The document outlines the fundamentals of camera shots and angles in filmmaking, detailing six basic camera shots such as establishing shots, long shots, full shots, medium shots, close-ups, and extreme close-ups. It also describes five basic camera angles, including bird's-eye view, eye-level shot, low-angle shot, and oblique angle, explaining their functions and effects on the viewer's perception. Each shot and angle is illustrated with examples from notable films to highlight their practical application in storytelling.

1. Camera Shots & Angles
By Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
Camera shots & angles: The art and Science of choosing
what your viewer will see.

2. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard

3. Camera Shots & Angles
amended from Kent Millard by Jesse Thompson
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 Known as an establishing shot, and is done at the beginning of a scene to
provide the viewer with the context of the subsequent closer shots.
 Most times is an exterior shot that shows much of the locale such as
architecture and local nature.
 Provides a spatial frame of reference for closer shots.
 Necessary to give the viewer a sense of location, time and space
Extreme long shot:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000

4. Camera Shots & Angles
By Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 Usually, long-shot ranges correspond approximately to the
distance between the audience and the stage in live theater.
 Can also serve as an establishing shot.
 Gives a sense of context and scenery
Long shot:
Kill Bill (Vol.1)
2003

5. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 A type of long shot that includes the human body in full, with
the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom
Useful for establishing size relationships between
characters/objects
Full shot:
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
1965

6. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 A relatively close shot, revealing the human figure from the
knees or waist up.
 A functional shot that is used for carrying movement and for
dialogue.
 Variations include the two-shot, containing two-figures from the
waist up; the three-shot, containing three-figures; and the over-
the-shoulder shot containing two figures, one with part of his or
her back to the camera while the other faces the camera.
Medium shot:
Bridget Jones’s Diary
2001

7. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 A detailed view of a person or object. A close-up of an actor
usually includes only his or her head.
 Shows very little if any locale and concentrates on a relatively
small object - the human face, for example.
 Because it magnifies the size of an object, the close-up tends to
elevate the importance of things, often suggesting a symbolic
significance.
Close-up:
The Incredibles
2004

8. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
6 Basic Camera Shots:
 A variation of the close-up shot.
 A minutely detailed view of an object or person.
 Instead of a face, the extreme close-up might show only a
person’s eyes or mouth.
Extreme close-up:
Psycho 1960

9. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
5 Basic Camera Angles:
 A shot in which the camera photographs a scene from directly
overhead.
 Since we seldom see things from this angle, filmmakers tend to
avoid it because it can be disorienting.
 This angle can be highly expressive: It permits us to hover above
a scene. Reducing the importance of figures and objects like cars
and houses making them seem antlike and insignificant.
Bird’s-eye view:
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
1983

10. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
5 Basic Camera Angles: Eye-level shot:
The House that Dripped Blood
1970
 The camera is placed approximately five to six feet from the
ground, corresponding to the height of an observer on the scene.
 Used by filmmakers who believe that angles are too manipulative.
Can give a more theatrical staged feeling
 Eye-level shots permit the audience make up our own minds
about what kind of people are being presented.

11. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard
5 Basic Camera Angles:
 A shot in which the subject is drawn or photographed from below.
 Increases height and suggests the superiority of the subject and the
inferiority of the viewer who is made to feel insecure and dominated.
 Environment is usually minimized and often the sky or a ceiling is the
only background
Low-angle shot:
City of God
2002

12. Camera Shots & Angles
Kent Millard amended by Jesse Thompson
5 Basic Camera Angles:
 Drawn as if the shot was photographed by a tilted camera.
 People look like they’re about to fall to one side.
Psychologically, oblique shots suggest tension, transition and
impending movement.
Oblique angle:
Shallow Grave
1994