Media Studies

The Purposes and Effects of Various Camera Shots

The Distance and long Shots

Distance Shot

These shot are about showing distance between the camera and subject.

Mainly used to convey character driven scenes, emotion and action.

Long Shoto These shots are shot from a

distance and often used as an establishing shot to set the scene in a film. If of a person, will be a shot of the whole body.

o The long usually provides an extended view of the current scene. This shows the whereabouts of the character and maybe to show vital information related to the plot.

The Mid and Wide ShotThe Mid Shot

These are middle distance shots which gives background info

while still focusing on the subject. It is usually shot from waist to the top of

head.

Mostly used to show emotions between

characters such as hate or to establish to the

audience they are enemies for example.

The Wide Shoto The wide shot is mainly

used to present a lot of visual information to the audience.

o Used to ‘set the scene’ in a film scene.

The Close Up and Extreme Close Up shots

The Close Up Shot

This shot shows the subject up close. It focuses on the detail of the expression/reaction of a character or an object. It either shows head or head/shoulders.

The effect of the close up is used to imply intimacy between characters and between the character and audience. Also used to reveal thoughts and feeling that characters have.

The Extreme Close Up Shoto This shot only frames a small part of the body or object.

It can be used to make a small object/ body part seem larger and more significant.

o The effect is that it makes the audience focus o one thing and emphasises its significance in the film.

The Aerial and Over the Shoulder Shot

The Aerial Shot

An aerial shot is taken from a helicopter or plane and the

only reason they are used is to provide a birds-eye view of the

scene.

This shot is mostly enjoyed by audiences as it provides a shot that is unique and not widely

used by many film makers as I imagine it is costly to use a

helicopter/ plane for a scene.

The over Shoulder shoto This shot is a technique used

to film conversations within a scene. The camera is shot over the shoulder of one person to film what the other person is talking about.

o This is mainly used in Sitcoms such as The Big Bang Theory or How I Met your Mother.

Other Camera Shots

There are many other different camera shots but so far I’ve only mentioned the most used or recognisable camera shots that are used in the film industry at the moment.

Below is the names of the other camera shots that I didn’t go into detail with because they are not as widely used as the ones I’ve mentioned previously such as the distance shots.

Movement Shots

Zoom Shots

Pan Shots

Tilt shots

Tracking shots

The Pull-back Reveal