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There are three basic camera shots:
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Wide shot
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Also known as Establishing Shot or Long Shot. This shows the whole scene. Frequently you'll see video pieces begin with this shot. It's helpful because it sets the stage - the viewer gets oriented to where s/he is. These shots are also good if there's a lot of movement because there is plenty of room to move around. This shot might show a small crowd of people. To get this shot, you may need to zoom back as far as you can.
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Medium Shot
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This shot shows less of a scene than the wide shot. The camera seems closer to the subject (although it may not be if you use your zoom lens). For example, if you were interviewing someone, this shot would show them from about the waist up in a medium shot. Use this when you want a closer look at your subject, or when you need to transition between wide shots and close-up shots (it is difficult for the viewer to follow what you are doing if you go straight from a wide shot to a close-up shot).
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Close Up Shot
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This shot shows an even smaller part of the subject or scene. It's great for showing detail, like a person's emotional face or individual leaves on a tree. 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.
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Over the Shoulder or Cutaway Shot
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A cutaway is a shot away from the main action. For instance, 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. This particular shot is also called "over the shoulder" because the photographer is literally shooting video of you over the shoulder of the person you are interviewing. (An over the shoulder shot is a type of cutaway). These are very useful when editing because they give you an easy way to transition.
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Two Shot/Three Shot -
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A two shot has two people in the frame. A three shot has three people in the frame. Because you have to be some distance from the people to get them all in the frame, this is usually a medium or wide shot.
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Sequence
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A term used in gathering video and editing. It refers to a series of related shots. For example, a sequence could be a wide shot of the Bay, followed by a medium shot of a few windsurfers, followed by a single windsurfer zipping through the water.
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Length of shot
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How long you show each shot depends on what's going on in the shot, and what you're trying to accomplish. If there's a lot of action or movement in a shot, you may use 20 seconds of it or more. If nothing is happening in the shot and you're showing a still scene, you may only use three seconds. When deciding how long to make a shot, keep in mind that your goal is to gain and hold the audience's attention and understanding.
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Camera Angles
The shot angle is the level from which you look at your subject through the camera.
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Eye-level angle
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One of the most commonly used shots is the eye-level shot. Why? Because it's the perspective most familiar to us - we usually see things from our own eye-level. This angle also causes the least discomfort because we're used to it. If you're shooting a person, and you want to make it an eye-level shot, make sure you shoot at their eye-level, not yours.
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Low Angle
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In this shot the camera looks up at the subject, making it seem important, powerful, or perhaps larger than it is to the viewer. For example, you might be sitting on the ground looking up at someone who is standing.
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High Angle
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In this shot the camera looks down on the subject, decreasing its importance. The subject looks smaller. It often gives the audience a sense of power, or makes the subject seem helpless. In this case, you'd be higher than the other person (maybe they're sitting, or maybe you're standing on a desk) looking down on that person.
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| Tilt - |
Camera movement in a vertical plane. (up or down) If you want to show a tall building but you can't get it all in your shot, you might start at the bottom of the
building and go up to the top.
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| Zoom - |
This shot moves you closer to the subject, into a Medium Shot or Close Shot. If you are looking at the Golden Gate Bridge, and you want to see individual people
walking across it, you might zoom in.
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| Reverse Zoom - |
This shot moves you farther away into a Medium Shot or a Wide Shot. If you have a close up shot of a flower, and want to see the entire field that the flower is in, you will reverse zoom.
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1 - A note about photographer responsibility - you owe it to your viewers not to make them motion sick, unless, of course, that is your goal! Rapid pans, tilts, repeated
zooms can make a person feel woozy, and may also prevent them from clearly seeing the video you collected.
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2 - The standard rule with moving shots is this: whenever possible, start your sequence stationary on a subject, then pan/tilt/zoom/reverse zoom, then hold stationary again. This helps enormously for editing purposes. For example, if you want to move your camera from one end of a mountain range to another, start focused on one side of the mountain range and hold that shot for three seconds (stationary position), then pan to the other side (slowly enough so the video won't be a blur), then stay focused on the other end of the mountain range for three seconds (stationary position). If you edit or cut away in the middle of a pan/zoom/tilt/reverse zoom, you may make your viewer disoriented.
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| 3 - In general, use shots with movement sparingly. Try to put a still shot (no pan, tilt, or zooming) in between two pans/tilts/zooms. This gives the viewer a moment to get their bearings. |
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Composition and Framing Your Shots
There are many ways to compose a shot, depending on your goals. You want to be aware of what is in the shot and what isn't. Ask yourself, can I clearly see what I intend
for the viewer to see?
Rule of Thirds - this classic rule suggests that the center of the camera's attention is one-third of the way down from the top of the shot.
Headroom - A term used with shots of people. This refers to the space above the subject's head. You'll see different amounts of headroom left, depending on the intent of
the creator of the video. In general, if you're standing right in front of someone, you'll see that they have space all around them - they aren't cut off by a frame. By leaving
headroom, or space beside them, you are imitating what you see in real life.
Talking/Walking Room - If you are interviewing someone or have video of someone talking, you generally do not want them looking directly at the camera (again,
depends on your goals - certain situations may call for that). Generally you want the person to be looking off to the left or right of the camera a bit, towards where the
interviewer is sitting. When you do this, frame your shot so that there is some talking room. That is, you want to leave some extra space to the side of their face as if you
were going to draw a dialogue box in for them. This space is "talking room." If the person is talking to another person on camera, this is shown as space between them.
Walking room, if the person in motion, gives them space to walk to. It leaves space in the shot for the action, whether it be words or walking.
Often when working with production companies, clients find themselves a little confused about what all this jargon is that directors and
other production people use when discussing a shot. Since we think it's critical that clients and production personnel are on the same
page, we thought we list and define a few terms.
Establishing Shot or Long Shot: It shows the general environment, and shows a character in juxtaposition to that environment.
Master Shot: Shows the entire scene. There are no camera moves, medium shots, or Close Ups. Serves to acquaint the audience with the characters
participation in a scene.
Full Shot: Establishes an actor from head to toe.
* or Hollywood Shot: Shows an actor down to the knees. Used by directors during the 1930s.
Medium Shot: The actor is the center of attention, seen from either the waist or hip up.
Closeup: Head and shoulder framed in shot.
Tilt: The camera moves in a vertical arch. You may either Tilt Up or Tilt Down.
Pan Shot: The camera moves in a horizontal arc. Lead, don’t follow when panning.
Tracking Shot: The camera moves either forward or backward.
Cutaway Shot: Shot of something other than the subject. Used in editing to cover mistakes and bridge between medium and closeup shots.
Pull In/Pull Out: These shots pull in or out on an actor or an object. |
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