9 Common Filmmaking Shot Types

The angle of a shot is just as crucial to the craft of filmmaking as any dialogue in a script for a video. It can enhance or highlight the scene’s mood and heighten its emotional impact. The appropriate selection of angles for specific scenes may also influence how a movie “feels,” setting an atmosphere and contributing significantly to the overall character of the work. Discover 9 typical shot types and their function in the filmmaking process by reading on.

Here are several shot types that, even if we don’t realize it, are fundamental to all filmmaking. Some are a little bit more precise than others. Some filmmakers are so skilled with particular shooting approaches that you can recognize their work right away. Naturally, to reach that level, one requires a lot of training and experience. You may achieve this by investigating the foundations.

 

Top 9 Common Shot Types

 

1. The Establishing Shot 

In essence, an establishing shot sets the scene. It may be used at any point in a movie to explain the setting or to indicate that it has changed. This is an essential shot for both the large and small screens.

If you watch a comedy like Friends, you’ll notice that it frequently cuts from an exterior image of a tall apartment building to an inside shot of the characters at home. You know where you’re going in the plot before you even see the living rooms. Similar to how you can tell you are going to enter Bruce Wayne’s house when a Batman movie cuts to an outside shot of a remote estate.

Identifying shots serves as establishing shots. Which building is that? You are in New York. Windsor Palace? You are in London. The term “extreme long shot” can also be used to describe the establishing shot. To establish the location of the action, the camera is pulled back, zoomed out, and a sizable region is filmed.

 

 

2. The Long Shot

In essence, an establishing shot sets the scene. It may be used at any point in a movie to explain the setting or to indicate that it has changed. This is an essential shot for both the large and small screens.

If you watch a comedy like Friends, you’ll notice that it frequently cuts from an exterior image of a tall apartment building to an inside shot of the characters at home. You know where you’re going in the plot before you even see the living rooms. Similar to how you can tell you are going to enter Bruce Wayne’s house when a Batman movie cuts to an outside shot of a remote estate.

Identifying shots serves as establishing shots. Which building is that? You are in New York. Windsor Palace? You are in London. The term “extreme long shot” can also be used to describe the establishing shot. To establish the location of the action, the camera is pulled back, zoomed out, and a sizable region is filmed.

 

 

3. Close-Up

sometimes referred to as “the broad shot.” It doesn’t have the same drastic pullback as the opening image, but it nevertheless embraces the surroundings in a similarly expansive way. The viewers may examine the surroundings more attentively because it is a little closer than the establishing shot. It allows the filmmaker to place a character in either an atmosphere that is outside of their comfort zone or one that is.

The figure in issue throughout the discussion is completely visible from head to toe in a conventional long shot, yet they are not the only thing being discussed. The long view enables you to see how individuals interact with their surroundings or, conversely, how their surroundings change.

Long shots show situations like a person going along a street and entering a store or restaurant, or a person alone on a beach. Short images like this are frequently used to transition between scenes. However, they might also have a more protracted and significant part in a story. For instance, to portray loneliness in films like Taxi Driver.

 

 

4. Extreme Close-up

A crucial method for capturing closeness and emotion is the close-up picture. Usually, a character’s shoulders and the top of the head are framed in this picture. The close-up (when used on a face) is all about catching emotive subtleties and conveying to the spectator what the subject is experiencing, thus an actor doesn’t even necessarily need to say anything. The fact that the actor’s face is so close-up and personal also serves as a means of signaling to viewers that what is happening at that precise time is important.

Of course, close-ups can be employed in different contexts. Consider the scene in The Silence of the Lambs where Hannibal touches Clarice Starling’s hand with his finger. Although unconventionally done, the close-up is employed to show closeness in this scenario. Facial close-up shots can also be used to show a character’s emotion, such as shock, fear, delight, or surprise.

 

 

5. The Tracking Shot

There are several uses for the extreme close-up. It may give a scene more weight than the typical close-up view when used on a face. For instance, by focusing closely on an eye while a tear drops.

Extremely close-up shots are intended to draw attention to something emotive by focusing on a specific area of the actor’s face or to disclose details on an inanimate object that would not be apparent in any other view.

Extremely close-up shots are frequently stressful and challenging to see. Highly during episodes that are particularly upsetting emotionally, they might make the spectator uneasy. Being in close contact with an actor’s face may heighten the impression of immediacy and add significant intensity.

Extreme close-up shots are an excellent approach for directors to express their creativity. They can make commonplace objects visible in ways you may not expect.

This image may be utilized in a variety of ways to build tension and establish a powerful mood. Consider the opening credits from filmmaker David Fincher as an illustration. Close-up views of hundreds of photographs that have been collaged and overlaid create a very particular mood that serves as the film’s overall tone-setter.

 

 

6.  The POV Shot

It’s trickier to pull off this photo than it would appear. Tracking shots use a dolly or a Steadicam to follow the subject’s movements. The shot might be used to track an actor as they go through a crowd or a residence, or it could be placed behind a car during a pursuit scene or next to a medical cart in a hallway.

It’s an action shot, thus the camera operator and the players in the scene must coordinate their timing and movements precisely.

Suspense may be increased by employing tracking shots. A slow tracking shot that slowly emerges from the forest and moves toward a cabin may be used in a horror movie. This causes spectators to feel on the edge of their seats and instills a sensation of fear that the cabin’s occupants are ignorant of.

 

 

7.  The Crash-Zoom

Some directors have their aesthetics and choose certain camera angles. Some directors develop their signature shots by including them at some time or another throughout their work. A famous example of this is Quentin Tarantino and the “crash zoom” technique, which he frequently (and prominently) uses in both of his Kill Bill movies.

The crash-zoom shot involves the camera moving suddenly, rapidly, and along an oblique path (the trajectory is rarely straight), mere inches from the subject, which is typically a face. It adds a lot of drama and intensity to a scene while being a brief, crisp shot that is over in a split second.

Even though the crash-zoom effect is an old trick that has been used for years, Tarantino frequently employs it to great effect. By the way, it may be effective in both comedies and dramas.

 

 

8.  The Pan Shot

This view from a tripod that pans from right to left or left to right is excellent for illustrating the surroundings of a scene. It can also be used to introduce a scenario, possibly pausing while characters enter the screen after crossing over a wasteland from left to right.

It may be used to depict extraterrestrial worlds in science fiction and fantasy movies, as well as traditional, reality-based movies. The pan shot may convey a great deal of environmental information to the spectator in a very powerful and dynamic way.

As a side note, this particular angle is typically referred to as a tilt shot when a camera moves up or down digitally, with the same fluid motion as a pan shot. It is a pan-shot variation that accomplishes the same basic task.

 

 

9. The Handheld Shot

This is a rather straightforward method of camera work that may completely immerse the audience in a narrative. This specific method of filming, which is more frequently used in documentaries, can truly draw an audience in and make them feel as though they are caught up in the event.

By holding a camera in both hands, the “shaky-cam” documentary effect creates a realistic impression of the events taking place on film. It heightens the drama and intimacy, which can deepen the audience’s commitment to the narrative.

Both movies and television shows are using the method more frequently. The handheld shooting was extensively used for the American FX drama series The Shield, which is about a bunch of dishonest police officers in Los Angeles. It gave the impression that you were truly there and became sucked into the web of the developing plots, making the show renowned for its grim realism. The strong and successful use of handheld cameras gave the impression of being pulled along rather than enjoying the spectacle.

 

Conclusion

These are a few of the essential shots that go into creating a movie. To observe how these specific viewpoints are used to construct storylines and how filmmakers use them to optimize the efficacy of their storytelling, try observing them when you watch movies and TV episodes. And maybe this list will assist you in your approach if you plan to film something yourself.