FILM 101Cinematography Techniques: The Different Types of
Shots in Film & Film Theory and Approaches
Overview of Film
What Shot to Use, When■ How do you want your audience / viewer to feel about the scene?
– Disoriented?
– Detached?
– Serene?
– Off-balance?
– Static?
■ Do you want to focus on the grandeur of the scenery or on the small details?
– Consider scoping out a location that is appropriate for action, character
development, and tone.
■ To convey a stressed out student, you might consider a classroom and place the
character in a desk piled high with books, disheveled papers, a laptop,
pens/highlighters; the costume worn by the character might be stained with coffee
(which, you’d need a close-up shot to show this to the audience); the character’s
hair may be messy; add make-up (dark circles); edit in some fast-paced/loud music
or a heartbeat or even stark silence, and presto! You have a the stage set to convey
a tone of stress.
What next?You’ve learned about the different shots and what they convey. Let’s review:
Extreme Close-Up
What effect does this shot
have to the viewer?
#5
Medium Shot
So now, the focus has been
taken off the setting and
focuses more on the
character.
What does this stance reveal
about this character?
#6
Over the Shoulder
Shot (OSS)
What point of view?
What is this shot
important in
framing the action
of the scene?
#7
Dutch Angle Shot
Look at the characters’ faces.
Does the shot match the
emotion(s) on their faces?
A Word on Camera Movement
■ Pan
The same motion considerations
about panning are valid for tilting. A dolly is a
small wheeled vehicle, piloted by a dolly grip,
that is used to move a camera around in a
scene. A dolly shot is a move in and out of a
scene, i.e., the movement is parallel to the
camera lens axis
■ Track
■ Zoom
More Info on Camera Movement HERE
A Word on Lighting
■ High Contrast
– See a lot in film noir (mystery)
■ Backlighting (Halo Effect)
■ Cool Colors
– Green / blue (sadness, creepy)
■ Warm Colors
– Red / yellow (passion, happiness)
Have an idea? Time to storyboard.
■ What is a storyboard? How do you set it up? Why is it important?
Link to Storyboards look for Psycho
Let’s Look at an Example■ The shower scene from the film Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is an
iconic movie scene.
10 Facts about Shower Scene
More Facts of Shower Scene
more cool stuff on Psycho shower scene
Documentary 78/52 from Mental Floss
Let's watch the scene
GOOD WEBSITES
■ https://vimeo.com/68541107 Discussion of Psycho by Hitchcock
■ http://cinetropolis.net/scene-is-believing-psycho/ frame-by-frame stuff
■ http://vashivisuals.com/directed-shower-scene-psycho/ Who directed the shower
scene
■ http://und.edu/faculty/christopher-jacobs/_files/docs/theory-and-analysis.pdf Film
Theory