Batman angle

Whenever a villain appeared on the old Batman TV series, the scene was not level, but was shot as if the viewer’s head is tilted to the side. The term for this is a “Dutch angle” – and it has nothing to do with the Dutch.

This filming technique began with the influential early Soviet film Man with a Movie Camera, but was most popular and prominent in German Expressionist cinema (hence “Deutsch” angle). The Dutch angle is used to imply madness, disorientation, and alienation – so of course Terry Gilliam loves it.

• Dutch angle