Film Studies - Camera Shots, Angles, Movements

Establishing Shot

Sets the scene

Close Up

captures the head and shoulders of the subject

Medium Shot

waist up

Long Shot

feet to head, full body

Extreme Long Shot

the biggest shot a camera can capture of the subject matter

Handheld Shot

shaky, good for action

Steadicam Shot

Cameraman holds camera with a harness so it is smooth and steady movement

Aerial Shot

a shot from high above, usually from a crane or helicopter

Birdseye View

straight down

Over The Shoulder Shot

Looking from behind a person at the subject. Their shoulder and head should be visible.

Point of View Shot

Shot taken from a character's viewpoint

Dutch Angle Shot

Like your head is tilted

Extreme Close Up

Focus on part of a face or a key feature, can use macro-photography for cool effects too

Low Angle Shot

taken from a low angle

High Angle Shot

taken from a high angle

Reverse Angle Shot

series of shots in quick succession; conversational. often almost 180 degrees opposite to the shot prior

Cutaway

a shot that interrupts a continuous action, "cutting away" to another image or action, often to abridge time

Pan

side to side

Tilt

up and down

Zoom

backward and forward

arc

travels 360 degrees around the subject

Two-Shot

two characters side by side

Objective Shot

camera as third-person viewer

Subjective Shot

A shot that represents the point of view of a character.

Dolly Shot

The camera is on a track called a dolly and moves through a scene smoothly, following a determined course

Rack Focus

The camera does not move, it changes its focus to show things in different layers; foreground, middle ground and background

Crash Zoom

Super fast in/out/both

Pedestal Shot

Camera moves up or down on a platform, no change in tilt/angle

Boom

Everything done in one fluid sequence, no restrictions on shots

Shifting axis

the whole camera moves to capture a precise direction of travel, i.e, dolly, tracking