DPHU1005 Chap.3 Shot Types, Camera Angles and Camera Movement
Shot Types, Camera Angles and Camera Movement
Shot types, camera movement, editing and sound are the formal qualities of film named in the rubric for the two written analyses, and shot types and camera work come first.
The course posts a slide deck on Moodle with examples of different shot types, camera angles and camera movement for this reason: you cannot describe a shot accurately without naming its scale, the angle of the camera and whether the camera moves.
This chapter sets out shot scale against the human figure, from the extreme long shot that establishes a setting to the close-up that isolates a face or object, then camera height and tilt, including the canted frame, and the six main camera movements.
It pays particular attention to pairs that are easily confused, the pan and the tilt, the zoom and the tracking shot, and to the visual cues that separate them on screen. It closes with the Week 5 shot-by-shot analysis, which takes its sequence from Joel Coen's Raising Arizona (1987), and a short video on Moodle about freedom in framing and aspect ratio.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Shot scale: extreme long, long, medium, medium close-up, close-up
- 02
What each scale does in a sequence: establishing, observing, sharing
- 03
Camera angle: high, eye level, low, overhead and canted
- 04
Six camera movements: pan, tilt, tracking, crane, handheld, zoom
- 05
Zoom versus track: flattening versus parallax
- 06
Vertigo's combined zoom and track as a model of technique and effect
- 07
Aspect ratio as a framing choice
- 08
Logging scale, angle and movement for the Raising Arizona analysis
Worked example · free
Naming a camera move precisely
- +1Does the camera itself travel, or only pivot? Travelling is a tracking or crane shot; pivoting is a pan or tilt.
- +1What is the scale while it moves: long shot, medium shot or close-up?
- +1Is the movement smooth or handheld, and what does that texture add?
Key terms
- Extreme long shot
- A very distant framing in which the setting dominates and human figures appear small, often used to establish place.
- Close-up
- A framing that shows a face, hand or object filling most of the screen, isolating detail or emotion.
- Pan
- A horizontal pivot of the camera from a fixed position, sweeping across a scene from side to side.
- Tilt
- A vertical pivot of the camera from a fixed position, moving the view up or down.
- Tracking shot
- A shot in which the whole camera travels through space, often on a dolly or track, producing parallax.
- Zoom
- A change in the focal length of the lens that magnifies or reduces the image while the camera stays still.
- Aspect ratio
- The proportion of the frame's width to its height, which shapes how space and figures are composed.
- Dolly zoom
- A combined move in which the camera tracks one way while the lens zooms the other, so space seems to warp.
Shot Types, Camera Angles and Camera Movement FAQ
How do I tell a medium shot from a medium close-up?
Judge by how much of the body the frame holds. A medium shot shows a person from roughly the waist up; a medium close-up cuts closer, around the chest. If the label is arguable, describe the framing directly, for example framed from the chest up, which is always accurate.
Why does it matter whether a shot is a zoom or a tracking shot?
Because they look and feel different. A zoom magnifies the image while the perspective stays flat; a track moves the camera through space, so foreground and background shift against each other. Using the wrong term costs accuracy marks and can undermine the interpretation you build on it.
What does a low-angle shot mean?
It usually makes a figure look larger, stronger or more threatening, because we look up at them. Treat that as a tendency rather than a rule, and say what the angle does in this particular scene, which may be ironic or may express another character's point of view.
Which film is used for the shot-by-shot analysis?
The Moodle page for Assessment 3 links Raising Arizona, directed by Joel Coen in 1987, and says the sequence will be taken from it. You are asked to watch the full film, identify every character by name and explain why they act as they do.
Assessment move
Make a one-page chart of the five scales and six movements, each with a sketch and one example from a set film. Practise identifying them with the sound off, which forces you to look at framing. Watch Raising Arizona before Week 5 with your chart beside you and log scale, angle and movement for the scenes you find most dynamic, so the vocabulary is automatic in the two-hour analysis.
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