Camera shots: homework

Copy paste each of these shot types onto a powerpoint slide, then illustrate that slide with a suitable still or clip from any film.

Save your work, under your name, here:

R drive/Student work/English/Media/MrD.

Due Friday.

Camera shots

Long shot (LS). Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings.

Establishing shot. Opening shot or sequence, frequently an exterior 'General View' as an Extreme Long Shot (ELS). Used to set the scene.

Extreme Long Shot (ELS) - see establishing shot: In this type of shot the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasising the background.

Medium Long Shot (MLS): In the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles. Some documentaries favour keeping people in the longer shots, keeping social circumstances rather than the individual as the focus of attention.

Medium shots. Medium Shot or Mid-Shot (MS). In such a shot the subject or actor and its setting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. In the case of the standing actor, the lower frame passes through the waist. There is space for hand gestures to be seen. Medium Close Shot (MCS): The setting can still be seen. The lower frame line passes through the chest of the actor. Medium shots are frequently used for the tight presentation of two actors (the two shot), or with dexterity three (the three shot).

Close-up (CU). A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character's face, in great detail so that it fills the screen. It removes the subject from a context. MCU (Medium Close-Up): head and shoulders. BCU (Big Close-Up): forehead to chin. Close-ups focus attention on a person's feelings or reactions, and are sometimes used in interviews to show people in a state of emotional excitement, grief or joy. In interviews, the use of BCUs may emphasise the interviewee's tension and suggest lying or guilt. BCUs are rarely used for important public figures; MCUs are preferred, the camera providing a sense of distance. Note that in western cultures the space within about 24 inches (60 cm) is generally felt to be private space, and BCUs may be invasive.

Camera Angles

Angle of shot. The direction and height from which the camera takes the scene.

The convention is that in 'factual' programmes subjects should be shot from eye-level only.

In a high angle the camera looks down at a character, making the viewer feel more powerful than him or her, or suggesting an air of detachment.

A low angle shot places camera below the character, exaggerating his or her importance.

An overhead (or bird’s eye) shot is one made from a position directly above the action.

A worm’s eye shot is one made from the ground up to the person – an extreme low angle shot.

Tilted shot. When the camera is tilted on its axis so that normally vertical lines appear slanted to the left or right, ordinary expectations are frustrated. Such shots are often used in mystery and suspense films to create a sense of unease in the viewer.

More terminology (for real pros)

Point-of-view shot (POV). A shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a performer who is to be watching the action shown in the point-of-view shot.

Two-shot. A shot of two people together.

Selective focus. Rendering only part of the action field in sharp focus through the use of a shallow depth of field. A shift of focus from foreground to background or vice versa is called rack focus.

Soft focus. An effect in which the sharpness of an image, or part of it, is reduced by the use of an optical device.