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why."

Shots taken from a canted camera angle, often from a low position. Usually used to help create a jarring, "off-center" feel.

** The montage from "[[RecapStarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]", where it serves to show just how unbalanced Vulcans in ''ponn farr'' become.

** The montage from "Amok Time", too.

Like any trope, this can be played with. Some examples may start with a normal, "straight" angle and then shift to a Dutch Angle. Others may start with a Dutch angle tilted in one direction, and then swivel to tilt the other way, which is even more jarring.

Done well, it can create an eerie setting that isn't quite right. Done unwell -- or even in [[MundaneMadeAwesome the wrong places]] or [[OverlyLongGag way, WAY too many times]], and it looks... well, a little silly.

* The old-school 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV series habitually tilted the camera 45 degrees so you'd have a visual cue that you were in a bad guy's lair.
** Tilt the camera 90 degrees and Batman and Robin could climb up the outer wall of the building as easily as they walked along the studio floor. And talk to [[SpecialGuest Sammy Davis Jr.]] at the same time.
*** WordOfGod said they actually used a 45-degree angle here, too. Why? Who knows. (Likely reason: so the capes wouldn't be "hanging" perfectly horizontally.)
**** It also gives the actors some gravity to pull against, so they can brace the lower leg.
*** To clarify, our heroes are walking up a 45 degree hill, with the camera tilted 45 degrees the other way, to add up to a 90 degree vertical wall.
** One fan commentary joked that this indicated that the villains were [[IncrediblyLamePun "crooked"]]. Gut-splitting, huh?
*** The official commentary said the same thing. Apparently that was the actual reasoning behind that choice of visual cue.
** The Dutch Angle became so connected with the TV series that when ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' had Frank Gorshin (who played The Riddler) on as a guest star, they threw in a few as a homage.

Shots taken from a canted camera angle, often from a low position. Usually used to help create a jarring, "off center" feel.

Done right, it can create an eerie setting that isn't quite right. Done wrong - or even in [[MundaneMadeAwesome the wrong places]] or [[OverlyLongGag way, WAY too many times]], and it looks... well, a little silly.

* ''{{Birdemic}}'', owing to the low-production values, couldn't shoot the interior of the car without cramming the entire camera into it.
-->'''{{JonTron}}''' Y'know, I gotta say it's really progressive of the people who made this movie to hire a cameraman with only one arm.
* Infamously overused (to the point that ''every shot is slanted'') in ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'', causing RogerEbert to remark, "The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why."
** The cinematographer has gone on record stating that he was against the overuse of Dutch Angles.

* Used a lot in ''DoTheRightThing''.

* Used at the end of the first Film/AmericanPie movie, when Kevin and Vicky have sex for the first time. It is extremely awkward for them, symbolized by the shot being tilted just a little too much.
* Masterfully used by John [=McTiernan=] in ''Film/DieHard'' in the scene when Hans and John meet face to face for the first time. John [=McClane=] is unaware (or unsure) of Hans[='=] identity, while Hans perfectly knows who John is. John decides to give Hans a gun to protect himself. Now, for the whole movie [=McTiernan=] uses a straight angle for anything Hans-related (symbolizing Hans[='=] straight, thought-out plan), and a Dutch angle for John (symbolizing his role as a fly in the ointment and his love for [[IndyPloy improvisation]]). Of course, Hans plans to shoot John, but you know before him that the gun is empty... because the camera slowly tilts in the shot of Hans aiming at John.
* Used in one scene of the movie ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' (combined with an odd, rollercoaster-like dip) as a visual cue when [[WaifProphet River Tam]] is [[MindReading reading the minds]] of a room full of people.

** ''Film/BatmanForever'' and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', since the series was taking more and more inspiration from [[Series/{{Batman}} the TV series]].

* Used in the 2009 film ''Film/StarTrek'' when Spock appears before the Vulcan High Council.

* Overused by director John Patrick Shanley in his film adaptation of his play Theatre/{{Doubt}}.
* Used a lot in the movie ''Film/{{Thor}}'', and is intended to be reminiscent of comic book panels.
-->'''[[{{Podcast/Rifftrax}} Mike Nelson]]''': Hey, [[KennethBranagh Branagh]], camera's crooked!

* In the first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' film, the angle goes ''very'' dutch when Ethan Hunt meets Kitteridge in the restaurant, underscoring Ethan's feeling that whole world has just gone askew.

*** WordOfGod said they actually used a 45 degree angle here, too. Why? Who knows. (Likely reason: so the capes wouldn't be "hanging" perfectly horizontally.)

** One fan commentary joked that this indicated that the villains were [[IncrediblyLamePun "crooked"]]. Gutsplitting, huh?

** Also used in the stand-on-shoulders scene from "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit", to make it look like actors lying on a floor are vertical. Particularly obvious with the bagpiper, whose kilt is clearly hanging down to lie on the "wall".
* A favourite of director EdgarWright; used in ''{{Spaced}}'', specifically when Brian and Marsha question Tim and Daisy's two-anniversary facade in the first episode. Edgar name-checks the technique in the DVD commentary.
* On TV's ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', most shots of Deep 13 are done with the camera tilted, though from a high angle. Justified by the fact that the Deep 13 shots we see are from an actual camera they use to communicate, which is likely at that angle.
* Justified in the ''{{UFO}}'' episode "Sub-Smash". A Skydiver submarine has become trapped on the bottom of the ocean, with its deck tilted on an angle -- which subtly indicates the protagonist's increasing sense of {{claustrophobia}}.
* ''GoodEats'' is saturated with Dutch angle shots, taken from just about every conceivable place in a kitchen that one could fit a camera. Most of his appliances were built with clear backs so that these could be achieved.
* MightyMorphinPowerRangers, especially during the Green With Evil arc. The Evil Green Ranger is so nasty that even cameras become twisted in his presence...

* Seemingly used for every establishing shot in the HBO series Series/JohnAdams.

* Here's a challenge: try and find a steady, level shot of [[Series/{{Heroes}} Samuel]]. Helpful hint: [[spoiler: there aren't any.]]

* NashBridges.

[[folder:Videogames]]
* In ''EternalDarkness'', the more insane your character gets, the more tilted the camera gets. One cutscene in the game even began with the camera tilted and in the lowest corner of a room.

* ''KaneAndLynch'' - in addition to applying the red hue to the screen - tilts the camera a bit to indicate low health.

* Videogame/FinalFantasyXIII does this several times. [[MaleGaze Often from behind Vanille.]]
* Part of ''SilentHill'''s SignatureStyle to illustrate how out-of-it the protagonists are.

* Used in MetroidOtherM, occasionally.
* The final, space-faring level of ''007Nightfire'' uses this to illustrate gravity-less space. Pressing the "Action" button on the controller remedies the effect at the cost of a good shot.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In the Feast Master chapter of ''BananaNanaNinja'' Dutch Angles are used to illustrate Baninja's horror at having to kill and cook Mudkips.

* The original ''ScoobyDoo'' liked to do this with the introductory shot of the MonsterOfTheWeek.

* ''IrresponsibleCaptainTylor''. When the Empress Azalyn says she's pregnant with Captain Tylor's child, the view immediately tilts to illustrate that even for a crew used to their captain's bizarre antics, this is a total WTF?!!! moment.

* ''IrresponsibleCaptainTaylor''. When the Empress Azalyn says she's pregnant with Captain Tylor's child, the view immediately tilts to illustrate that even for a crew used to their captain's bizarre antics, this is a total WTF?!!! moment.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[CandidCameraPrank Smile, rat-brains! You're on]] ''Canted Camera''!]]

* Used a lot in the new movie ''Film/{{Thor}}''.