Cinema View

Shooting Gallery: Types of Shots in Film

Posted on April 6, 2020

Variety in types of shots is one of the most important aspects of how a film is presented. It is the job of the cinematographer to design shots and decide what types of shots to use to bring a concept to the big screen. Here are some of the most commonly used shot types in film.

Extreme Wide

Extreme wide shots are used for establishing or showing the location of which are characters are in. The focus is on the setting rather than the characters.

Wide

Wide shots are used to show character within the context of a setting Where extreme wide shots focus on location, wide shots focus on how characters fit into a location.

Full

Full shots are used to establish or show characters head to toe in a scene. It is also allows multiple characters in the same shot.

Medium Wide

Medium wide shots serve a similar purpose as full shots but stay in the range between the knee and the head of the characters.

Medium

Medium shots are like the previous two except from the waist up. They differ in that they are commonly used as a transition between shots.

Medium Close Up

Medium close up shots are from the chest up and are primarily used during dialogue between two characters.

Close Up

Close up shot are are meant to focus on the character completely. They are used for significant moments are to emphasize emotion within a character through subtle facial expressions that would be much more difficult to show if the camera was further.

Extreme Close Up

Extreme close ups are used to show very small details, and very commonly the eyes of a character. They are usually used sparingly in moments where characters intensity is wanted to be emphasized.

Shot type and sizes can change they way a film is presented drastically. They perhaps may not be the most interesting to learn about but are a cornerstone to film making.

References: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-camera-shots/#shot-size