Film Study

Camera Shots

Low Angle Shot

The camera looks up at the subject.

• This makes the subject seem important, powerful or larger than the viewer.

High Angle Shot

The camera looks down on the subject.

This makes it look smaller – gives the audience a sense of power or the subject a sense of hopelessness.

Eye Level Angle

The audience sees things from the characters eye level.

It makes them feel more comfortable.

Over the Shoulder Shot

The camera shoots from behind a character’s shoulder, and is used mostly during conversations.

Allows the audience to feel more involved.

Establishing Shot (Extreme Long Shot)

Contains a lot of landscape and gives important information about the setting and atmosphere at the beginning of a scene.

Long Shot

Contains a lot of landscape or background and figures in the scene are recognisable as being human, male or female.

Medium Shot

Person is seen from the waist up.

If there are two people in a shot it is called a ‘two shot’, three people are a ‘three shot’.

Close Up

Contains no background, focuses on the entire object or a persons head and shoulders.

It may reveal human emotions or private information.

Extreme Close Up

Focuses on one thing in great detail, it is even closer than a close up.

DIAGETIC SOUND

A sound that other characters would be able to hear.

For example: A song on a radio, for instance, as a character drives down the highway, would be a diegetic sound, as would someone coughing audibly during a scene.

NON-DIAGETIC SOUND

Any voice, musical passage or sound effect that comes from outside the world of the movies;

For example: like background music, for instance or a voice over.

If the characters can't hear the sound, it's non-diegetic.

Time to test how much you remember…

Close Up

Establishing Shot

or

Extreme Long Shot

High Angle Shot

(close up)

Long Shot

Low Angle Shot

(close up)

Medium Shot

Low Angle Shot

(close up)

Establishing Shot

or

Extreme Long Shot

Long Shot

High Angle (long) Shot

Long Shot

Over-the-shoulder

shot