Introduction to Camera Shots Lights, Camera…ACTION! Introduction to Camera Shots

BASIC CAMERA SHOTS DO NOW: Describe a dramatic moment in your life, and EXPLAIN how you would film that moment… EXPLAIN= Describe, Give Reason

THE WIDE SHOT Also known as Establishing or Long Shot shows the whole scene. begins the scene Sets the stage : the viewer gets oriented to where s/he is. good if there's a lot of movement might show a small crowd of people. this shot zooms back as far as you can.

Wide/Establishing Shots

Wide/Establishing Shots

THE MEDIUM SHOT Less of a scene than the wide shot. Camera seems closer to the subject For example, if you were interviewing someone, this shot would show them from about the waist Used when the director: wants a closer look at the subject transitions between wide & close-up shots

The Medium Shot

The Medium Shot

THE CLOSE UP Even smaller part of subject or scene Shows detail/expression A person's emotional face Individual leaves on a tree. For example: If you were interviewing someone, this shot would show the person from the top of the chest or shoulders up. An Extreme Close Up Shot is even closer than a Close Up. For example, it is just of the person's eyes, or of a bug gnawing on a leaf.

The Close-Up

Extreme Close-Up

Cutaway or Over the Shoulder Shot A shot away from the main action. if you are interviewing someone, a cutaway could be a shot of the interviewer, who can be listening, nodding, or responding to the guest. This is used a lot in interviews to show the person who's asking the questions. It’s called "over the shoulder" because the photographer is literally shooting video of you over the shoulder of the person you are interviewing.

Cutaway or Over the Shoulder Shot

Extreme long shot Can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR - the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie.

CAMERA ANGLES The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed (ie the ANGLE) gives : emotional information to an audience guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. The more extreme the angle (ie the further away it is from eye left), the more symbolic and heavily-loaded the shot.

The Bird's-Eye view This shows a scene from directly overhead Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognizable at first This shot puts the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things.

Eye Level The most natural/neutral shot; The camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that actors' heads are on a level with the focus. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground.