Closed Forms — How Videos Make Characters Inside Them Feel Constrained, Sad, Burdened, and Weak

If you’ve ever felt claustrophobic in a movie, why and how did that happen? If you’ve ever felt badly for a character is trapped, how did you get that emotion? More than likely, those feelings are generated instantly by your reaction to “closed forms.” These are arranged images that show characters contained or constrained by people, objects, and/or their environment. These kinds of shots have a very high emotional value. In this short video, I’ll show you what they tend to mean, and why they are used in movies and video.