Visualising Disease Through Lens: Camera Shot as Visual Storytelling in Transforming Reality to Art Cinematic in Disease Film

Authors

Rasmuna Shafiee

TAR University of Management and Technology Penang (Malaysia)

Wahidah Abdul Wahab

TAR University of Management and Technology Penang (Malaysia)

Article Information

DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS.2026.1013COM0030

Subject Category: Art

Volume/Issue: 10/13 | Page No: 438-448

Publication Timeline

Submitted: 2026-06-02

Accepted: 2026-06-07

Published: 2026-06-29

Abstract

The directors used visual storytelling to show the viewer how a physical or psychological diseases may significantly alter the world. In order to turn invisible diseases into visceral, visual experiences, this article explores how camera operation can actively externalize interior by transforming unseen dangers into a visual narrative. This study uses cinematic analysis to find comparable camera patterns in five disease films, including The Craziest (dir. Breck Eisner), Contagion (dir. Steven Soderbergh's), Cabin Fever (dir. Eli Roth's), Carrier (dir. Alex and David Pastor's) and The Happening (dir. M. Night Shyamalan's). The result shows all five films used similar camera shots pattern to manipulate the disease victims and the situation during pandemic. The resulting camera work traps the audience in the character’s subjective physical reality, eliciting profound empathy and discomfort. In conclusion, the camera work does translate the pathology of disease directly into the language of visual storytelling, altering the audience's physical and emotional perception of the narrative.

Keywords

Visual Disease, Camera Shots, Visual Storytelling and Cinematic Art

Downloads

References

1. Baxter, M., & Khitrova, D (2015). Exploring cutting structure in film, with applications to the films of D.W. Griffith, Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Smith, J. (2019). Film art: An introduction (12 ed). McGraw-Hill Education. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Eisner, B. (Director). (2010). The crazies [Film]. Overture Films; Participant Media [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Leggett, M. (2016). Exposing the Film Apparatus: The Film Archive as a Research Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789089647184 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Kit, Z (2011). Steven Soderbergh talks "Contagion" and retirement. ReutersSeptember 11, 2011https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/steven-soderbergh-talks-contagion-and-retirement-idUSTRE78431I/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Mercadio, G (2019). The Filmmaker’s eye, The language of Lens. Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Pastor, À., & Pastor, D. (Director). (2009). Carriers [Film]. Paramount Vantage; Likely Story. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Petersen, J.M., Burgess, A.L., Oers, M.M, Herniou, E.A & Bojko, J(2024) Nudiviruses in free-living and parasitic arthropods: evolutionary taxonomy,Trends in Parasitology,Volume 40, Issue 8,Pages 744-762 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Roth, E. (Director). (2002). Cabin fever [Film]. Down Home Entertainment; Deer Path Productions. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Sarti, B. (2022)FiRe 2 : an online database for photographic and cinematographic film technical data. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532520 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Shyamalan, M. N. (Director). (2008). The happening [Film]. 20th Century Fox; UTV Motion Pictures. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Soderbergh, S. (Director). (2011). Contagion [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

Metrics

Views & Downloads

Similar Articles