Media Terms

Shannon Bulmer

1. Establishing Shot

Here is an example of an Establishing Shot used in a film.

Establishing Shot is the master shot of a scene, normally used to set a scene including i.e. location, scenery, characters, buildings, period of time etc.

2. Low Angled Shot

An example of a Low Angle Shot is shown in this print screen from the Spiderman film (2002)

It is a shot taken from a low angle, normally looking upwards at the subject.

3. High Angled Shot

A High Angled Shot is a shot taken from above, as if looking down on a subject.

Used when showing the size/status of a character i.e. Matilda in this picture (1996)

4. Close Up

A Close Up is a zoomed in shot of a subject, preferably the face showing in detail every feature.

Used when showing emotions and detail of a characters face.

Used here in the film Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

5. Medium Close Up

A medium close up shot is similar to the close up shot however this focuses on a characters face and shoulders, showing more however still in detail.

Used here in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

6. Extreme Close Up

Extreme close up is a zoomed in shot of one specific feature on a character or object i.e. nose, eyes, mouth etc.

Shows intense detail.

Used here in the Harry Potter franchise (2001-2011)

7. Long Shot

A long shot is when the entire body of a character is shown, showing them from head to toe.

Used here in Boy in Striped Pyjamas (2008)

8. Medium Long Shot

A medium long shot is the camera shot which is between medium and long.

It takes a shot of the subjects body up to their waist/knees showing nearly the whole body.

Used here in Forrest Gump (1994)

9. Two/Three Shot

This is a shot taken with more than one character in it i.e. 2 or more.

This is used in Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows (2011)

10. Aerial Shot

An aerial shot is a over view scene shot used mostly by cranes etc.

Used to set the scene, time, location.

11. Point of View

Point of view is the camera angle used from a character’s perspective i.e. what they are seeing.

Used here in 127 Hours (2010)

12. Panning Shot

Panning is when the camera is following a subject i.e. person or car etc using a side to side motion.

Establishes a moving shot of where a person/car is going.

13. Tilting

Tilting is used to create an image which is on an angle.

The camera is put at an angle to create an effect.

Used here in The Third Man (1949)

14. Tracking

Tracking is similar to a panning shot where it follows a subject however a tracking shot uses a track which the camera follows, only moving from side to side.

15. Dollying

Dollying is similar to tracking as the camera follow a track to create a smooth shot however dollying is used when following a subjects actions from the front therefore the camera only moves backwards.

16. Hand Held Shot

Hand held shot is when a character in the film is filming off a hand held camera.

Used to show point of view of a character.

Used here in Cloverfield (2008)

17. Depth of Field

Depth of field is the camera shot which shows the distant between the nearest and furthest object/subject within a shot.