Research into Different Camera Shots

Wide Shot:
Shows the whole scene, all subjects/ elements are in the shot, establishes a setting. Known as an establishing shot.
 

 Long Shot:
Typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. 

 Medium Shot:
Action shot, generally from the waist up, a shot where you are able to identify with a subject, character or thing.

Close Up:
Head and shoulders shot; the emotion shot; an expression shot; the detail shot, the reaction shot.

Extreme Close Up:
Only a part of the face or body or element fills the whole shot. A part of the subject usually dominates the screen.

High Angle Shot:
Camera looking downwards, generally shot from just above head height. Can make a subject look vulnerable.

Birds Eye View:
Very high camera angle shot downwards towards the subject from a building, ladder or balcony.

Low Angle Shot:
Camera tilted looking upward towards a subject. Can make a subject look powerful.

Worms Eye View:
Very low camera angle shot looking up from ground level. A mini tripod comes in handy for this type of shot.

Point of View Shot:
A subjective shot taken from the point of view of a participant or character in the action. Eg. Subject looking at a watch.

Action Shot:
Generally a mid shot capturing the action. Eg running down stairs. A POV or reaction shot can follow.

Reaction Shot:
Reaction shots result from an action or series of action shots. They allow an audience to identify more closely with a character. There are physical reaction shots and emotional reaction shots.

Two Shot:
Generally a profile shot of 2 people facing, possibly engaging in conversation. Can be shot from a variety of angles.

 

Over The Shoulder Shot:
Generally used for dialogue exchange. Head and shoulder shot of the speaker with shoulder and back of head of listener in foreground. This shot can be a variation of a Two Shot.


Reverse Shot:
The reverse of the Over the Shoulder Shot.


Cut Away Shot:
A shot that cuts away to action that is not part of a sequence but is related.
Eg. Burglar breaking into a house; cut away shot to dog barking in back yard.

Research into Different Types of Camera Movement

Panning:
The Pan is when the camera pivots horizontally while it stays otherwise stationary. Imagine an invisible, vertical line going down through the top of your camera, allowing it to spin left or right around this axis. Panning is used to slide a shot from one person to another, to add action to a tense scene, or to introduce a new element that was previously outside the frame.

Tilting:
Tilt is an up-down type of camera movement where the frame changes vertically as the camera stays in place. It can be thought of just the same as a pan, except that the camera moves along its horizontal x axis and the framed area moves from the “ground” to the “sky,” or vice versa. A tilt can show the base of a tree trunk all the way up to its tallest branches, or the foot of a giant, and extend up until you can see the top of the giant’s head.

Dollying:
A Dolly is physical camera movement toward or away from its subject. For example, there are scenes in movies that begin in outer space. The camera begins to dolly in and you see the galaxy, the solar system, the earth, the continent, the country, the city, the building, the person, etc. This would be an example of an extreme (and at least partially computer-generated) dolly. A normal dolly is just movement along the ground in relation to whatever is being filmed.

Trucking:
The Truck is the movement past or alongside an object. You might see a train moving at a high rate of speed with the camera trucking along beside it. A truck does not necessarily keep anything within a certain distance, but is simply the camera moving along a path while facing sideways. When you’re in the car and you look out the window, if your eyes were the camera they’d essentially be “trucking” along the scenery beside the road you’re on.
  
Crane Shots:
Crane shots are another movement of the camera in space, this time along the y axis. The same situations mentioned with the tilt movements above could be applied to the crane shot, except that instead of pivoting up and down to view the range of areas in the shot, the camera actually moves (rather than rotating) up and down from the bottom point to the top, or the opposite.

Arc Shots :
An Arc is a fairly difficult shot to pull off free-hand. This is when the camera rotates around its subject, keeping the same distance but changing the angle at which it views that subject. The slow-motion arcs in the Matrix movies are perhaps the best and most widely recognized example of this technique (although those were done with multiple cameras instead of just one).

Zooming:
Zooming is one camera move that most people are probably familiar with. It involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. Most video cameras today have built-in zoom features. Some have manual zooms as well, and many have several zoom speeds. Zooming is one of the most frequently-used camera moves and one of the most overused.

First Exercise: Practice Storyboard (Stills)

For our first task, we were given a digital camera, and were told to produce a practice storyboard, in order to get used to the different camera angles and shots that are used within the film industry. What follows is a simple story, about a couple of drug addicts who don't pay the dealer.


Our first shot is an establishing shot, used to introduce the characters and the scenario. Here we see two males waiting for the dealer, in a somewhat rough area.

I then chose a long shot to show the actual deal...


...followed by a medium shot to closer show what's happening.


This three shot was to show the dealer asking the man on the floor about the money owed.
After the dealer leaves, we see the one male help the other up, to portray their comradeship.


This next shot shows one of the addicts walking into a toilet to take the drugs, and I feel that this mirror shot frames our character nicely. Also, as the shot isn't directly on the character, it gives the impression that the audience is somewhat spying on the addict.


For the shot showing the addict actually taking the drugs, the original plan was to have a close up on his face. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room in the cubicle, but I decided this medium shot, hiding the character's face, was also good to portray the grime of the drug scene.


This shot shows the two drug users walking up a flight of steps. The shot will open with an empty flight of stairs, before the two males enter from the right, walking up the stairs. The camera will then follow them until the top of the stairs.


These four shots are continuity shots, showing the dealer approaching the two addicts, to "enquire" about the money issues. The second shot, an "over the shoulder" shot, give you the scenario from the dealer's perspective.


These shots now show a standard fight scene between the dealer and the user; to show a struggle with the dealer eventually coming out on top. As the blonde male is shown to have taken the drugs previously, I decided to have him lying on the floor, unable to put up a struggle, as this would fit in with the continuity.



For the final shot, we see the dealer walking away from the scene:



For our first exercise, I feel that this was a worthwhile effort, and we have included quite a few good shots.