This document defines various shots and camera techniques used in filmmaking and television production. It provides definitions for different types of shots including establishing shots, master shots, close-ups, mid-shots, long shots, wide shots, two shots, aerial shots, point of view shots, over the shoulder shots, canted angle shots, high angle shots, and low angle shots. It also defines different camera movements and techniques such as panning, tilting, tracking, dolly, crane, steadicam, handheld, zooming, and reverse zooming. Finally, it outlines various editing techniques like match cuts, continuity editing, cross cutting, parallel editing, cuts, cutaways, dissolves, ellipses
2. • Establishing Shot- An establishing shot in filmmaking and
television production sets up, or establishes the context for a scene
by showing the relationship between its important figures and
objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning
of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of
the scene takes place.
3. • Master Shot- recording of an entire dramatized
scene, from start to finish, from an angle that
keeps all the players in view.
• Close-up Shot- a type of shot,
which tightly frames a person or
an object. Close-ups display the
most detail, but they do not
include the broader scene.
4. • Mid-Shot- Can sometimes be a shot of the whole
body, but some refer to a shot of just the waist up
as a mid-shot. It is mainly used for a scene when it
is desirable to see the subjects' facial expressions
in the context of their body language.
• Long Shot- a long shot (sometimes referred
to as a full shot or a wide shot) typically
shows the entire object or human figure and
is usually intended to place it in some relation
to its surroundings.
5. • Wide Shot- A video or film recording made with the camera
positioned to observe the most action in the performance. A long
shot is now commonly called a wide shot.
• Two Shot- A type of shot employed in the film industry in
which the frame encompasses a view of two people (the
subjects). The subjects do not have to be next to each other,
and there are many common two-shots which have one
subject in the foreground and the other subject in the
background. It is very useful if the film is about two people.
The shots are also used to show the emotional reactions
between the subjects.
6. • Aerial Shot- Aerial shots are
usually done with a crane or with
a camera attached to a
special helicopter to view large
landscapes. This sort of shot
would be restricted to exterior
locations. A good area to do this
shot would be a scene that takes
place on a building. If the aerial
shot is of a character it can make
them seem insignificant.
• Point Of View Shot- Also known as POV
shot or a subjective camera, a short film
scene that shows what a character (the
subject) is looking at (represented
through the camera). It is usually
established by being positioned between
a shot of a character looking at
something, and a shot showing the
character's reaction.
7. • Over The Shoulder Shot- A shot of
someone or something taken from the
perspective or camera angle from the
shoulder of another person. The back of
the shoulder and head of this person is
used to frame the image of whatever (or
whomever) the camera is pointing
toward. This type of shot is very common
when two characters are having
a discussion.
• Canted Angle- The camera is tilted to
suggest imbalance, transition and
instability (very popular in horror
movies). This technique is used to
suggest Point Of View shots.
8. • High Angle- Usually when the camera angle is
located above the eyeline. With this type of
angle, the camera looks down on the subject and
the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by
the setting. High angle shots also make the
figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless.
High angle shots are usually used in film to
make the moment more dramatic or if there is
someone at a high level that the character below
is talking to.
• Low Angle- A shot from a camera
angle positioned low on the vertical axis,
anywhere below the eyeline, looking up.
9. • Pan- Panning refers to the rotation in a horizontal plane of a still camera or video
camera. Panning a camera results in a motion similar to that of someone shaking their
head from side to side.
• Tilt- a cinematographic technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in
a vertical plane (or tilting plane). Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to
someone nodding their head "yes“.
• Track- tracking shot may refer to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera
dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken; in this
case the shot is also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot. The term tracking shot may
also refer to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame, such as a
moving actor or a moving vehicle.
• Dolly- a specialized piece of filmmaking and television production equipment designed
to create smooth camera movements. The camera is mounted to the dolly and
the camera operator and focus puller or camera assistant usually ride on the dolly to
operate the camera.
10. • Crane- a crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane or jib. The most
obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from
them, a common way of ending a movie.
• Steadicam- A camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that
mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth
shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.
• Handheld- Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video
production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands
as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are
used because they are conveniently sized for travel and because they allow
greater freedom of motion during filming.
• Zoom- Digital zoom is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of
view of a digital photographic or video image, quality is reduced except for optical
zoom. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area.
• Reverse Zoom- A single shot which moves away from a particular subject.
When done very quickly it can displace the audience, but it can also be used to
show the wider picture or context of an image.
11. • Action Match- Or matching on action refers to film editing and video
editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches
the first shot's action. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart
from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when
watching the edited film. By having a subject begin an action in one shot and carry it
through to completion in the next, the editor creates a visual bridge, which distracts
the viewer from noticing the cut or noticing any slight continuity error between the
two shots.
• Continuity Editing- The predominant style of film editing and video editing in
the post-production process of filmmaking of narrative films and television programs.
The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the
editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.
• Cross Cutting- An editing technique most often used in films to establish action
occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera
will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of
these two actions but this is not always the case.
12. • Parallel Editing-Parallel editing (also known as cross-cutting), is a film editing
technique of continuity editing that establishes the relationship between two
subjects by cutting from one to the other. One of the most important effects of the
parallel edit (but not a necessary one) is that of simultaneousness, suggesting that
two events occur at the same time. By employing this sequence of alternating
focus, the filmmaker is able to place subjects in relation to one another, allowing
complex and subtle relationships to establish themselves by way of cinematic
proximity.
• Cut- In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a cut is an
abrupt, but usually trivial film transition from one sequence to another.
• Cutaway- In film and video, a cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed
action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed
by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The cutaway shot
does not necessarily contribute any dramatic content of its own, but is used to help the
editor assemble a longer sequence.
13. • Dissolve- In the post-production process of film editing and video
editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. The
terms fade-out and fade-in are used to describe a transition to and from
a blank image. This is in contrast to a cut where there is no such
transition. A dissolve overlaps two shots for the duration of the effect,
usually at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next, but may be
used in montage sequences also. Generally, but not always, the use of a
dissolve is held to indicate that a period of time has passed between the
two scenes.
• Ellipsis- A common procedure in film narrative, where movement and action
unnecessary to the telling of a story will often be removed by editing. For
example, there would be no need to show a character standing up from a chair
and walking the length of a room to open a door. Instead, the character may be
shown standing up from the chair and then in the next cut - normally viewed
from a different angle, or with a cutaway shot in between, necessary to smooth
over the gap - he would have already crossed the room and be over by the door.
14. • Eyeline Match- A film editing technique associated with the continuity
editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to
see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins
with a character looking at something off-screen, followed by a cut to
the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is
looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that
he is watching.
• Fade- A fade occurs when the picture gradually turns to a single colour, usually
black, or when a picture gradually appears on screen. Fade ins generally occur
at the beginning of a film or act, while fade outs are typically found at the end of
a film or act.
• Graphic Match- A cut in film editing between either two different objects,
two different spaces, or two different compositions in which an object in the
two shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of
action and linking the two shots metaphorically.
15. • Jump Cuts- A cut in film editing in which two sequential
shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions
that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of
jumping forwards in time. It is a manipulation of temporal
space using the duration of a single shot, and fracturing the
duration to move the audience ahead.
• Long Take- an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the
conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually
lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done
properly.
• Short Take-
• Montage- a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are
edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information.
16. • Reverse Shot- a film technique where one character is shown
looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the
other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since
the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer
assumes that they are looking at each other.
• Split Screen- In film and video production, split screen is the visible
division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several
simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a
seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye. There may or
may not be an explicit borderline.
• Wipe- a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by
travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape. If
the wipe proceeds from two opposite edges of the screen toward the center
or vice versa, it is known as a barn door wipe.
17. • Diegetic- Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is
implied to be present by the action of the film (voices of characters, sounds
made by objects in the story, music represented as coming from
instruments in the story space).
• Non-diegetic- Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen
nor has been implied to be present in the action (narrator’s
commentary, sound effects that are added for the dramatic effect,
mood music).
• Ambient- consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the
opposite of "silence." This term is often confused with presence.
• Asynchronous- sound effects that are not matched with a visible source of
the sound on screen. Such sounds are included so as to provide an
appropriate emotional nuance, and they may also add to the realism of the
film.
18. • Contrapuntal Sound- When we hear sounds that we wouldn't associate
with the events on the screen.
• Dialogue- This is a literary and theatrical form
consisting of a written or spoken language
conversational exchange between two or more people.
• Direct Address-Also known as breaking the fourth wall, direct address
refers to moments when movie characters appear to acknowledge our
presence as spectators, they seem to ‘look at’ or ‘talk to’ us.
• Sound Bridge: Can lead in and out of scenes. They can occur at the
beginning of one scene when the sound from the previous scene carries
over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins.
19. • Sound Motif: In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has
symbolic significance in a story.
• Soundtrack: The part of a film text that carries sound- the recorded sound of
action filmed as well as added items such as music, voice-over and effects.
• Pitch- Determined by the frequency of the sound.
• Voice Over- Production technique where a voice- that isn’t part of the
narrative- is used in a radio, TV production, filmmaking, theatre or other
presentations.
