Camera Shots

Camera Shots

There are 5 main components when looking at a camera these include:

1) Angle

2) Movement

3) Position

4) Composition

5) Depth of field

Establishing Shot: Sets up or establishes the setting of a scene. It is typically at the beginning of a scene.

Close up Shot: Tightly frames a person or object to show detail or emotion

Medium Shot:  Shot from waist of knees up from a medium distance. This shows more body language and less specific detail.

Long Shot: Shows the surrounding, typically filed filmed from a distance.

Tracking Shot: Follow the action at a certain distance. It keeps the subject on screen.

Bird’s Eye View Shot:  It looks down on an image from a high point.

Dolly Shot: The camera is placed on a dolly and moves at a constant rate. It does not always follow the action.

Handheld Shot:  Filmed from the camera man’s point of view. It is a little shaky in order to show the scene from the subject’s perspective and feeling.

Zoom Shot: Either zooms in to isolate the subject or zooms out to show it in a wider context.

Point of view shot: Seen from a characters perspective.

Swish Pan: Moves swiftly from one subject to the other.

High Angle Shot: The camera is located above the subjects and films down. It it is used to show which character has less power and authority.

Low Angle Shot:  Filmed from knees up. It can also show the power of a character in a conversation or dialogue.