Research into Camera Work.

I will be discussing the different type of camera and movement shots that we learnt in our media lesson as part as our recent for our coursework.

Camera Shots

When describing different cinematic shots, different terms are used to indicate the amount of subject matter contained within a frame, how far away the camera is from the subject, and the perspective of the viewer. Each different shot has a different purpose and effect.

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 that would otherwise go unnoticed from afar. This unnaturally close view intensifies feelings that the character is experiencing and allows us to feel sympathy for, and establish a connection with, the character in question. At such an extreme intimate proximity, every subtle expression, muscle movement, facial characteristic, reflection and detail becomes that much more apparent. In this way, it emphasizes the dramatic importance of the scene, making it stand out with respect to the movie as a whole.

Big Close-Up Shot

- This is full head height and the head takes up the entire screen. It contains little or no background. This shows the detail of the character’s face.

Close-Up Shot

- This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character.

Medium Close-Up

- This shows the upper half of the body. The shot is taken from the above the head to lower chest. Good for conversation between two characters.

Medium Shot

- Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). NB. Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interaction. 

Medium Long Shot

- This shows the whole person as well as some of the background. Places the person in context.

Long Shot

- This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size i.e. corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges: we can tell the coffins on the right are in a Western-style setting, for instance.

Extreme Long Shot

- This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

The extreme long shot on the left is taken from a distance, but denotes a precise location - it might even connote all of the entertainment industry if used as the opening shot in a news story.

 Two-Shot

- Two-shots are good for establishing a relationship between subjects. If you see two sports presenters standing side by side facing the camera, you get the idea that these people are going to be the show's co-hosts. As they have equal prominence in the frame, the implication is that they will provide equal input. Of course this doesn't always apply, for example, there are many instances in which it's obvious one of the people is a presenter and the other is a guest. In any case, the two-shot is a natural way to introduce two people.

Over the Shoulder Shot

- This shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. The person facing the subject should usually occupy about 1/3 of the frame.

This shot helps to establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view. It's common to cut between these shots during a conversation, alternating the view between the different speakers.

High Angle Shot

- Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

Low Angle Shot

- These increase height of the subject and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

Canted Angle

- Sometimes the camera is tilted (i.e. is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots (i.e. when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character, seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this.

Camera Movement

A director may choose to move action along by telling the story as a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or they may decide to move the camera with the action. Moving the camera often takes a great deal of time, and makes the action seem slower, as it takes several second for a moving camera shot to be effective, when the same information may be placed on screen in a series of fast cuts. Not only must the style of movement be chosen, but the method of actually moving the camera must be selected too.

Pan Movement

- A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

Tilt Movement

- Tilts refer to the up or down movement of the camera while the camera itself does not move. Tilts are often employed to reveal vertical objects like a building or a person.

Tracking Movement

- The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

Push Out Movement

- Is simply moving the camera forward towards the subject, this can be done on a dolly, slider, handheld (stabilized handheld hopefully), camera rig, and maybe a slow zoom. Generally a Push-In is down without zooming, as this keeps your perceptive as the camera moves so looks like you are moving closer and instead of just blowing up (increasing the size of) the image/video.

Push In Movement

- You start close to your subject and pull out moving the camera back. You pull back on say on a dolly or a crane moving from a low to high point of view, you can do this with your feet on a Steadicam or handheld.  

Roles

Bibianna- My role within this research was being the director. I documented the camera and the movements shots and provided a description for each shot. Also I had to dictate to my subjects the way in which I needed them to pose and move. Furthermore I had to upload the pictures and videos I had taken.

Mojoyin- One of my subjects. Main subject.

Toni- One of my subjects.