1. Form Research
{ Shona Traynor & Xavier Vale
Katz, Steven D., Film Directing: Shot by Shot, Michael
Wise Productions, 1991

2.  A close-up shot has connotes an image of
vulnerability, intimacy or an intrusion of the
character’s privacy.
 The objects can be positioned dead-
centre, which would connote an image of
importance to the film, or off-centre, displaying
more of the background in the shot.
 The use of off-centre shots are more
conventional in films, as the take advantage of
the wide screens.
The Close Up

3.  The medium shot works well if there are
between one to five characters in a frame. Any
more than this, however, requires a full shot.
 The camera shot is used mainly in dialogue
scenes, capturing both the actor’s facial
expressions and clear gestures.
The Medium Shot

4.  The long shot has not been used as much in
recent years, ‘relegated to the function of an
establishing shot’.
 These are used to establish both a character and
a specific location in the same frame, but needs
dialogue to work effectively.
 A positive of having a long shot is that the
audience can see the full body language of the
actor.
The Long Shot

5.  These shots are useful for dialogue scenes
between two people. These are places ‘just
inside…the line of sight of the subjects.’
 They also enable a different perspective to be
given, allowing the mis-en-scene to be shown
in a slightly different angle.
Over the Shoulder Shots

6.  The position of lighting can greatly influence
the connotations a certain shot has.
 For example, the villain in an action movie
would have shadows constantly on
him, highlighting his dark and evil personality.
Lighting

7.  To film dialogue, there are several different
ways of composing it.
 Face-to-Face
 This allows for the juxtaposition of characters, to
be squared off against one another.
 Over the Shoulder
 These can vary from low level shots, capturing the
majority of the actor’s body, and tight
OTS, resulting in the isolation of the character’s
face. The closer it zooms in, the more intimate the
shot becomes to the audience.
Filming Dialogue

8.  Shoulder-to-Shoulder
 This enables the actors to ‘be seen in full face or
in profile’ within a single shot., allowing the
audience to see the relationship between the two
or more characters in the shot.
Filming Dialogue

9.  For interior scenes, there are only three
positions the camera can be in, and
conventionally, only the middle ground and
background shots are used.
 MIDDLE GROUND: The camera is placed out of
the action, but is positioned in such a way that all
the actors have a different depth. This reduces
the amount of cutting needed.
 BACKGROUND: More cutting would be
applicable for this camera shot, as the majority of
actors in the frame have approximately the same
depth of field.
Depth of a Frame

10.  This is constantly in films, as the subjects are
positioned very carefully to portray a specific
message to the audience.
Closed Framing

11.  First-person POV
 These have been awkward in narrative-based
films because we are deprived of the actor’s
facial features and expression.
 Omniscient POV
 This only works if we have some insight into the
character, eg. Voiceover
Point of View

12.  The Pan shot is used to:
 Include a wider range of space not available
through a fixed frame
 Follow the action/subject as it moves.
 Connect two or more points of interest to the
audience.
 It is also used to signify the emphasize the
depth of a specific shot.
The Pan