Camera shots and Angles

The different types of camera shots and angles...

The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The different camera angles will have different effects on the viewer and how they perceive the scene that is shot. There are a few different routes that a camera operator could take to achieve this effect.

Establishing shot: An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot.

Wide shot: An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot.

Medium shot: In film, a medium shot is a camera angle shot from a medium distance. The dividing line between "long shot" and "medium shot" is fuzzy, as is the line between "medium shot" and "close-up".

Close up shot: A close-up or close up in filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium is a type of shot, which tightly frames a person or an object.

Cut away shot: 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.

Low angle: In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful.

High angle: A high-angle shot is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up

Extreme close up shot: The extreme close-up shot is traditionally used in film to allow the viewer to enter the character's intimate space, revealing certain characteristics and emotions 

Two shot: A shot of two people together.

Worms eye view: Worm's-eye view is a shot that is looking up from the ground, and is meant to give the viewer the feeling that they are looking up at the character from way below

Birds eye view: A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird.

Over the shoulder shot: In film or video an over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.

Reverse shot: Shot reverse shot (or shot/counter shot) is 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.

Perspective shot: These are films in which the audience sees just what a character does, all or part of the time.

Point of view shot: A point of view shot is a short film scene that shows what a character is looking at (represented through the camera).


In the film City of God the opening is very short and snappy. There are many camera shots, all a few seconds long. This was effective as it builds up tension when the chicken is about to run. In contrast, the film The Graduate was simple using long shots. There was a man against a plain white wall as the credits came up besides him. This gave the audience time to focus on the main characters and get and idea what he's like. Lastly, the film submarine used long wide shots to set the scene and gives the audience an idea where and what the town is like its being filmed in. It shows the boys bedroom using a wide shot this meant we can see everything inside the room including the furniture and toys so we can get a feel for what kind of person he is.  This is followed by a range of different locations in an extreme long shots form a high angle that are shown  around five seconds long. This is effective because the audience have enough time to look closely into the film to get a feel of the atmosphere.

Long shots

Short shots: If you use a close up too late in a scene, and you're holding on an actor's profile in a two-shot, or a distant long shot, the viewers are craning their necks and squinting their eyes to see who's talking, what's their expression or who are they anyway!

If you use a close-up too soon, you may gain immediate intimacy, but lose a great deal of information conveyed through body language that may be part of the actors' performances.

Too much use of close-ups also produces "Talking Heads" type of movies, a TV show disease.

The close-up should be a natural cut from a medium shot that is technically unnoticeable, but emotionally poignant or revealing. It should be a subtle enlarging of the presentation and used sparingly like salt.

There are all kinds of close-ups, some are extreme, showing eyes or lips, others are soft and romantic; however, all close-ups should be well lit and photographed with artistry, such as, when appropriate, back-lighting or using special filters and nets, since they are usually the easiest to control and much of the photographic excellence of a movie is judged by them.

Also, it's what actors are most concerned with. So pay a lot of attention to your close-ups. Much of your popularity as a film maker will depend on how you make your actors look. They'll literally love you for it! I mean that only figuratively of course!