Video Language
Media Concepts
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About Video Language
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Shot – is a single, uninterrupted visual
recording, a length of tape during which the
camera has operated continuously.
Video Language
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Frame – letter
Image - word
Shot - sentence
Scene - paragraph
Sequence - chapter
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Camera Angles
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Camera Angles – a distinctive, identifiable
way of framing subjects from a particular
position at a particular image size. Usually,
angles are named for one of several sets of
characteristics:
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Subject distance
Horizontal camera position
Vertical camera position
Lens perspective
Shot purpose
Shot population
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Subject Distance
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Extreme Long Shot – Figure 6-2
Long Shot – Figure 6-3
Medium Long Shot – Figure 6-4
Full Shot – Figure 6-5
Three-quarter Shot – Figure 6-6
Medium Shot – Figure 6-7
Medium Close-up – Figure 6-8
Closeup – Figure 6-9
Big Closeup – Figure 6-10
Extreme Closeup – Figure 6-11
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Horizontal Position
Front Angle – Figure 6-13
 Three-quarter Angle – Figure 6-14
 Profile Angle – Figure 6-15
 Three-quarter Rear Angle – Figure 6-16
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What’s in a Name? Page 88-89
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Vertical Angle
Shots may be labeled by the vertical
angle form which the camera views the
action. Clock Hand Figure 6-18.
 Bird’s Eye Angle – Figure 6-19.
 High Angle – Figure 6-20.
 Neutral Angle – Figure 6-21.
 Low Angle – Figure 6-22.
 Worm’s-eye Angle Figure 6-23.
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Lens Perspective
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Wide-Angle – exaggerates apparent depth
and dramatizes movement toward and away
from the camera.
Normal – lens renders perspective
approximately the way human vision
perceives it.
Telephoto – compresses apparent depth and
de-emphasizes movement toward and away
from the camera.
Figure 6-24 and 6-25.
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Shot Purpose
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Master Shot – to record all or most of a scene in a full shot or
even wider, capturing the action from beginning to end. Figure
6-26
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Establishing Shot – to orient viewers to the general scene and
the performers in it.
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Reverse Shot – show action from a point of view nearly opposite
that of the main camera angle. Figure 6-27.
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Over-the-shoulder Shot – to include part of one performer in the
foreground while focusing on another performer. Figure 6-28.
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Cutaway Shot – to show the audience something outside the
principal action, or to reveal something from an on-screen
person’s point of view. Figure 6-29.
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Shot Purpose
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Insert Shot – to show a small detail of the action,
often from the point of view of a person on the
screen. Figure 6-30.
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POV Shot – to show the audience what someone on
the screen is seeing. Figure 6-30.
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Glance-object pair – glancing off screen then show
what performer was looking at. Figure 6-31.
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Shot Population
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Single Shot – showing one performer
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Two-Shot – showing two performers
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Three Shot – showing three performers
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Figure 6-32
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Creating Continuity
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Every time viewers notice a new angle they
are briefly distracted from the program
content; so the goal is to make the action
appear to happen in a single continuous flow.
The key is matching action – making the
incoming shot appear to begin at precisely
the point where the outgoing shot ends.
Apparently uninterrupted action is an illusion
created by a collaboration between the
director and the editor.
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Varying Shots
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Editors use the term “cut together” to describe how
successfully one shot follows another.
Jump cuts – an edit in which the incoming shot is too
similar visually to the outgoing shot. Figure 6-34, 36,
and 37.
To make a smooth edit, the technique is to match the
action closely, while decisively altering the camera
angle. Figure 6-35
Generally to achieve this, you must change at least
two of the angle’s three major characteristics:
camera position, camera height, and subject size. To
achieve a smooth edit, a new camera setup should
change two angle traits, most often the image size
plus either the camera position or height. Figure 6-38
and 39
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Matching Action
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While the angle should change decisively
from one shot to the next, the action should
be closely matched, to make the second shot
seem to begin exactly where the first shot
ends. There are two basic ways to match
action
- First is to have the performer repeat part of the
action from the first shot in the second shot. Figure
6-40.
- Second is to conceal the matching point. Figure 641.
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Making Transitions
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Transitions between “Chapters” or sequences of
video.
- Classic Hollywood Transitions
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Fade In – Figure 6-42.
Fade Out – Figure 6-42.
Dissolve – Figure 6-43.
Wipe – Figure 6-44.
- Modern Transitions – Digital Video Effect (DVE)
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Flips
Fly-Ins
Rotations
Commercials and Music Videos - Figure 6-45.
Video Language in Action – Page 101.
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