USJ
Film Shots and English for the Media
Angles
Film Shots and Angles
Camera Angles
Camera angles and movements combine to create a sequence of images, just as words, word order
and punctuation combine to make the meaning of a sentence. You need a straightforward set of
key terms to describe them.
Describing Shots
When describing camera angles, or creating them yourself, you have to think about three
important factors
— The FRAMING or the LENGTH of shot
— The ANGLE of the shot
— If there is any MOVEMENT involved
When describing different cinematic shots, different terms are used to indicate the amount of
subject matter contained within a frame, how far away the camera is from the subject, and the
perspective of the viewer. Each different shot has a different purpose and effect. A change
between two different shots is called a CUT.
Close Up (CU) shots
❖ A close up shot of a character usually
takes in their head and shoulders.
❖ It can be used to emphasise how
important a character or object is.
❖ It allows the audience to build a
relationship with the character.
Extreme Close Up (ECU) shots
❖ An extreme close up shot usually
focuses on a part of the face (often the
eyes or mouth)
❖ Used to convey emotion to the
audience
❖ Often used at key points in the story
Medium Shot (MS)
❖ A mid shot shows the body from the
waist up.
❖ It shows some background and whole
body language.
❖ Focus on character – it lets the
audience see what they are doing BUT
also how they are feeling
Long Shot (LS)
❖ A Full body is shown.
❖ Used to show location or relationships
of characters.
❖ Often used as a first shot at the start
of a particular sequence doing BUT also
how they are feeling
High Angle Shot
❖ The camera is positioned above the
person or place.
❖ It can make a person look vulnerable.
❖ Designed to make the audience side
with the characters in shot
Low Angle Shot
❖ The camera is positioned below the
person or place.
❖ It can make a person look powerful or
important.
Point of View (PoV) Shot
❖ The camera becomes the character and
shows us exactly what they are seeing,
as they would see it.
Eye Level Shot
❖ A neutral camera angle
❖ Represents a real person standing up,
watching the scene
Dutch Tilt/Canted Angle
❖ A Camera is tilted to one side.
❖ Used to disorientate audience/make
audience feel uneasy.
❖ Used to convey disequilibrium (physical
or mental)
Establishing Shot
❖ Generally a long or extreme long shot at the
beginning of a scene.
❖ It is used to indicate location, time,
relationships or theme
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sibsirBJ
e8s
Pan and Whip Pan Shots
❖ Pan: (panorama) camera swivels left or right on
axis.
❖ Used for:
❖ Showing scene
❖ Following movement
❖ Show POV as head turns
❖ Guiding attention
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dawdUBR
FuYI
❖ Whip Pan: very rapid pan.
❖ Used for:
❖ Rapid head-turn POVStyle
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snBax-TN
mEc
Tilt Shot
❖ Tilt: camera swivels up or down.
❖ Used for:
❖ Showing scene on different levels
❖ Following movement
❖ Show POV as head moves up/down
❖ Establishing shot
❖ e.g. in exterior: tilt up high
building CUT
❖ int: room in building
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=UHYFKsZH82o
Track/Crane shot
❖ Track (dolly): camera on wheels. Can track in/out, left/right, slow/fast.
❖ Crane: camera on crane so can move in/out, up/down space
❖ Helicopter shot
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aqk4I4zmG8
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9-UymSApM
Zoom
❖ Zoom: use of zoom lens to create illusion of camera moving in/out. Can zoom in/out.
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_gSUmjbdc
Editing
❖ How the shots are arranged in sequence
❖ Involves choice of length of each shot and of the kind of transition between each shot
❖ Montage: in Europe can simply mean editing; but also generally used to mean a rapid
succession of shots
Editing-Fade/Cut/Dissolve
❖ http://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/tips-and-techniques/447-common-video-tra
nsitions-cut-fade-and-dissolve
❖ Fade: into or out of black. It frequently appears at the beginning or end of a film. They
mark the beginning or end of film or sequence. It also signifies time has passed.
❖ Cut: shot A then shot B.
❖ Used for:Sequence in real time
❖ Parallel editing: cutting between related actions. Rapid cutting
❖ Dissolve: shot A overlaps with shot B.
❖ Used for:Jump in time/space (e.g. flashback, dream)
Editing-Wipe
❖ Wipe: shoot A peels off to reveal shot B. Horizontal/vertical /digital wipe.
❖ Used to:
❖ Move to new setting
❖ Style
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yRjBv1Em4A
Editing-Shot-reverse-shot
❖ Shot-reverse-shot: a technique where one character is shown looking at another
character. The second character is then shown looking back at the first character.
❖ Normally an over the shoulder POV
Editing-Cross-Cutting (Parallel
Editing)
❖ Cross-cutting (or Intercutting or Parallel Editing) is a technique in film editing in
which shots of events unfolding at two different places (or times) are interspersed for
specific emotional and narrative purposes.
❖ Used for:
❖ Creating suspense
❖ Compare and contrasting two characters/locations
❖ Sometimes used for telephone conversations
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvDba2nMv_U
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts1x6uADFtM
Sound
❖ Sound can be:
❖ External diegetic: coming from the
story space
❖ Internal diegetic: what character
‘hears’ inside head
❖ Non-diegetic: coming from outside the
story space e.g. soundtrack music,
voiceover
Lighting
❖ High-key lighting
❖ Bright lighting with little shadow
❖ Attractive faces
❖ Connotes normality
❖ Low-key lighting
❖ Key light dimmed
❖ Shadows
❖ Connotes unease, evil
❖ Feature of ‘film noir’
Mise-en-Scene
❖ Placing on stage
❖ When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears
before the camera and its arrangement
❖ Composition (the organisation of actors, objects and space within a frame)
❖ Sets
❖ Props
❖ Actors
❖ Costumes
❖ Lighting
Mise-en-Scene: American Beauty
RECAPITULATION PLUS A FEW MORE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATDnFr25JG8
A summary of the different shots, angles and sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ZQKEJQXDo
Camera movements examples
Eastenders
http://
www.dailymotion.com/video/x1rojkb_eastenders-friday-18th-april-2014-full-
episode_creation
After the episode (how many camera shots and angles can you name? ) there
is an example of a recapitulation.
