Camera Shots, Angles
and Framing
It's all about the essentials!
• What is a Camera Shot: It is how much the
audience sees in the frame.
• What are Camera Angles: the position of the
camera that relates emotions and
relationships.
• What is Framing: Is the way all visual
elements are arranged within a frame.
• What is a Motion show: is when the camera is
moving while it’s capturing a shot.
10 Basic Shots
1. Full Shot (FS)
2. Medium Full or Medium Wide
Shot (MFS) (MWS)
3. Cowboy Shot (CS)
4. Medium Shot (MS)
5. Medium Closeup (MCU)
6. Closeup (CU)
7. Extreme Closeup (ECU)
8. Extreme Wide or Long
(EWS)(ELS)
9. Long or Wide Shot (LS) (WS)
10. Establishing Shot
Full Shot
It frames character from head
to toes, with the subject
roughly filling the frame.
Purpose:
• To emphasis more on action
and movement.
• To have the ability to have the
subject and the scene in the
same shot.
• It allows the ability to have
multiple subjects.
Medium Full
or Wide Shot
This shot is between Full Shot
and Medium Shot. Shows
subject from the knees up.
Purpose:
• It gives the audience a
closer look at the subject
and the scene.
Cowboy
This Medium Shot frames the
subject from mid-thighs.
Fun Fact: this shot got its name
from Western films of the 1930s
and 1940s where the director of
photography would frame the
subject to fit the character’s gun
holsters into the shot
Medium Shot
This is the most common camera
shot. It shoots the subject from the
waist up.
Purpose: To still shows part scene
while highlighting subject in more
detail. It can be used as a buffer in
dialogue scenes that have an
important moment happen later.
This shot frames the subject from the
chest and shoulders up.
Purpose: Sometimes this shot is used
to portray characters at distant even
though they made be in a face-to-face
conversation.
Medium
Closeup Shot
Closeup
This shot fills the screen with
the subject. It frames up a
particular aspect or detail
such as a face or a hand.
Purpose:
• It focuses on tiny emotions
and reactions of a
character that may have
been missed.
Extreme Closeup
It frames a subject very closely,
often so much so that the outer
portions of the subject are cut off
by the edges of the frame
Purpose:
• To focus in on a specific
portion of the subject.
• To signal an important sensory
moment in a scene.
• To communicate tiny details
too small to notice.
Establishing
It sets up the context for the scene
ahead and informs the audience where
the action will be taking place.
Purpose:
• Show the relationship between
characters and the story world
• Set the tone and mood of a scene can help foreshadow
• Show the passing of time
Long or
Wide Shot
This shot shows the entire object
or person and their relation to the
scene.
Purpose:
• It lets the audience absorb all
the information at once
• It emphasizes place and
location, setting the subject of
the scene in context.
Extreme Wide
or Long Shot
This shot is able to frame the
subject from a distance and
focuses on the wider surroundings.
Purpose: To place audiences in
the middle of the film's world.
Angles and Purpose
• High-angle shot: is the camera looking down on a
subject. Purpose: to give the audience a sense of
superiority to the subject.
• Low-angle shot: is the camera looking up at a
subject. Purpose: to give the audience a sense of
inferiority to the subject.
• Dutch angle: is the camera is tilted to one
side. Purpose: to make the audience feel disorient or
convey chaos in the scene.
Framing Shots
• Overhead or Bird’s eye view shot: A shot from
high in the sky looking down on a subject and/or
their surroundings.
• Aerial shot: a shot usually from a helicopter or
drone. This shot is higher than a bird’s eye view. It
works very well for an Establishing Shot because it
can show miles of scenery or cityscape from above.
• Reaction Shot: Shows a character’s reaction to the
shot that has preceded it.
• Two shot: When two subjects appear side by side
or facing one another in a single frame.
• Over-the-shoulder shot: can capture two subjects
in the same frame when the camera is positioned
behind the shoulder of one subject and other
subject is still visible. Usually used in a converstation
or interview.
• Point of view shot: allows the audience to become
the charater. It is shows the action through the eyes
Motion Shots
• Tracking shot: When the camera moves with the
subject.
• Dolly shot: When the camera is moving along a
track, usually in sync with the subject as they move.
• Dolly zoom shot: Is when the camera lens zooms
while the camera is also tracking toward or away
from the subject. Purpose: to creates the illusion
that the background is moving closer or further
away from the subject, while they stay still.
• Jib or Crane shot: is when a camera mounted on a
jib or crane that moves up and down.
Five Shot Project example: Bad
Five Shot Project example: Good