FILM 101Cinematography Techniques: The Different Types of

Shots in Film & Film Theory and Approaches

Overview of Film

What Shot to Use, When■ How do you want your audience / viewer to feel about the scene?

– Disoriented?

– Detached?

– Serene?

– Off-balance?

– Static?

■ Do you want to focus on the grandeur of the scenery or on the small details?

– Consider scoping out a location that is appropriate for action, character

development, and tone.

■ To convey a stressed out student, you might consider a classroom and place the

character in a desk piled high with books, disheveled papers, a laptop,

pens/highlighters; the costume worn by the character might be stained with coffee

(which, you’d need a close-up shot to show this to the audience); the character’s

hair may be messy; add make-up (dark circles); edit in some fast-paced/loud music

or a heartbeat or even stark silence, and presto! You have a the stage set to convey

a tone of stress.

What next?You’ve learned about the different shots and what they convey. Let’s review:

Extreme Close-Up

What effect does this shot

have to the viewer?

#2

Close-Up

What effect does this shot have to the

viewer?

#3

This is an establishing shot (aka

long shot)

What does the viewer determine

based on this shot?

#4This is an extreme wide shot

What does the viewer determine

about the people in this shot?

#5

Medium Shot

So now, the focus has been

taken off the setting and

focuses more on the

character.

What does this stance reveal

about this character?

#6

Over the Shoulder

Shot (OSS)

What point of view?

What is this shot

important in

framing the action

of the scene?

#7

Dutch Angle Shot

Look at the characters’ faces.

Does the shot match the

emotion(s) on their faces?

#8

High Angle Shot

What is the purpose of this shot? What’s

it trying to show?

#9

Low Angle Shots

What message do these shots convey?

A Word on Camera Movement

■ Pan

The same motion considerations

about panning are valid for tilting. A dolly is a

small wheeled vehicle, piloted by a dolly grip,

that is used to move a camera around in a

scene. A dolly shot is a move in and out of a

scene, i.e., the movement is parallel to the

camera lens axis

■ Track

■ Zoom

More Info on Camera Movement HERE

A Word on Lighting

■ High Contrast

– See a lot in film noir (mystery)

■ Backlighting (Halo Effect)

■ Cool Colors

– Green / blue (sadness, creepy)

■ Warm Colors

– Red / yellow (passion, happiness)

Have an idea? Time to storyboard.

■ What is a storyboard? How do you set it up? Why is it important?

Link to Storyboards look for Psycho

Let’s Look at an Example■ The shower scene from the film Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is an

iconic movie scene.

10 Facts about Shower Scene

More Facts of Shower Scene

more cool stuff on Psycho shower scene

Documentary 78/52 from Mental Floss

Let's watch the scene

GOOD WEBSITES

■ https://vimeo.com/68541107 Discussion of Psycho by Hitchcock

■ http://cinetropolis.net/scene-is-believing-psycho/ frame-by-frame stuff

■ http://vashivisuals.com/directed-shower-scene-psycho/ Who directed the shower

scene

■ http://und.edu/faculty/christopher-jacobs/_files/docs/theory-and-analysis.pdf Film

Theory