Shots, Angles and Movements

This week we learned about camera shots, angles and movements. It aids in telling your story and makes it much more interesting and dramatic. Shots can vary in duration, size or meaning depending on the effect you are trying to give. There are three main types of shots

ü Long shot

ü Medium shot

ü Close-up shot

long shot

medium shot

Close up

Under these main heading falls other shots

ü Long shot – Establishing shot

Extreme long shot

Full shot ( falls under medium as well)

ü Medium shot- Over the shoulder shot

Full shot

Mid shot

ü Close up- Extreme close up

Angles

Camera angles are used to position the viewer so that they can understand the relationships between the characters.

High angle – with this angle the camera is placed directly overhead, these angles are often used to demonstrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character.

Bird’s eye view- It can be extremely disorienting and make the viewer or character seem godlike.

Low Angle- is a camera angle that looks up at a character. This is the opposite of a high angle and makes a character look more powerful. This can make the audience feel vulnerable and small by looking up at the character. This can help the responder feel empathy if they are viewing the frame from another character’s point of view.

Dutch/Oblique angle- this is a tilt of the camera so that figures appear to be falling out of the frame. It is also sometimes used to demonstrate the confusion of a character.

Point of View or Reverse –this is a shot taken from the point of a particular character, or it showing what the character sees.