Shots and Angles

There are many different shots and angles that are involved when creating a piece of viewing for an audience and each shot or angle is useful depending on the effect you are trying to achieve.

Close Up

A close up shot allows the reaction of the actors to be seen clearly and create a greater effect than if it were a medium close-up. Very little background is shown and the shot concentrates on either the face or a particular part of the mise en scene which is most important, for example the expression on somebody’s face or words written on a piece of paper.

Extreme Close Up

An extreme close-up magnifies what we would actually experience in reality. A close up of a face would mean that only the mouth, eyes or a specific feature with no background whatsoever and it can be used to create a very dramatic effect.

Medium Shot

A medium shot is used to capture the actions of a character from the knees or possibly the waist up and it is primarily used in dialogue scenes and possibly in scenes used to show action or movement. Although background can be seen it is not in great detail and this is because the audience are most likely already aware of the setting in which the scene is set.

Long Shot

This is the shot that is used to show the image as being most ‘life sized’. The shot shows the entire body, with the head being at the top of the frame and the feet the bottom and whilst the focus is on the character the background can still be seen clearly.

Extreme Long Shot

Used for scene setting the extreme long shot shows scenes of action for example in a war or action movie. The attention to detail is non-existent in this shot and it is used to give a general impression rather than specifics.