• Introduction
• Pre-Production
• Director/Actor
• Cinematography
• Production Design
• Post-Production

Types of shots

A film will be seen in within the frame of the screen, but unlike in a live theatre, the camera lens can create various types of shots adding a richness and variety of perspective. Some shots establish the scene: The “establishing shot” helps set the location, and the “extreme long shot” encompasses the largest filmable area of a given scene.

Other types of shots use the human body as the measure of the shot’s distance: A “long shot” includes a view of the entire body of the actor, and a “medium shot” includes the actor’s body from about mid-thigh to the head. A “two shot” is a shot of two actors from the waist up, and an “over the shoulder shot” is taken from over the shoulder of one of the actors. A “close-up” frames one part of an actor’s body, and an “extreme close-up” shows a small part of an actor — like an eye — that fills the entire frame.