Types of shots

Shot/Take: a strip of film produced by one

continuous running of the camera(24 frames per second)

Establishing shot:

• a shot presenting a view of the setting, showing the spatial relations among the key figures. It is usually the first shot of a scene. It gives the spectator an overview (it establishes the setting) so that subsequent shots at a closer range are less likely to be spatially ambiguous or disorienting.

Extreme long (or extreme wide) shot:

• a shot taken from a great distance. It is almost always outside, and because the characters appear very small on the screen, an ELS emphasizes the setting. ELS is often used as an establishing shot (e.g. the pan out in the cemetery in Harold and Maude)

Harold and Maude

Long (or wide) shot:

• Just barely includes the entire human body

Medium shot:

• includes a character from the knees or waist up. This is the most common shot. Often useful for exposition or dialogue. If two characters are in the frame it is called a two-shot. If three characters, it is a three shot. If more than three characters, it is a full shot.

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/mid-shot.html

Close up:

• One object (or a face) fills the entire the frame

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/closeup.html

Extreme close up:

• a part of the face or object dominates the frame

Over the shoulder shot:

• contains two figures, one with part of his/her back to the camera, the other one facing the camera.

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/over-shoulder.html

Reaction shot:

• a shot, typically a close-up, in which a character visibly responds to the events in the previous shot. Often, a reaction shot is the third shot of a three-shot unit, comprised of a shot of the character looking offscreen, a shot (usually a POV) of what is seen, and a shot showing the character's reaction.

POV shot:

• A shot showing what the character sees; usually cut in before and/or after a shot of the character looking.

Types of shots

• Look for all types of shots in this clip from Groundhog Day

Deep focus shot:

• a shot in which everything, things close and things very far away, are in focus.

Shallow Focus

• one small plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus.

Rack focus

• shifting the focus from one part of the frame to another.