Video Shot Selection

Mr. Gorman

Media Literacy

Harrison Prep

2011-12

What is a Shot Selection?

• Cinematographic techniques such as the choice of shot, and camera movement, can greatly influence the structure and meaning of a film.

• The use of different shot sizes can influence the meaning which an audience will interpret.

• The size of the subject in frame depends on two things: the distance the camera is away from the subject and the focal length of the camera lens.

What are the Shot Sizes?

• Extreme close-up

– Focuses on a single facial feature, such as lips and eyes.

What are the Shot Sizes?

• Close-up:– Moving in to a close-up or away from a

close-up is a common type of zooming. – Close-ups are often used as cutaways

from a more distant shot to show detail, such as characters' emotions,

What are the Shot Sizes?

• Medium Shot:– Often used, but considered bad practice by

many directors, as it often denies setting establishment and is generally less effective than the Close-up.

What are the Shot Sizes?

• Full, Long or Wide Shot:– typically shows the entire object or human figure and is

usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings.

– It is now common to refer to a long shot as a "wide shot" because it often requires the use of a wide-angle lens.

– When a long shot is used to set up a location and its participants in film and video, it is called an establishing shot.

What are the Shot Sizes?

• Two (2) Shot:– A Two shot is a type of shot in which the

frame encompasses a view of two people (the subjects).

Camera Movements

• Cinematography can not only depict a moving subject but can use a camera, which represents the audience's viewpoint or perspective, that moves during the course of filming.

• This movement plays a considerable role in the emotional language of film images and the audience's emotional reaction to the action.

Camera Movements

• tilting

– A vertical shift in viewpoint from a fixed position; like tipping your head back to look at the sky or down to look at the ground.

Camera Movements

• zoom in or out

– Involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. Most video cameras today have built-in zoom features. Some have manual zooms as well, and many have several zoom speeds. Zooming is one of the most frequently-used camera moves and one of the most overused. Use it carefully.

Master Shot and Movement Chart

Articles/Resources

• http://www.videomaker.com/article/14221/