camera techniques

In the past week, we have been looking at various videos that have been taken from famous films and analysing them in depth. At first, we watched the first scene of casino royale bond, we took apart the scene and analysed what shots were used. For example, at the beginning they used an establishing shot and as you can see the camera is facing up towards the building. This shows that they want us -the audience- to know that the scene is isolated and discrete. After we had analysed this video, we had moved on to a scene in The Shining. We thought that this created suspense and curiosity for the audience and was making us want more. This helps it have the horrific atmosphere as the suspense leads to why the child is anxious and scared in a way. Today, we watched a western movie called The good, the bad and the ugly. In my perspective I found this film very boring as there was no context for the 7 minutes in the clip we were given, it was also repetitive within the shots. However you can tell that there was a lot of editing made with the shots, and most of the various types of shots were used. Camera techniques The establishing shot: An establishing shot is the first shot in a scene that provides an overview of the setting. It is often shot from above as an aerial shot, offering a view from a distance that helps the audience orient themselves to and identify the time and/or location in which the scene is occurring. The wide shot: A wide shot, also called a long shot or a full shot, is a shot that shows the subject within their surrounding environment. A wide shot tells the audience who is in the scene, where the scene is set, and when the scene takes place. The medium shot: A medium shot, also called a mid-shot or waist shot, is a type of camera shot in film and television that shows an actor approximately from the waist up. A medium shot is used to emphasize both the actor and their surroundings by giving them an equal presence on screen. Close up shots: A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long shots. High angle shots: A high-angle shot is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up". ... In film, they can make the scene more dramatic. If there is a person at high elevation who is talking to someone below them, this shot is often used. Low angle shots: A low-angle shot in a film can convey a number of emotions or feelings about the subject in the frame. It can also break up the visuals, adjusting the feeling and mood of a scene. A low-angle shot is a shot in which the camera angle is positioned below the eye line of the subject, pointing upward. An extreme low-angle shot is positioned below the subject’s feet, offering a sharper contrast in the shot. Extreme close-up shot: A more intense version of the close-up, usually showing only the subject's eyes or another part of their face. Insert shot: a close-up that focuses on a specific object, prop, or detail, signaling to the audience that it's important. Two angle: A two shot is a shot in which the frames a view of the subjects. The subjects do not have to be next to each other. There are many which have one subject in the foreground and the other subject in the background. The shot is used to show the emotional reactions between the subjects. Birdseye view: In filmmaking and video production, a bird's-eye shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. ... It is shot by lifting the camera up by hands or by hanging it off something strong enough to support it. When a scene needs a large area shot, it is a crane shot. Hip Level shot: The hip level shot or cowboy shot is created when the camera is placed nearly waist-high. It is used mostly in cowboy movies to intensify the moment of pulling out the gun in a duel scene. It is also useful when characters are not at the same level. Knee Level shot: This is when your camera height is about as low as your subject's knees. They can emphasize a character's superiority if paired with a low angle. It's not as extreme as a ground level shot but it gets the same feeling across. Ground level shots: It has the same intentions as the knee level shot but it's more extreme and has more focus on the character and the walking movement. Sometimes a ground level shot leads the audience to the underground location and is used as a switch point between two locations. Shoulder Level shot: A shoulder level shot is a camera angle that is as high as your subject's shoulders. Shoulder level shots are much more standard than an eye level shot, which can make your actor seem shorter than reality. Dutch angle shot: The technique consists of an angled camera shot where the horizon line isn't parallel with the bottom of the frame, and vertical lines are at an angle to the side of the frame. Full shot: A full shot is a type of camera shot that captures a character or subject's entire body from top to bottom within the entire frame. In a full shot, the character is meant to be framed from their head to their toe. Medium full shot: Is a shot that frames a character around the knees and up. A medium full shot falls between a normal medium shot and a full shot. The medium full shot is also referred to as a medium long shot, ¾ shot or a cowboy shot. Aerial shot: Aerials are exterior shots taken from high in the air, covering a grand landscape of space, used to establish a sense of geography (known as an establishing shot), provide a sense of scale, serve as a film's opening or ending, or to render a subject small. Static / fixed shot: A shot with no camera movement at all; the fixed camera remains motionless. In most cases, the camera is mounted on a tripod (or a similar support). Long static shots help the viewers to notice subtle changes of the mise en scène. Tracking shot: A tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly that is then placed on rails – like a railroad track. Zoom shot: A zoom shot is when the focal length of a camera lens is adjusted to give the illusion of moving closer or further away from the subject. Zoom shots are done with a zoom lens, which have variable focal lengths. Dolly zoom shot: A dolly zoom is an in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception. The effect is achieved by zooming a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view while the camera dollies toward or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. Pan shot: In cinematography and photography panning means swivelling a still or video camera horizontally from a fixed position. This motion is like the motion of a person when they turn their head on their neck from left to right. Crab shot: The term crabbing shot is a less-common version of tracking, trucking and/or dollying. These terms are interchangeable, although dollying tends to mean in-and-out movement whereas the others tend to mean side-to-side movement at a constant distance from the action. Arc shot: An arc shot is a camera move around the subject, somewhat like a tracking shot. ... A camera arc is similar — the camera moves in a rough semi-circle around the subject. Some definitions of the arc shot describe it as being tracking and dollying at the same time, i.e., simultaneous side-to-side and in-and-out movement.