Film Techniques

Techniques             Definition                Example

Establishing shot	A shot that establishes a scene. Used at the start of a scene.
Extreme long shot	A a very far away shot, often used at the beginning of a scene to show the area they are in.
Long shot	A far away shot, often used to show an entire person or object, from a slight distance. This shot is good for showing body language.
Mid shot	A shot taken at a medium distance, often used to show the upper half of someone’s body.
Close up	Close to the camera, often used to show a very emotional scene, by being close to a person’s face.
Extreme close up	A shot that only shows a certain feature of a person’s (generally) face. This is also used to show emotions.
POV shot	Showing a scene from the person’s perspective. Often used to show what the person is looking at.
Over the shoulder shot	When a shot is taken from over a person’s shoulder, often used in interviews.
Bird’s eye view	This shot is taken from above, as if it were a bird.
Low angle	A shot taken from a lower angle than the subjects face, used to make the subject look more powerful.
High angle	A shot taken from above the subject, used to make them seem vulnerable or powerless.
Tracking	A shot where the camera moves along side the subject.
Panning	When the camera sweeps across the scene.
Fade	A gradual transition from one scene to another.
Wipe	When one shot is replacing another shot for a transition.
Zoom	When the camera gets closer to the subject.