Lights, Camera, Action !

28 September 2021 

L/O: To understand and practice using the principles of film making.

Shot Type

Establishing shot - is usually a wide shot shows a lot of the setting for context.

Master Shot - is a film recording of an entire dramatised scene, start to finish, from a camera angle that keeps all the players in view. 

Wide Shot - is a shot that shows the subject within their surrounding environment. A wide shot tells the audience who is in the scene, where the scene is set, and when the scene takes place.

Long Shot -  is often times used as an establishing shot in a film, as it normally sets the scene and the character's place within it. This type of camera shot, shows the full length of the subject while also including a large amount of the surrounding area of the film setting.

Medium Long Shot - somewhere between a close-up and a wide shot, showing the subject from the waist up while revealing some of the surrounding environment. Medium long shot: somewhere between a medium shot and a full shot, showing the subject from the knees up. Also called a ¾ shot.

Medium Shot - is a type of camera shot in film and television that shows an actor approximately from the waist up. A medium shot is used to emphasise both the actor and their surroundings by giving them an equal presence on screen.

Medium Close up -  is a shot that frames the subject from just above their head down to about midway on their torso. ... A medium close-up is often used when a scene needs to be covered with standard coverage that doesn't shock the viewer. 

Close-up - is a type of camera shot size in film and television that adds emotion to a scene. It tightly frames an actor's face, making their reaction the main focus in the frame. The director of photography films a close-up with a long lens at a close range.

Extreme Close-up - a subject very closely, often so much so that the outer portions of the subject are cut off by the edges of the frame. On an actor, this is commonly used to show specific portions of the body, like the face or hip, but it can go closer to show only an actor's mouth, or even a single eye.

Framing

Single - one character in shot, can show isolation.

Two shot - is a shot that shows two subjects in the same frame. The subjects don't necessarily have to be next to each other, sometimes a subject is in the foreground and the other is in the background.

Three shot - when three characters are in the frame. 

Four shot - when four characters are in the frame.

Five Shot - when five characters are in the frame.

Crowd Shot - More than five characters are in the frame.

Over the shoulder -  is used as a way to capture the perspective of the subject whose shoulder the camera is placed behind. This technique can often be used to manipulate the level of identification an audience has with a character or can display a relationship dynamic between two characters on screen.

point of view - A sequence that is shot as if the viewer were looking through the eyes of a specific character. The shot is a common trick of the horror film: that is, we are placed in the position of the killer who is slowly sneaking up on a victim.

insert shot - is a shot of part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot. Inserts cover action already covered in the master shot, but emphasise a different aspect of that action due to the different framing.

Camera angle

Low angle - is a shot in which the camera angle is positioned below the eye line of the subject, pointing upward. 

High Angle - looks down at the subject from a higher perspective and can convey information or elicit an emotional response from the audience.

Overhead shot -  is a high angle shot almost directly (or literally directly) above the subject. It allows the viewer in on the action but still maintains character detail.

Dutch angle shot - also known as Dutch tilt, canted angle, or oblique angle, is a type of camera shot which involves setting the camera at an angle on its roll axis.

Eye Level - a shot where the camera is positioned directly at a character or characters' eye level. Considered to be a “neutral” camera angle, its function is not to distort or over-dramatize a scene but rather to give the viewer a very familiar perspective.

Shoulders level - is a camera angle that is as high as your subject's shoulders. Shoulder level shots are actually much more standard than an eye level shot, which can make your actor seem shorter than reality.

Hip Level - is created when the camera is placed nearly waist-high. It is used mostly in cowboy movies to intensify the moment of pulling out the gun in a duel scene. It is also useful when characters are not at the same level

Knee level - is when your camera height is about as low as your subject's knees. They can emphasise a character's superiority if paired with a low angle. It's not as extreme as a ground level shot but it gets the same feeling across.

Ground Level - is when your camera's height is on ground level with your subject. This camera angle is used a lot to feature a character walking without revealing their face, but it can help to make the viewer more active and use the actor's performance to build an idea.

Camera movement 

Static - When something happens but the camera has no movement , used in dialogue, Traps the character shows helpless movement.

pan - Rotates the camera horizontally, used to reveals  information or character .

Whip Pan - quick transitions with movements can happening out of the camera, transition between two or more character quickly.

Tilt - directs the camera upward or downward, Can reveal information, setting or scale .

Push in - Moves the camera towards a character, emphasise the scene more, shows facial expression or a important texts or object shows detail. slow push in escalates the scene.

Pull out - detaches the viewers from the scene, shows isolation or intense movement behind the camera.

Crash zoom - Fast zoom in or out makes the scene dramatic shows intense moment in the scene. 

Tracking -  the camera follows or leads the subject, Shows perceptive from the camera mans view, Can be used to build tension.