Camera Work

Here are two videos made with a classmate, showing the different types of angles and camera movement/work. Below the videos you'll find detailed information about them. I've decided to do these two videos because i can give clear explanation of this work.

                                  

Camera movements

Zoom

Changing the lens to increase o decrease the size of an image.

Pan

The camera body stays in one position, but the lens swings from side, to follow motion across the scene, or two sweep across a very wide scene.

Dolly

Moving the whole camera on a wheeled base.

Track

Moving the whole camera (usually on a track), usually to follow action.

Tilt

The camera body stays in one position, but the lens sweeps from the top to bottom of a scene, or bottom to top.

Crane

Moving the wholr camera on a crane, so that it can move up, down, and nearer to further from a subject, all in one shot.

Camera angles

It is important that you do not confuse camera angles and camera shots. Camera shots are used to demonstrate different aspects of setting, themes and characters. Camera angles are used to position the viewer so that they can understand the relationships between the characters. These are very important for shaping meaning in film as well in other visual texts.



Eye- level angle

• An eye-level angle puts the audience on an equal footing with the character/s. This is the most commonly used angle in most films as it allows the viewers to feel comfortable with the characters.

Low angle

• A low angle is a camera angle that looks up at a character. This is the opposite of a high angle and makes a character look more powerful. This can make the audience feel vulnerable and small by looking up at the character. This can help the responder feel empathy if they are viewing the frame from another character´s point of view.

High angle

• A high angle is a camera angle that looks down up on a subject. A character shot with a high angle will look vulnerable or small. These angles are often used to demostrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character.

Bird´s eye angle

• A bird´s eye angle is an angle that looks directly down up on a scene. This angle is often used as an establishing angle, along with an extreme long shot, to establish setting.

Camera Shots

• Extreme long shot (ELS).
• Used in scene setting, establishing shots.
• They normally show and exterior.
• Meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.
• Establishing shot (ES).

Long shot (LS)

• Shows the image as approximately ¨life¨ size (corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema).
• Includes the full shot showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom.

Medium or mid shot (MS)

• Shows a figure from the kness/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action.
• Background detail is minimal.

Close-up (CU)

• Shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène.
• Everything else is just a blur in the background.
• This shot magnifies the object and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone´s face.

Extreme close-up (ECU)

• An extreme version of the close up, generally magnificalling beyond what the human eye would experience in really.
• An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsover.
• This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect.

Over-the-shoulder shot

• Shot established to get a view of a shot from the shoulder of an actor.

Aerial shot

• A shot taken from a rat, helicopter or a person on top a building. Not necessarily a moving shot. The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera. 

Shot reverse shot

• Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Master shot

• A master shot is a film recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view.
•  It is often a long shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an establishing shot.
•  Usually, the master shot is the first shot checked off during the shooting of a scene—it is the foundation of what is called camera coverage, other shots that reveal different aspects of the action, groupings of two or three of the actors at crucial moments, close-ups of individuals, insert shots of various props, and so on.

Wide shot

• A video or film recording made with the camera positioned to observe the most action in the performance.

What is a fiction movie?

Fictional film is a film that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. In this style of film, believable narratives and characters help convince the audience that the unfolding fiction is real. Lighting and camera movement, among other cinematic elements, have become increasingly important in these films. Great detail goes into the screenplays of narratives, as these films rarely deviate from the predetermined behaviors and lines of the screenplays to maintain a sense of realism. Actors must deliver dialogue and action in a believable way, so as to persuade the audience that the film is real life.

Examples of fiction movies.

Iron Man:

Stars Wars:

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Hello! This is my Media Studies blog where I am going to present evidence of the process of my work during this year. Let´s start!