Camera positions in filming
Camera angles can be used to convey different feelings or emotions in stories and they also give the viewer multiple perspectives.
The 12 most popular and common camera angles are: Wide shot, Long shot, Medium shot, Cowboy shot, Tight/close-up shot, Detail/extreme close-up shot, Low angle, High angle, Dutch angle, Over the shoulder, Point of view shot, Cutaway shot
1. A wide shot is usually captured on a wider angle lens and lets you see more of the surroundings and is frequently used when wanting to establish a location. This lets the viewer understand where the scene is taking place. Wide shots can also be used to portray the emotions: Loneliness, insignificance, or feelings of being removed from the action.
2. Long shots are similar to wide shots. Long shots are used to establish the location but with a bigger emphasis/focus on your subject filling the entire frame.
3. A medium shot is usually from the waist up and is used to help the viewer focus on what the subject is doing or saying.
4. A cowboy shot is between a long and a medium shot and is framed from the mid-thigh up. This can be used instead of a medium shot to show detail around the waist. For instance – a gun.
5. A close-up shot is the head and shoulders of the subject used to focus on dialogue or the expression of your subject.
6. An extreme close-up shot is used to put emphasis on a specific detail in your image.
7. Low angle is used to make your subject appear larger than life and to portray power and dominance.
8. High camera angle does the opposite and is used to portray your subject as weak or inferior.
9. Dutch angle is tilting the camera slightly to convey an uneasy emotion. It shows that something isn’t quite right.
10. Over the shoulder shot is putting the camera behind the subject and shooting over their shoulder. This gives the perspective that you are the one being talked to.
11. The point of view shot shows what the character is looking at from their perspective. This type of shot allows the viewer to take on the perspective of the character.
I found great examples of camera positions in this video:
Camera movement is the way you move the frame of a shot to convey or reveal things in a scene.
The 8 most common camera movements are: Panning shot, Tilt, Pedestal, Dolly shot, Tracking shot, Zoom, Crane shot, Steadicam shot
1. A pan is when the camera horizontally moves from a fixed position, left to right or right to left. A pan can be used to reveal new information to the viewer. If a character is not yet shown in frame, they can be revealed at the end of the pan.
2. A tilt is when the camera vertically moves from a fixed position, up to down, or down to up. This movement can also reveal new information or a character, much like a pan. They can also be used to show the scale of an object or subject.
3. Pedestal is the camera physically moving up or down, whilst still looking forward. This can be used to make the character look taller and therefore superior to other characters.
4. Dolly is the camera smoothly moving forwards or backwards. Dolly shots can show a wider area and therefore more visual information.
5. During a tracking shot, the camera moves from one side to the other while keeping the subject in frame. This makes it seem like we are walking alongside the character as they are walking.
6. During a zoom the camera stays still but the camera lens moves closer or further away from the subject. Zooms can direct the viewer towards something in the scene that the viewer wasn’t focusing on before or they can reveal a character in the corner of the frame we didn’t know was there before.
7. A crane shot is when the camera is attached to a crane and moves around in the air. Crane shots can be used to show more of the surroundings from a height. It can be used to show he mass of something.
