A locked down shot refers to a camera shot in which the camera is immobile whilst something else happens off screen, for example a death could happen off screen. This shot is useful in creating suspense for the audience because of the lack of information in what is happening in the scene. it is also good at making the audience uncomfortable due to the large amount of focus on one thing.
on the left there are screenshots of the film 'blackmail' by Alfred Hitchcock. the woman is seen behind a curtain to be struggling for a knife and then she brings her arm behind the curtain. the curtain occasionally moves and there are sounds of struggle but the camera stays in the exact same position whilst the action happens off screen. another example is if there is a conversation between two people and the camera stays immobile and focuses on one person, the other person in the conversation is out of shot but still talking thus this is another example of a locked down shot. Between 2:30 and 3:00 |