camera angles, shots, movement and positions

Camera Angles, Shots, Movement and Positions.

Created by Hannah Scholefield

Establishing Shot

Establishes the context for a scene: showing where and when the film is set.

Low Angled Shot

A shot of an object from below looking up. Used to increase the height of an object, making it seem powerful and threatening.

High Angled Shot

A shot of an object from above looking down. Used to make an object seem smaller and/or vulnerable.

Close-up

A shot of a part of the body with a little background.

Medium Close-up

A shot of a person from the mid-chest to the top of the head.

Extreme Close-up

A shot magnifying a part of the body (e.g. the eyes) showing no background.

Long Shot

A shot of a object/person from a distance, showing the whole of their body from head to toe.

Medium Long Shot

A shot of a person from the waist up.

Two/Three Shot

A shot including two or three people

Aerial Shot

A shot taken from a birds eye view, establishing a setting.

Point Of View

A shot of what the subject can see.

Panning

A movement that scans a scene horizontally.

Tilting

A movement that scans a scene vertically.

Tracking

A shot taken by a person following the subject with a camera

Dollying

Involves a track being laid on set for the camera to follow/move on.

Zoom in/out

A shot of the subject where the camera appears to move closer/further away from it.

Hand Held Shot

A shot taken by a hand held camera. This is used to make the viewer feel like they are in the scene.

Focus Pull

A shot that maintains image sharpness on the subject being filmed.

Canted Angle

A shot used to suggest point of view shots (i.e. When the camera becomes the eyes of one particular character, seeing what they see)

Rule of 3rds

A concept in video/film production in which the frame is divided into nine imaginary sections.