The medium shot creates a balance between character and setting and usually emphasizes a character's upper-body, arms, and head.The medium shot is a general, all-purpose shot.Medium shots are used for dialogue sequences, and they allow the viewer to pick up on the character's movements and gestures. Body language is important to conveying emotion, and the medium shot remains close enough to capture that emotion.
Point-Of-View Shot A shot taken with the camera placed approximately where the character's eyes would be, showing what the character would see; usually cut in before or after a shot of the character looking. Horror films and thrillers often use POV shots to suggest a menacing and unseen presence in the scene. Films that use many point-of-view shots tend toward dynamic and non-naturalistic style. In this clip from Peking Opera Blues (Do Ma Daan, Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 1986) the female impersonator's fear of the soldier who attempts to procure him for his general is rendered comic by the cut to POV and wide angle. Example,
Worm's Eye Shot
A worm's-eye view is a view of an object from below, as though the observer were a worm; the opposite of a bird's-eye view. A worm's eye view is used commonly for third perspective, with one vanishing point on top, one on the left, and one on the right.
Example,
This is a three point perspective view of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 'up and down' lines are closer to vertical than in the picture of the tower (because the viewer is farther away). However, if you were to extend the lines they would eventually meet at a vanishing point far above the horizon. Example,
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California, comparison of one point perspective and three point perspective (worm's eye) views. Another example,
Bird's Eye View
A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans and maps.
It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing. Before manned flight was common, the term "bird's eye" was used to distinguish views drawn from direct observation at high locations (for example a mountain or tower), from those constructed from an imagined (bird's) perspectives. Bird's eye views as a genre have existed since classical times. The last great flourishing of them was in the mid-to-late 19th century, when bird's eye view prints were popular in the United States and Europe.
The terms aerial viewpoint are also sometimes used synonymous with bird's-eye view.
Example,
Aerial
The term aerial view can refer to any view from a great height, even at a wide angle, as for example when looking sideways from an airplane window or from a mountain top. Overhead view is fairly synonymous with bird's-eye view but tends to imply a less lofty vantage point than the latter term. For example, in computer and video games, an "overhead view" of a character or situation often places the vantage point only a few feet (a meter or two) above human height.
Example,
Crane
A shot with a change in framing rendered by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air in any direction. It is accomplished by placing the camera on a crane (basically, a large cantilevered arm) or similar device. Crane shots are often long or extreme long shots: they lend the camera a sense of mobility and often give the viewer a feeling of omniscience over the characters.Crane shots can also be used to achieve a flowing rhythm, particularly in a long take, as in this clip from The Player (Altman, 1992). Example,
High Angle Shot
In film, a high angle shot is usually when the camera angle is located above the eyeline. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting. High angle shots also make the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless. High angle shots are usually used in film to make the moment more dramatic or if there is someone at a high level that the character below is talking to.
Example,
Low Angle Shot
In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up. The trunk shot is a specialised type of low-angle shot. Example,
Extreme Long Shot A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very small; a building, landscape, or crowd of people will fill the screen. Usually the first or last shots of a sequence, that can also function as establishing shots.. The following examples of framing well illustrate the range of uses for this particular shot scale. These two extreme long shots are also establishing shots. However, their primary function is different. Whereas the director give us a standard establishing shot that introduces the locale where the main characters are about to meet, while the two shots above have similar sizes, some extreme long shots can be significantly larger, particularly if shot from the air with the help of cranes or helicopters. This kind of extreme long shot is also called bird's eye view shot, since it gives an aerial perspective of the scene
Medium Long Shot
Framing such than an object four or five feet high would fill most of the screen vertically. Also called plain américain, given its recurrence in the Western genre, where it was important to keep a cowboy's weapon in the image.
Long Shot
A framing in which the scale of the object shown is small; a standing human figure would appear nearly the height of the screen. It makes for a relatively stable shot that can accomodate movement without reframing. It is therefore commonly used in genres where a full body action is to be seen.
A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very large; most commonly, a small object or a part of the body usually shot with a zoom lens. Again, faces are the most recurrent images in extreme close-ups, as these images from The Color of Paradise (Rang-e Khoda,Majid Majidi, 1999),
Medium Close Up
A framing in which the scale of the object shown is fairly large; a human figure seen from the chest up would fill most of the screen. Another common shot scale.
Close Up
A framing in which the scale of the object shown is relatively large. In a close-up a person's head, or some other similarly sized object, would fill the frame. Framing scales are not universal, but rather established in relationship with other frames from the same film. This shot from A Summer Tale can be described as close-ups, even if one starts at the neck and the second at the upper chest..
Framing scales are usually drawn in relationship to the human figure but this can be misleading since a frame need not include people. Accordingly, this shot from The Color of Paradise (Rang-e Khoda, Majid Majidi, Iran,1999) is also a close-up.
A camera movement with the camera body turning to the right or left. On the screen, it produces a mobile framing which scans the space horizontally. A pan directly and immediately connects two places or characters, thus making us aware of their proximity. The speed at which a pan occurs can be expoited for different dramatic purposes. For instance, in a Mizoguchi or a Hou film, two characters may be having a conversation in a room, and after several minutes, the camera might pan and reveal a third person was also present, thus changing the whole implication of the scene. In a film likeTraffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000), on the other hand, pans are usually very quick, suggesting that characters have no time to waste, and that decisions must be taken fast, therefore contributing to the sense of imminent danger and moral urgency that the films tries to communicate. For example,
Track
A mobile framing that travels through space forward, backward, or laterally. See also crane shot, pan, and tilt. A tracking shot usually follows a character or object as it moves along the screen. Contrary to the pan, which mimicks a turning head, a tracking shot physically accompanies the entire range of movement. It therefore creates a closer affinity with the character or object moving, since the spectator is not just watching him/her moving, but moving with him/her. A standard tracking shot, as it was devised in the Classical Studio filmmaking, consisted in placing the camera on a wheeled support called a dolly, and moving it along rails or tracks to ensure the smoothness of movement associated with the continuity editing style. As cameras became lighter and steadier, tracking shots became more flexible and creative: bycicles, wheelchairs, roller skates, and many ingenious wheeled artifacts augmented the range of movement of tracking shots. In this clip from Central Station (Central do Brasil, Walter Salles, Brazil, 1998), one ininterrupted movement is rendered with two different tracking shots, linked by a match on action.The first is a classic tracking shot, with the camera on rails sideways to the character that is moving, following the child as the trains departs. The second uses the train as a dolly, as it moves away from the running child. Indeed, tracking shots are one of the most suggestive and creative camera movements, one that can be accomplished in a number of clever ways. Not surprisingly, some auteurs like Max Ophuls or Orson Welles made virtuosistic tracking shots a staple of their films, often in conjuntion with long takes. For example,
Lumiere Brothers - Tracking shot of Lyon, France (about 150 years ago)
Tilt
Tilt is the vertical axis of camera movement. When the camera tilts, it pivots up and down. Tilting is commonly used to look over tall objects such as an office building.To conceptualize a tilt, look forward and move your head to look up and down.Like the Pan, this technique is used to follow a character in motion. For example,
Pull Focus
Pulling Focus is considered a natural technique. Like our eyes, which pull focus whenever we look at objects that are at different distances in our field of vision.We can either focus on something close up or on something far away. Since we can't focus on both simultaneously, our eyes must Pull Focus to compensate.When filming, Pulling Focus is often needed, because like our eyes, most camera lenses don't keep the entire scene in focus. As the camera moves around, a crew member (focus puller) will adjust the focus to match whatever the camera is looking at. For example,
Crane
A shot with a change in framing rendered by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air in any direction. It is accomplished by placing the camera on a crane (basically, a large cantilevered arm) or similar device. Crane shots are often long or extreme long shots: they lend the camera a sense of mobility and often give the viewer a feeling of omniscience over the characters.Crane shots can also be used to achieve a flowing rhythm, particularly in a long take, as in this clip from The Player (Altman, 1992). For example,
An aerial shot is typically made from a helicopter or created with miniatures (today, digitally), showing a location from high overhead. For example,
Zoom In
To cause a camera or computer to make the image of something or someone appear much larger and nearer.
Zoom Out
To cause a camera or computer to make the image of something or someone appear much smaller and further away. For example,
Whip Pan
An extremely fast movement of the camera from side to side, which briefly causes the image to blur into a set of indistinct horizontal streaks. Often an imperceptible cut will join two whip pans to create a trick transition between scenes. As opposed to dissolves, action or graphic matches, and fades --the most common transitions of the continuity style-- whip pans always stand out, given their abrupt, brisk nature. Commonly used in flashy action genres such as kung-fu movies from the 70s, like Fists of Fury (Tang Shan Da Xiong, Wei Lo, Honk Kong, 1971). For example,
HandheldAndSteadicam
The use of the camera operator's body as a camera support, either holding it by hand or using a gyroscopic stabilizer and a harness. Newsreel and wartime camera operators favored smaller cameras such as the Eclair that were quickly adopted by documentarist and avant-garde filmmakers, notably the cinéma verité movement of the 1950s and 1960s. They were also used by young filmmakers since they were cheap and lent the images a greater feeling of sponteneity. At the time this challenge to prevailing standards was perceived as anti-cinematic but eventually it came to be accepted as a style. Whereas hand held cameras give a film an unstable, jerky feel, they also allows for a greater degree of movement and flexibility than bulkier standard cameras --at a fraction of the cost. Filmmakers now are experimenting with digital video in a similar way. Gyroscopically stabilized "steadicams" were invented in the 1970s and made it possible to create smooth "tracking" shots without cumbersome equipment. More recently, they are extensively used in music videos and in the films of the Dogme movement, such as Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (Denmark, 2000). For example,
Steadicam
Ironically, while today's steadicams allow for a fairly stable image, Lars Von Trier and his accolites prefer to exacerbate the jerkiness and unstability traditionally associated with these cameras as a marker of visceral autorial intervention. In fact, combining steadicam shooting with aggressive reframings and jump cuts , or even by shooting on low definition formats, Dogme and other radical filmmaking movements attempt to create a new cinematic look as further away as possible from mainstream Hollywood. For example,
Handheld
Dolly
A camera dolly is a specialised piece of filmmaking and television production equipment designed to create smooth camera movements (cinematic techniques). The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera. The dolly grip is the dedicated technician trained to operate the dolly.
The camera dolly may be used as a shooting platform on any surface but is often raised onto a track, to create smooth movement on a horizontal axis know as a dolly shot. Additionally, most professional film studio dollies have a hydraulic jib arm that raises or lowers the camera on the vertical axis. When a dolly grip operates a dolly on perpendicular axes simultaneously, it's known as a compound move.
Dolly moves may also be executed without track, giving more freedom on the horizontal plane and with it, a higher degree of difficulty. These are called dance floor moves and may either be done on the existing surface (if smooth enough) or on an overlay designed for dolly movement. The ground overlay usually consists of thick plywood as a bottom layer and masonite on top. Camera dollies have several steering mechanisms available to the dolly grip. The typical mode is rear-wheel steering, where the front wheels the font wheels remain fixed, while the wheels closest to the operating handle are used to turn. A second mode, round steering, causes the front wheels to turn in the opposite direction from the rear wheels. This mode allows the dolly to move in smooth circles and is frequently used when the dolly is on curved track. A third mode, called crab steering, is when the front wheels steer in the same direction as the rear wheels. This allows the dolly to move in a direction diagonal to the front end of the dolly.
