Learning About Camera Shots

    Hello, here's a little something about what I learned about types of camera shots. 

Films are made up of sequences, and those sequences are made up of scenes.

Shot size - helps establish mood and significance of a scene

Establishing shot - used to open a scene, very wide can establish time of day, used to transition scene to scene and show details (crucial introductory component) 

Master shot - confirms location and geography, demonstrates characters, and emphasizes relationships between characters

Wide shot (WS) - positions subjects from camera to show the relationship between characters

Full shot - subjects entire body is shown, effective because it makes statements and presents characters in all their glory

Medium full shot - subject is shown head to waste (also known as the cowboy shot), usually is used to present a character as dangerous 

Medium shot (MS) - captures subjects interacting with others, similarly to how people interact with each other in real life, head is above the waist, but below chest (very popular)

Medium close-up shot - mid-chest to above the head 

Close-up (CU) - usually applied to show changes in emotion, can show thoughts or feelings a character is feeling (eye level) 

Extreme close-up (ECU) - framed to isolate specific area 

Inserts shots - highlights objects to demonstrate how crucial it is to the narrative

POV shot - shows characters literal POV, gives shot more energy, shot is able to provide direct empathy,  but sometimes can be too limited

Here's a video that further explains the camera shots I've listed above.

Here's a video we watched in class explaining what the POV shot is and its effect.