MEDIA KEY TERMSImages and Definitions

(in Section A exam book)

PART A: CAMERA SHOTSPART B: CAMERA ANGLESPART C: CAMERA MOVEMENTPART D: COMPOSITION

Complete starter quiz

• A) write the correct letter• B) place correct term in correct box

10 mins

Peer assess

Part A

• Camera shots– Establishing shot– Wide shot– Long shot– Mid/medium shot– Close up shot– Extreme close up shot– POV (point of view)– Over the shoulder shot– Two shot– Aerial shot– Overhead shot

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Establishing shotEstablishes setting of a scene, often giving viewer information about where scene is set. Can be range of distances from wide/long shot of whole city or wide shot of a place in a city or shot of house or even close up of a sign. Usually at the beginning of a scene to give clarity to audience of the setting.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Wide ShotThis shot is wide and shows a large variety of information, like a panoramic photograph. Often, establishing shots are wide shots. Could be used in such situations to show everyone in room or at a dinner table.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Long shotFraming of a character or subject of their whole body

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Mid/medium shotFraming of a character or subject of their torso (mostly torso and head but could be torso and legs)

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Close up ShotFraming of a character or subject of some particular part of their body or object such as face, hand, details of an object like a plate.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Extreme close up shotA shot that is of a part of body or face to show extreme detail to audience to give them more information or detail about a character or object.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Point of ViewShows a view from the character’s perspective, edited in such a way that the audience are aware of who the character is (for example they would show a reverse shot of that character)

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Over the shoulder shotA shot which is filmed as if it is from the back of a character’s shoulder. The character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it could vary depending on purpose. For example if the shot is to show the character facing the audience is very inferior perhaps they would only occupy ¼ of the shot.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Two shotOf two characters communicating, interacting or conversing. Usually to signify or show a relationship between the two characters. (doesn’t always have to be humans)

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Aerial shotA camera shot taken from an overhead position (usually from quite a far distance like in a helicopter). Often used as establishing shots to establish cities or places in city.

PART A: CAMERA SHOTS

• Overhead ShotA type of camera shot in which the camera is placed above a character, action or object being filmed. Distances could vary. (like birds eye view)

Part B: Camera Angles

• Low• High• Canted/oblique

PART B: CAMERA ANGLES

• Low angleAn angle that taken from a lower place that looks up at character or subject, often used to make the character or subject appear bigger/more dominant/powerful etc.

PART B: CAMERA ANGLES

• High AngleAn angle that taken from a higher place that looks down at character or subject, often used to make the character or subject appear smaller/vulnerable/weak etc.

PART B: CAMERA ANGLES

• Canted or Oblique angleCamera angle that makes what is shot to appear skewed or tilted, could be used to disorientate the audience

Part C: Camera movement

• Pan• Tilt• Track• Zoom/reverse zoom• Dolly• Crane• Stedicam• Vertigo

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• PanWhen camera pivots horizontally either from left to right or right to left to reveal more information (reveal more of a setting for example) It can be used to give viewer a panoramic view, sometimes used to establish a scene that can’t fit in one shot/frame.

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• TiltOpposite to pan: When camera pivots vertically either from top to bottom or bottom to top to reveal more information (reveal more of a setting for example) It can be used to give viewer more information/view about settings, objects, characters etc. Often used to reveal a whole outfit of a character.

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• TrackMovement of camera that moves from side to side without a pivot to follow an object or character. Can include smooth movements from side to side, frontwards, backwards or even on a curve but cannot include complex movement around a subject. ‘Track’ is referred to rails in which a wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth movement.

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• ZoomWhen the camera feature zoom goes in towards an object or character to reveal more significance or detail. Speed of zoom can vary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni5LdzvLY7o slower zoom

Example: fast zoom in on characters face in ‘The Ring’ opening sequence

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• Reverse ZoomOpposite of zoom. Often called ‘zoom out’ When the camera feature zoom goes out away from an object or character to reveal more details/setting around them. Speed of zoom can vary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_edwbetOlfU&feature=related

Example: slow reverse zoom (or zoom out) in ‘Psycho’ when the camera zooms out from the dead girl’s eye in the shower to reveal her dead body.

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• DollyWhen a camera moves in and out (not track and not zoom) or backwards and forwards on an object called a dolly which is like a tripod with wheels

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• Crane

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• StedicamA stabilizing mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the operator’s movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when operator is moving quickly or on uneven surface. Used when tripod cannot be used or at high action filming such as sporting events so there is not shaky camera movements.

PART C: CAMERA MOVEMENT

• VertigoA movement which is zooming and dollying at same time. For example dolly out, zoom in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAhGM2Fyl8Q&feature=related

Composition

• Composition (arranged/structure) is how things are laid out or arranged or structured.

• Balance– Symmetry (symmetric balance)– Asymmetry (asymmetric balance)

• Rule of thirds• Depth of field– Shallow focus– Deep focus– Focus pulls

PART D: COMPOSITION

• BalanceBalance is arranging elements so that no one part of a work overpowers, or seems heavier than any other part. The three different kinds of balance are symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. Symmetrical (or formal) balance is when both sides of an artwork, if split down the middle, appear to be the same. The human body is an example of symmetrical balance. The asymmetrical balance is the balance that does not weigh equally on both sides. Radial balance is equal in length from the middle. An example is the sun.**from wikipedia

The way we carefully place objects or subjects in a frame to show balance or equalness in colour, size or texture.

Balance in Shapes Balance in size Balance in colour

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Symmetry (connected to balance)When the shot (or frame) is equally symmetrical or balanced on both sides. Both sides look nearly identical on both sides. Often used in filming to show order, normalness or organisation.

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Asymmetry (connected to balance)When the shot (or frame) is equally asymmetrical or unbalanced on both sides. Both sides look different on both sides. Often used in filming to show disorder, chaos or various objects, characters or subjects.

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Rule of thirdsThe rule of thirds is a compositional rule in visual arts such as painting, photography, film and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.[2] Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.*

*from wikipedia

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Depth of fieldDepth of field (DOF) is distance of what is in focus. It is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is unnoticeable under normal viewing conditions.

Depth of field is distance which is in focus = the writing picture has shallow depthOf field because it is only a small amount in focus.

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Shallow focusShallow focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a small depth of field.

In shallow focus one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is typically used to emphasize one part of the image over another.

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Deep focusThe opposite of shallow focus is deep focus, in which the entire image is in focus. Consequently, in deep focus the foreground, middle-ground and background are all in focus.

PART D: COMPOSITION

• Focus pullsFocus pull (AKA rack focus) is a creative camera technique in which you change focus during a shot. Usually this means adjusting the focus from one subject to another.

• The shot below begins focused on the plant in the foreground, then adjusts focus until the girl is sharp.

Fill in terms to revise (RAG)

• Homework:

• Revise the terms!

• Consider what you wrote for AMBER & RED