Camera Techniques: Distance and Angle Flashcards
Long shot (LS)
Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings.
e.g. (Men In Black)
Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
In this type of shot the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasising the background.
Medium Long Shot (MLS)
In the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles. Some documentaries with social themes favour keeping people in the longer shots, keeping social circumstances rather than the individual as the focus of attention.
e.g. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1968, Sergio Leone)
Establishing Shot
Opening shot or sequence, frequently an exterior ‘General View’ as an Extreme Long Shot (ELS). Used to set the scene.
Medium shots
Medium Shot or Mid-Shot (MS). In such a shot the subject or actor and its setting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. In the case of the standing actor, the lower frame passes through the waist. There is space for hand gestures to be seen.
e.g. Sherlock Holmes (2009) (Guy Ritchie)
Medium Close Shot (MCS)
The setting can still be seen. The lower frame line passes through the chest of the actor. Medium shots are frequently used for the tight presentation of two actors (the two shot), or with dexterity three (the three shot).
e.g. Pulp Fiction (1994) Quentin Tarantino
Actors: John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson
Close-up (CU).
A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character’s face, in great detail so that it fills the screen. It abstracts the subject from a context.
e.g. Carlitos Way, 1994. Brian De Palma
Actor: The one and only
MCU (Medium Close-Up)
Head and shoulders.
e.g. Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock
Actress: Janet Leigh
BCU (Big Close-Up)
Forehead to chin
e.g.
Why would you use a Close-Up?
Close-ups focus attention on a person’s feelings or reactions, and are sometimes used in interviews to show people in a state of emotional excitement, grief or joy. In interviews, the use of BCUs may emphasise the interviewee’s tension and suggest lying or guilt.
BCU or MCU for a public figure? Why?
BCUs are rarely used for important public figures; MCUs are preferred, the camera provides a sense of distance.
Angle of shot
The direction and height from which the camera takes the scene.
Angle shot in “factual” programmes?
The convention is that in ‘factual’ programmes subjects should be shot from eye-level only.
e.g. Amelie (2001), Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Why use a high-angle shot?
In a high angle the camera looks down at a character, making the viewer feel more powerful than him or her, or suggesting an air of detachment.
e.g. Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock
Why use a low-angle shot?
A low angle shot places camera below the character, exaggerating his or her importance.
e.g. Pulp Fiction. (1994) Quentin Tarantino
Overhead shot?
An overhead shot is one made from a position directly above the action.
e.g. Taxi Driver (1976), Martin Scorsese
Viewpoint
The apparent distance and angle from which the camera views and records the subject. Not to be confused with point-of-view shots or subjective camera shots.
Point-of-view shot (POV)
A shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a performer who is to be watching the action shown in the point-of-view shot.
e.g. Reservoir Dogs, (1992), Quentin Tarantino
Two-shot.
A shot of two people together.
e.g. Seven (1995), David Fincher
(in this case, there is also a low-angle shot.
Selective focus
Rendering only part of the action field in sharp focus through the use of a shallow depth of field.
Rack focus
A shift of focus from foreground to background or vice versa
Soft focus
An effect in which the sharpness of an image, or part of it, is reduced by the use of an optical device.
Wide-angle shot
A shot of a broad field of action taken with a wide-angle lens.
e.g. Raising Arizona, (1987) Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Tilted shot
When the camera is tilted on its axis so that normally vertical lines appear slanted to the left or right, ordinary expectations are frustrated. Such shots are often used in mystery and suspense films to create a sense of unease in the viewer.
e.g. The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed
