Glossary

Camera Shots: Close up- Is normally shot at eye-level and only includes the subject in the shot.

Midshot- Is shot so that subject is shot from torso up. Also allows the background and the subject the have equal dominance in the picture.

Long shot- A long shot is a shot taken from a distance to allow the full length of the subject and the background in the shot. Establishing shot- Extreme close up- Is like a close up but an extreme version. It magnify what the human eye cant see. It is used for a dramatical effect. Camera Angles: Eye level- the camera is positioned like it is a human actually watching or observing a subject. High angle- The camera is lifted above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed/filmed seem smaller, and less significant, powerful or scary. Low angle- On the other hand low angles are filmed upwards to make the object that is being photographed/filmed seem more significant and powerful. Birds eye view- This shot is filmed very high up putting the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. Worms eye view- This is the opposite of birds-eye view. The shot is taken from low down. Canted- The camera is tilted to suggest imbalance, transition and instability. It is popularly used in horror films. Shallow focus- Has a limited area of focus depth. For example the shot would picture a face but then the back ground would be blurred out. This is used mainly when the diresctor wants the audience to focus on the object. Deep focus- is the opposite of shallow focus shot as it doesnt blur out the background, leaving the whole shot as normal. Rule of thirds- The frame is divided in to thirds. Camera movement: Zoom- Changes the maginifcation of the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly or slowly, without physically moving the camera an inch, which saves a lot of time. Pan- The camera is placed on a tripod to often follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame. Track/Dolly- The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Crane- Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. Static- A static shot is when the camera is fixed on a set point and doesn't move, either physically or either to pan left or right, or to tilt up and down. It is literally a fixed, non-moving shot.