What Is a Dutch Angle and When Should You Use It?

If you watch a lot of movies, you’re already familiar with the Dutch angle. What is it exactly? And when and how should you use it? Let’s find out.

If you’ve ever been watching a film and found yourself pulled into the story because of the visuals, you’ve probably wondered how they got that shot. There are countless examples in film history of cinematography that made a movie genuinely unforgettable, from the early days of motion picture cameras to the beginnings of CGI.

So what makes a good shot? Let's talk about a particularly unique and effective technique, the Dutch angle, or canted angle shot.

What Is the Dutch Angle?

Once you’ve learned the basics of how to make a movie, you can start to have more fun and break the rules. One way you can do this is by tilting the camera on its x-axis (so, horizontally across the frame). This is known as a Dutch angle or Dutch tilt. Sometimes it’s also called a canted angle or oblique angle.

Go figure that the Dutch angle is actually not Dutch…it’s German! It originated with the German Expressionist movement in the 1920s and was first used in films like Dziga Vertov’s 1929 documentary Man With A Movie Camera. Just as German Expressionist visual art used extreme angles to create unease and unrest, so did the Dutch angle in cinematography.

Who Used the Dutch Angle, and Who Uses It Today?

Other early pioneers of the Dutch angle were Orson Welles in 1941’s Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock in many of his films from the 1940s and onward, such as The Man Who Knew Too Much and Strangers On A Train.

In more recent years, Quentin Tarantino has used the Dutch angle extensively in films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Tim Burton used a canted angle technique in Edward Scissorhands, and Terry Gilliam used it in Braziland Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Darron Aronofsky used it in Requiem For A Dream to emphasize the effect of drugs on his characters.

Once CGI was invented, directors could create a Dutch angle in post-production and even Pixar used it in films like Wall-Eand the Toy Story series. Once you know what to look for, chances are you’ll see it everywhere

How Do You Use the Dutch Angle?

Now that you’ve seen all these other directors tilting the camera, you probably want to do the same. However, if you’re used to more traditional camera techniques, it can be challenging to figure out when to use a more extreme angle or framing. It can be especially challenging not to overuse it, as then it might lose its impact on the viewer.

But, it depends on the film; Inception uses mostly Dutch angles in entire scenes to create the sense that we’re stuck in a dream. So, how do you do a Dutch angle shot, and what should you consider as you set it up?

Just like setting up any other shot, think first about the point you’re trying to make by using that particular shot. “It just looks cool” is a perfectly valid answer, but consider if it’s helping to tell the story or create a certain mood.

Secondly, how far away is the camera and how high is the camera? A Dutch angle doesn’t have to be a wide shot or a full-body shot of your character; it can also be a close-up. It doesn’t even have to be the character; it can be a cutaway close-up shot of an important object in the scene or a wider shot of a place.

Lastly, consider the lens you’re planning to use. Do you want a lens that will give you a large or deep depth of field, with a wider angle so that everything is in focus? Or do you want a longer lens to give you a shallow depth of field and blur the background?

To create a Dutch angle shot with the camera on a tripod, make sure you have a tripod where you can loosen the tension of the head and easily adjust the tilt and pan. Then, loosen your camera tripod head, so the camera can tilt left-to-right on the x-axis or horizontal axis of your frame. You can also raise or lower one side of your tripod to set the camera at a canted angle.

It doesn't have to be on a tripod; if you're handheld or on a dolly or Steadicam, it's the same motion. Likewise, if you're filming on your iPhone, you might have a specialized camera mount with a tilt function.

When Should You Use the Dutch Angle?

Of course, as the director or cinematographer, it’s up to you as to when the time is right for a Dutch angle shot. However, it still depends on where it takes place in the story, the mood you’re trying to establish, or the character you’re trying to portray. For example, maybe you want a canted angle for a POV shot as if the audience is viewing the scene from a certain character’s point of view.

It's also important to consider your location and surroundings. Since the Dutch angle is based on the horizontal axis of your frame, think about the natural vertical lines in your shot, like buildings or a signpost.

Why You Should Use the Dutch Angle Sparingly

The entire reason Dutch angles are so memorable in your favorite films is generally that they’re so rare, with few exceptions. They usually occur between more conventional camera angles in a scene, so that you’re caught completely off-guard.

Every shot leading up to your Dutch angle should be considered because you’re setting the stage for a pretty dramatic shift in mood and pacing.

Similarly, if you use a Dutch angle too often, the big camera tilt that leads into the extreme close-up in your final scene won’t have as much of an impact, since viewers have already seen it.

Set the Mood With a Dutch Angle

Dutch angles usually make the audience feel anxious, even if it’s a little tongue-in-cheek like with the villains in the 1960s Batman cartoons or in a Wes Anderson film like Moonrise Kingdom.

Therefore, you should use the Dutch angle sparingly to set the mood and make a statement, so that it will stand out against other more conventional camera shots in your film. However, don’t let convention stop you from exploring filmmaking and discovering your own style when trying out the Dutch angle on your own.

As acclaimed cinematographer Conrad Hall once said, “Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities.” With a simple tilt of the camera, you can radically change the audience's feelings about your film and really capture their attention.