General media terminology- Camera Shots

If you're studying media I really hope you find this helpful.
Camera shots play a really important part in the production and recieval of a film or tv programme, they can emphasise a certain moment, make the characters emotions more prominent and add action to a scene.
so here you go ....

ESTABLISHING SHOT

The first shot of a new scene, to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is often an extreme wide shot, for example in this shot from Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King, the new scene is where Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith ( the white building to normal people)

MASTER SHOT

 

is a long take of an entire dramatized scene from start to finish
For example in Taylor Swift's video of We are never getting back together, the enitre video was shot in one take o make it flow.

CLOSE UP

the subject framed by the camera fills the screen, the background is not clear but the audience can see the details of the subject. This angle could create intimacy, stress the importance of the character/event or create suspense, if the shot is of a persons face it is usually at eye level which can be either intimidating or emotional. For example in this shot of the joker from The Dark Night the close up is used to create a focus on that character so we can see direct emotion so the audience can make judgements on that characters personality, here the close up makes the character look intimidating and scary.

MID SHOT

This shot frames a character from the waist/hips/knees up or down, you can see the majority of the characters facial and bodily details yet it is sufficiently distanced to see surroundings. In this example shrek is walking away after causing terror at a village, the mid shot allows us to see that he has a smug look on his face but also the citizens running away from him, therefore the audience can get a universal picture of the scene.



LONG SHOT

Here the camera is shot from a long distance so we can see the full object/human and its entire surroundings. In this example from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 we can see the characters in relation to their surroundings however we cannot see the direct facial emotions, this shot allows the audience to understand whats going on the bigger picture due to more background details being seen, in this case you can see more rubble and dead bodies than you would with a close up.

TWO SHOT

 

 

This shot is the view of two people/subjects but do not have to be next to each other, it establishes the relationship between two characters, they often occupy an equal amount of status in the frame hence they have the same status. In this case the two shot is of the two main characters of Spock and Captain Kirk from STAR TREK having a discussion, it shows that they have equal input and the audience can focus on both of them.

AERIAL SHOT  

This is a high up shot of a subject, sometimes the shot is used to display a vast number of characters to emphasise a universal effect, or it could be used to put a character in the minority. This shot is often used as the point of view of an aeroplane or helicopter, the camera is sometimes strapped to a helicopter or put on a camera crane for this particular shot. For example in this shot from World War Z you can see all the action of this scene from medium angle aerial shot, the subjects are the zombies and as their are lots of them the shot needs to be aerial to capture the vast numbers, this makes the shot intimidating and adds fear.

POINT OF VIEW SHOT  

A point of view shot is shot from the subjects perspective, so we can see what he/she is seeing, this makes the audience feel a personal connection with the subject and they can directly see what the subject is seeing. For example this shot from Silence of the Lambs shows the point of view of Doctor Hannibal Lector looking out of his cell at Clarice Starling, the blurred bars also signify that this is a POV shot.

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT

It is framed behind the person looking at the subject, the subject often takes up 2/3 of the frame. It can be used to put direct focus on a subject from another persons perspective. This shot is from the film Alice in Wonderland and it is used to make the queen of hearts look intimidating as she fills a lot of the frame and is looking down at the person (well, frog)
looking at her