FilmTechniques

CameraShots
Shot Description
WideShot Theextremewideshotincludesalotofthesettingandoftendoesn'tevenshow
thesubject.Theseshotsareoftencalledestablishingshotsinthemovieworld.
ExtremeCloseUp Theextremecloseupisashotthatwouldonlyshowaneye,mouthorportionof
anactorsface.Theextremecloseupallowsadirectortorevealsomething
normallyunseentheextremecloseupimbuestheimageitshowswithasense
ofimportance.
CloseUp Adetailedviewofapersonorobject,usuallywithoutmuchcontextprovided.
MidShot Arelativelycloseshot,revealingamoderateamountofdetail.Amediumshot
ofafigureisnormallytakenfromthekneesorwaistup.Thisisusedtodraw
attentiontotheviewer.
Pointofview Anyshotthatistakenfromthepointofviewofacharacterinthefilm,Thisis
alsoknownasafirstpersonshot.Horrormoviesusethistechniquetoputyou
inthepointofviewofthevictim(buildingsuspense)
Overtheshoulder Amediumshot,usefullinadialoguescene,whichoneactorisfilmedheadon
fromovertheshoulderofanotheractorthiscanbeusedtoputtheaudiencein
thekillersperspective(horrormovies)
CameraMovement
CameraMovement Description
Pan A camera movement that scans a scene horizontally
Tilt A camera movement that scans a scene vertically
Track Thecamerafollowingsomeoneorsomething.
Zoom In:moves closer to the subject
Out:moves further away from the subject.
CameraAngles
Angle Description/Diagram Effect
Low Lookingupatthesubject Bigandscary
Birds
Eye
Directlyabovethesubject Toshowthesurroundingandhowbiga
impactwas.
High Lookingdownonthesubject. Tomakesomeonelookscared
Editing
Cut Description
Jumpcut Astraightcutfromonescenetothenext.
Matchedcut Whentheendofonescenematcheswiththestartofthenext.E.g.bluesky.
CrossCutting
Usedinfilmstoestablishactionoccurringatthesametimeintwodifferentlocations
Montage Aseriesofshortshotsareeditedintoasequencetocondensespace,time,and
informationbuttogiveoneoverallidea.
Sound
Music
Addsdramaandemotion,lyrics
mayhelpwiththestory
Soundeffects
Ampsupimportantsoundslike
gunshots.Oftenaddedinlater.
Voiceover
Narratordescribeslotsofstuff.
E.g.Ted
MakeUp
Helpsaddtoapersonspersonality.Bringsouta
personsfeelingse.gifsomeoneisfeelingsickor
injured,theyusemakeuptobringtheimageto
life.
Costume
Putsapersoninatimeerabytheclothesthey
wear.Makingsomeoneseempoor,wealthy,old
oryoung.Alsocanrepresentapersons
personalitymakingthemseemtoughbythem
wearingtightclothesandtightsingletswithbling,
ormakingsomeoneseeminnocentbythem
wearingcasualwhiteclothes