Camera shots

During the making of a film, a director has to decide where to position the camera in relation to the action that is taking places. He/She has to consider the camera angle, camera level, camera height and camera distance. This is vital because the framing of the shot has to create atmosphere whether that is joyful or terrified.

Camera Angle
There are three general angles that are used in film these are-
1. Straight on
2. High angle
3. Low angle
By using the high angle it makes the character look vulnerable and powerless, this would be used during an emotional scene when the character is having a “mental breakdown”. The low angle shows superiority and this is useful for scenes such as bullying in a children’s programme.

Camera Level
This is when the frame is “level” or wonky”. For a level shot the camera person would use either a vertical shot (straight up and down) or a horizontal shot (side to side). However to create a shot which appears distorted or weird you would use diagonal angles (canted shot).

Camera Height
It is important to frame a shot from all different heights so then it keeps the audience intrigued because it changes their perspective. The camera can be positioned
· Close to the floor
· Shooting straight on (impression of low height)
· High up in a room
· Very high up in the sky

Camera distance
Typical camera distances are:
· Extreme Long shot (framing landscapes)
· Long shot (character in the distance)
· Medium shot (character from the knees or waist up)
· Close-up (show extreme detail or facial expressions)
· Extreme close-up (part of the head)
· Over the shoulder shot (shot made from over the shoulder of a character)
· Point of view (seen from the character’s point of view
· Two shot (shot with two characters in it)

This is all useful however it is very tempting to believe that a “low angle” always means superiority. This is not always the case; framings don’t have absolute or general meanings. It means different things in different contexts.

Below are the shots which we intend to use in our project:
· Long shot from behind the character running
· Close-up from behind
· Close up from the front (x10)
· Long shot of teenagers in town centre (x10)
· Medium shot of the desk (x2)
· Close up of the headlines (x6)
· Close ups of the hands (x6)
· Close up as camera flicks across pages in the book
· Medium close up of front of the book
· Long shot of teenagers in town centre again
· Medium shot of teenagers in town centre
· Close up of killers feet
· Close up of the victims head

Hannah