camerawork in films

1. FILM TERMINOLOGY
some basic terms to learn

2. SHOT SIZE
Shot sizes relate to the human figure.There are five
main sizes used in film
Wide
Long
Mid
Close Up
Extreme Close Up

3. Wide Shot
Mid Shot
Close Up
Extreme
Close Up
Long Shot

4. WIDE SHOT
sometimes called an establishing shot as the wide
shot helps establish the location and likely
atmosphere of that part of the film.
the wide shot is often a ‘master shot’ of the scene

6. LONG SHOT
Shows the full body of the character
Often shows how the character relates to the
environment, what their place in it is
How do the characters fit in the environment of the
sequence you have just seen

7. MID SHOT
Figures in the frame are only seen from
the waist up.
Provides detail while providing some
contextual information.
Can often show relationships between
characters

9. CLOSE UP
Contains almost, no background but focuses on the
whole of an object or person’s face.
Can be used isolate figure from its surroundings.
Can be used to show emotion or draw attention to
information.
Also called a ‘head and shoulders’ shot

11. Tight Close Up

12. EXTREME CLOSE UP
Shows enlarged detail of subject or an object
Known as a ‘detail shot’
The ECU is used to highlight a certain part of the
frame for emotional or narrative reasons

14. POINT OFVIEW SHOT
A shot as if through the eyes of a character

15. UNDERSTANDING ‘THE LINE’
•When filming a conversation between 2 people, an
important rule is not to cross ‘the line’
•‘the line’ is a mental guide for both director and
editor as to which side of the subject they are
shooting and looking at
•think of it as a 180˚ line between the two
characters.The camera must stay on one side of it

16. Here is an example of the line being observed. Notice
how the camera can ‘move’ through the line if
necessary to film from another angle.
See notes on cross-cutting

17. CAMERA MOVEMENT
There are FIVE basic camera movements:
Pan
Tilt
Track
Crane
Roll
There is also the camera action of the zoom in and
out

18. PAN
Camera pivots from left to right or right to left either
from object to object or following a figure or object.
The camera itself is usually on a tripod

19. TILT
The camera pivots up or down
The camera is usually mounted on a tripod

20. TRACK
The camera moves to track a subject
The movement can be backwards, forwards or
sideways
If the camera runs on tracks, it is a ‘dolly’ shot

21. CRANE
The camera moves vertically,
often on a mechanical arm

22. ROLL
The camera rotates on its axis, pitching the camera
sideways.The setting seems to spin or pitch.
Sometimes called a ‘dutch roll’

23. MOVEMENTS COMBINED
Camera movements are often combined.
A steadi-cam can be used to travel where dollies and cranes
can’t.

24. WIDE ANGLE VS TELEPHOTO SHOTS
Wide angle and telephoto refer to whether the
camera is zoomed out (wide) or zoomed in
(telephoto)
By altering the lens length (zooming in or out), a close
up of a person can look completely different

25. WIDE ANGLE
Wide angle =
1. the image looks ‘deep’ - objects in the background
look far away
2. DEEP FOCUS - everything in focus in the shot
distance far away
and in focus
distortion of features,
‘bending’ of edges of frame

26. TELEPHOTO
Telephoto =
1.‘flattening’ of image, so background looks closer
SHALLOW FOCUS - only part of the frame in focus
distance close up
and in focus,
while foreground and background
out of focus

27. CAMERA ANGLES
There are 3 main angles
Low
High
‘Dutched’

28. DUCTHED, DUTCH ANGLE,
DUTCH TILT CANTED ANGLE
A Dutch Angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to
one side so that teh shot is composed with vertical
lines to the sides of the frame
Often used to portray the psychological uneasiness
or tension in the subject being filmed

29. The angle refers to where the CAMERA is
LOW angle means the camera is LOW, looking up
HIGH angle means the camera is HIGH, looking
down
A low angle is often used to make the subject look
powerful, the high angle makes the subject look weak
If the camera is directly above it is an ‘overhead’ or
‘birds-eye’ shot

31. Lighting plays a big part in creating mood in a film
It is the responsibility of the Director of Photography
to light sets
Three alternative lighting effects are:
Backlighting - subjects lit from behind - aka silhouette
Sidelighting - lit from the side - aka chiaroscuro
Highlighting - one part of the frame lit to draw
attention to it
LIGHTING

32. BACKLIGHT

33. SIDELIGHT OR CHIAROSCURO

34. HIGHLIGHT