Shots, Angles, and Movements

To be able to get a high mark on my coursework, I need to ensure that the filming and editing is of high quality. This includes having varied collection of shot types, camera angles, camera movements, and focuses.

Shot Types - the distance at which something is shot from and their  purposes

• Establishing: an establishing shot tends to be the opening few shots of film/ television Their purpose is to 'set the scene' and give the audience a feel for the location of which the piece is set.
• Long: a long shot is employed when a large amount of the setting needs to be included in the scene. It is used to feature the character focused on and the surrounding environment.
• Full: a full shot shows the entire subject from head to toe and does not often feature too much of the setting to focus on, making it different from a long shot.
• Mid: a mid shot is used to show only a part of the subject, most commonly use to shoot a character from the head to the waist.
• Close Up: this type of shot focuses on a smaller part of the subject. It aims to capture more detail than a mid shot and is mainly used to focus on a character's face and shoulders.
• Extreme Close Up: similarly to the close up, an extreme close up is primarily used to capture small, minor details that would not necessarily be seen from any other type of shot. The difference between the two varieties of close up is how close they are. An extreme long should would show very little, for example, just a character's eye.
• Money: this is a type of shot used to how the character as they are doing something with a prop, and the camera can become the prop. For example, a camera can be placed inside a closed cupboard which will capture the moment the character opens the cupboard door and the audience would view the character from inside the cupboard, rather then outside.

Camera Angles - the angle at which a scene is shot from

• Eye Level: an eye level shot is when a scene is shot from face on. The camera would be at roughly the same height as the heads of the characters and gives the affect that the audience is at the same level as the subject.
• Low Angle: low angle shots are often used to signify looking up at something. To execute this type of shot, the camera would be placed lower down or at the bottom of the subject and shoot upwards to create the affect that the subject is towering over them. 
• High Angle: this is the opposite to a low angle shot. It is when the camera is positioned above the top of the subject and is angled downwards to capture it. It is often applied to denote looking down on something or something being below the character in focus. An example of this is an adult looking down at a child or pet.
• Overhead: this angle gives the shot a birdseye or ariel view and is commonly used to show someone moving across an area of land.
• Undershot: this gives the opposite effect to an overhead view, and is used to show being beneath something and looking up. From this angle, the audience will only see the underside of the the subject focused on. An example of this type of shot is when shooting underwater and the camera sees the underneath of a shark.

Camera Movement

• Pan: in a pan, the tripod holding the camera does not move from its fixed position but the camera itself can be pivoted. This type of shot will capture horizontally moving elements of the shot such as people walking or a car going past.
• Tilt: very similar to a pan as the tripod does not move, with the difference being that the camera is moved vertically, rather than horizontally. Shots like this will often be applied to reveal a building or a person.
• Track: tracking is the process of the camera following the subject around a scene. The camera is usually handheld.
• Dolly: a dolly is when the subject of the shot is followed by the camera when the camera is on wheels. This shot type is often employed to move the camera towards or away from the subject.
• Zoom: zooming is when the lens on the camera magnifies or minimizes the subject. It is often confused with dollying, but is different as the camera does not leave the fixed position it is in.
• Point of View (POV): a POV shot is used to portray to the audience that we are seeing what they would see and that the camera is acting as the subject's eyes.

Conversation Shots

• Over the shoulder: this type of shot shows a character from behind the shoulder of another character. One character will be in complete view, whilst only the back of the shoulder and head will be seen of the other.
• Face to face: in a shot like this, two characters would be sat in front of each other, looking at one another whilst speaking.
• Two Shot: this shot, like face to face, also focuses on two characters involved, but instead of them facing each other, they are side to side and the side of both their faces are shown.
• Over the head: this type of high angle shot shows a character from the view of above another, the character in the foreground only has the back of their head showing, whilst the other character is in full view.

Focus Techniques

• Manual: A manual focus is when the camera's focus is adjusted by the user.
• Depth of Field: This focus technique allows the shot to be blurred in either the background or foreground, to give emphasis to the other one. Depth of field is often used in the same scene, blurring the background, and foreground at different times to highlight one then the other.

Below is the video from YouTube that I used to help me learn the name of, and differences between, the range of shots, angles, and movements.