Chapter
Calling the Shots
Objective
Given: textbook
What: Group activity on subject
distance in preparation for
scavenger hunt
How Well: with 100% accuracy
Camera Angle Names
• A camera angle is a distinctive,
identifiable way of framing subjects from
a particular position at a particular
image size.
• The most common angle names are
taken from the apparent distance
between the camera and a standing
adult human.
Examples
• See the examples on page 95-99 of the
textbook.
Camera Angle Names
By Distance
• extreme long shot (XLS): the figure is tiny
and indistinct in a very large area
• long shot (LS): the standing figure fills the
screen from top to bottom, often with just a
small amount of head and foot room
• three-quarter shot (3/4): the shot shows the
subject from about the knees to the top of the
head
Camera Angle Names
By Distance
• Medium Shot or Mid Shot(MS): the shot
shows the subject from the belt line to the top
of the head
• Medium Closeup or Bust Shot (MCU): the
shot shows the subject from about the solar
plexus to the top of the head
Camera Angle Names
By Distance
• Closeup (CU): the shot shows the subject
from the shoulders to the top of the head
• Big closeup (BCU): the shot shows the
subject from below the chin to the forehead or
hairline
• Extreme closeup (XCU): the shot shows the
subject from the base of the nose to the
eyebrows
Camera Angle Names
By Horizontal Angle
• front angle: the camera faces the front
of the subject
• three-quarter angle: the camera is
placed between 15 and 45 degrees
around toward one side of the subject
• profile angle: the camera is at a right
angle to the original front angle
Camera Angle Names
By Horizontal Angle
• three-quarter rear angle: the camera
is another 45 degrees around, so that
the subject is now facing away
• rear angle: the camera is directly
opposite its front position and fully
behind the subject
Camera Angle Names
by Camera Height
• bird’s-eye angle: an extremely high camera
position (around 1 o’clock) that simulates the
view from a plane or high building
• high angle: a shot in which the camera is
evidently higher than the eye level of a
human subject (between 1:30 and 2:30)
• neutral angle: a shot in which the camera is
more or less at the subject’s eye level (3:00)
Camera Angle Names
by Camera Height
• low angle: a shot in which the camera is
evidently below eye level (between 3:30 and
4:30)
• worm’s-eye angle: an extremely low
camera position, looking dramatically upward
(5 o’clock)
Subject
Camera Angle Names
by Shot Purpose
• master shot: recording most or all of a
scene in a full shot
• establishing shot: serves to orient viewers
to the general scene and the performers in it
• reverse shot: to show the action from a
point of view nearly opposite that of the main
camera position
• POV shot: (point-of-view) shows the
audience what someone on the screen is
seeing
Camera Angle Names
by Shot Purpose
• over-the-shoulder shot: enhances the
feeling of depth and give great perspective
• cutaway shot: the purpose is to show the
audience something outside the principal
action, or to reveal something from an
onscreen person’s point of view
• insert shot: serves to show small detail of
an action, most often from the point of view of
a person on the screen
Camera Angle Names
by Shot Population
• single: shot showing one person
• two-shot: shot showing two people
• three-shot: shot showing three people
Camera Movement
• Dolly: Moving the camera, it’s tripod,
and dolly toward or away from the set.
• Truck: Moving the camera, it’s tripod,
and dolly to the left or right parallel to
the set
• Arc: Moving the camera in a curved
truck around the set. Fixed on subject
Camera Movement
• Pan: Moving only the camera
horizontally.
• Tilt: Pointing only the camera lens
vertically up or down
• Pedestal: Raising or lowering the
camera on the pedestal while facing the
set