Camera Shots/Angles in film

Angles and Shots in Films

In our most resent 'Moving Image' lesson we were taught about different camera angles and shot in films and what effect they bring to a film. 

Different camera shots have very different uses that all effect what the viewer can see when watching the film. This is why it is very important to choose camera shots very carefully when making a scene. Close up shots are usually used to focus in on something, for example a character's face at a dramatic moment in a film. Zooming in to the characters face means that the audience are given the opportunity to read their faces and understand how they are feeling. A medium shot is usually used to only capture a specific area in a setting, for example you would use a medium shot to capture a character making coffee. You zoom in to the setting so that you can see the character clearer but still see what the character is doing -if a close or long shot were used here, you would not be able to see what the character is doing clearly. A long shot is used when trying to capture the scene around a character and is usually used at the start of scenes so that the audience can clearly identify where they are and what the character is up to.

Different camera angles are used to point you towards where you are meant to be looking. One type of angle shot could be behind someone's shoulder while two people are having a conversation. This puts the audience right in the moment and allows the audience to imagine that they are looking at the person from a character's point of view. Another angle could be from the ceiling of a classroom, this fits in all the characters at once and puts the audience in the position of a God looking down on all of the people.

We had to apply these techniques into our own little film and use a wide range of angles and camera shots to add different effects to our work. We went ahead and shot our film but from many different view points. This allowed us to choose what suited best with the situation and what gave the audience a clearer idea of what was going on. We used quite a lot of close up shots due to our film including a lot of conflict. In these parts we would zoom into the character's faces and would clearly show how they were feeling.

The film can be seen here!