OCR GCSE Media Studies

Guide to Camerawork

 

Camerawork:

 

Establishing shots: these shots establish where we are. They are often extreme long shots (but don’t have to be); they are defined by their function, which is to make it clear where we are. E.g. below: we are at the restaurant; we are in New York…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Low angle shot: the camera is positioned low, so the shot is looking up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High angle shot: the camera is positioned high, so the shot is looking

down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canted angle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial shot: taken by a camera that is in the air, often with a helicopter. These shots can involve movement, such as the opening shot to The Two Towers, in which the camera ‘flies’ towards the mountains, or it could be to achieve an interesting perspective as in the bird’s-eye view shot in Kung Fu Hustle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crane shot: like an aerial shot but taken used a crane, often it combines movement such as in the storyboarded crane shot below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracking shot: camera movement involving the camera following characters/events, usually – but not always – using a track (hence the name).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panning shot: camera moves left and/or right on a fixed point (usually a tripod) - in the example below, the camera left to right from the lawyer to the judge's bench.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whip pan: a whip pan is a fast pan, as though the cameraman ‘whipped’ the camera round. The clip above far right is an example of using a whip pan as a way of going into a transition (transition basically means cut).

 

Tilt: like a pan, a tilt involves a fixed point (usually a tripod) but in contrast to a pan, the camera goes up and/or down.

 

 

 

Hand-held camera: exactly what it sounds like. A cameraman holds the camera (see photograph below) creating a far less steady shot. Often used during action sequences to create disorientation and emphasise peril and tension.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steadicam shot: a type of handheld shot, using an apparatus that allows freedom of movement but manages to keep the shot smooth and steady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the shoulder shot:

the camera is positioned

‘over the shoulder’ of one

of the characters. Similar

but not the same as a

point-of-view shot.

 

 

 

Point-of-view shot:

the camera is positioned

as though from the point

of view of one of the

characters. Similar to,

but not the same, as an

over the shoulder shot.

 

 

 

Shallow focus: when only

oneplane is clearly in focus

(such as the character’s fist)

whilst everything else is out

of focus.

 

 

Deep focus: the opposite of

shallow focus. Multiple planes

of vision are in focus; for example,

in the shot below, the foreground,

midground and background

are all in focus.

 

 

Focus pulls: where the focus changes within the same shot, usually to change what we are looking at. It is often use to emphasise a particular object or character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoom: achieved by using the camera’s zoom function rather than camera movement to get closer (zoom in) or further away (zoom out) from a character/object/event/building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot types and angles: ranging from extreme close-up to extreme long shot.