Cinematography – What Are The Common Types Of Shots In Cinematography

A cinematographer is responsible for the entire look of the film. A cinematographer uses a different type of camera shots to show a different type of emotion or situation to the audience. The skill and proficiency with which he uses these shots determine the quality and impressiveness of the scene.

Moving Shots

A moving camera shot is used when the movement of a camera is very slow in the direction of the action in a scene. This shot is taken till the action is clear. Mikael Marczak is a successful and acclaimed cinematographer, film, and documentary director. You can check Mikael’s website to know more about him.

Fixed shots

This is the shot when the position of the camera is fixed and captures all actions that go in the background. Using this type of shot, many more things can be revealed about the scene.

Wide Shot

These shots are often regarded as the best establishing shots. In this type of shot, the frame parameter spans widely. It helps in displaying more of the content than the subject involved in the shot.

Full Shot or Long Shot

This is a type of shot that captures the subject right from the head to the feet in the frame. Such shots provide an inclusive feel to the audience.

Medium Shot

This type of shot frames the body of the subject from its waist to their head. This style of shot is used to capture conversations held by the characters in a movie.

Close up

As the name suggests, this shot is taken very closely. In this shot, the frame only displays the face of the character. This type of shot is used mainly for conducting interviews and showing the one-sided opinion of conversation.

Extreme closes up

This type of shot aims very close on the face of the subject. It is used to capture the tiniest emotion shown by the character. This shot helps in drawing the attention of the audience to the tiniest expression. This lets the audience to interpret the intensity of the emotion better.

High Angled Shot

This shot aims the camera in a downward direction towards the subject from a high point. This best helps in a demonstration of the vulnerable position of the subject.

Low Angled Shot

This shot is taken from below the position of the subject to demonstrate the victory of the subject.

Low angled above shoulder shot

This type of shot aims above the shoulder of the subject. It faces downward to focus on the thing that the subject is looking at. It is done to bring the attention to the vulnerability of the subject and the thing to which the subject is looking.

Dutch Angled Shot

This shot is basically used at those times when the horizon is non-uniform. It is taken to represent psychological or physical uneasiness.

Conclusion

This covers all the basic camera shots used in a film. A cinematographer has excellence and proficiency to work with these types to render the outstanding visual appearance of the scene.