This document discusses key concepts of camerawork in media including camera angles (eye level, high, low, Dutch), camera movement (pan, tilt, track, crane, handheld, zoom), framing and shot size (extreme long shot to extreme close up), composition using the rule of thirds, and depth of field (selective focus, deep focus, and pull focus). Specific films are referenced to illustrate different camera techniques.

1. Introduction to Media Language:
Camerawork

2. Camerawork
In looking at camerawork, for both analysis and
production, the following areas need to be
considered:
• Angle
• Movement
• Position / framing
• Composition
• Depth of field

3. Camera Angles
• Eye-level
• High angle
• Low angle
• Canted or Dutch angle

4. Eye-level shot
• This is where the camera is at eye level with the
character in shot. It is the standard angle used so we
usually only notice an angle if it isn’t eye-level.
Forest Gump
(Zemeckis, 1994)

5. High angle
Fargo
(Coen Bros,
1996)
The camera is positioned higher than the subject/object, looking down.
Depending on context, it can make the subject seem vulnerable. In the
image below, the high angle combined with the wide framing highlights
the isolation of the character in the scene.

6. Low angle
The camera is positioned lower than the subject/object and is looking up to
them. It can make the subject/object seem dominant, powerful or intimidating.
Remember, this depends on context, consider the low camera angle used in the
film Jaws, when the camera is underwater looking up at a swimmer in the water
and we can hear the Jaws theme – this creates an entirely different meaning for
the viewer!
Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)

7. Canted angle
Fallen Angels
(Wong Kar-Wai, 1995)
A filmmaker may also use a canted angle (sometimes
called ‘dutch’) to create a skewed frame.
Often used to reinforce the idea of chaos or instability.

8. Camera Movement
Pan – horizontal movement of the camera from a static position.
Tracking – camera tracks the movement of a subject
Tilt – movement on the vertical (up or down)
Crab – a subtle movement on the horizontal (left or right)
Continued…

9. Crane – the camera is mounted on to a crane so that it can move
dramatically up or down and from side to side. Sometimes
cranes are put on tracks to create spectacular tracking and
craning movement. Click here to see a tracking and craning shot
from Touch of Evil (Welles,1958)
Handheld – a shaky movement the follows the movement of the
camera operator. Click here to see the use of handheld camera
in Cloverfield (Reeves, 2008). Often used to create realism,
urgent and sudden figure movement or to create a point of view
shot (we are seeing things through the eyes of a character).
Zoom lens – creates the illusion of movement by altering the
lens length.
Camera Movement

10. Position & Framing
• The distance between the camera and the subject.
• The position and size of shot selected relates to the
information the filmmaker is trying to communicate.
You
need to
know
your shot
types
(sizes)

11. Position & Framing
•The following shots are from Fargo (Coen Bros, 1996)
•Think about the different information you get in each
shot type…

12. extreme long shot

13. medium shot

14. close up

15. extreme close up

16. Position & Framing
• The camera is the viewer’s eyes in a scene so
the camera position also dictates the viewers
relationship with the action or characters in
the scene.
• How do the following images make you feel?

19. Composition
• The way a frame is composed can help to convey
important information.
• A basic convention of composition: rule of thirds
•
The four points formed by the
intersections of these lines can be
used to align features in the
photograph.
Click here to find out more about
this technique.
Proponents of this technique claim that aligning a photograph
with these points in mind creates more tension, energy and
interest in the image than simply centering the subject would.

20. Rule of thirds
Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1995)

21. Depth of field
• A frame’s depth of field refers to the focal length.
• Where a frame shows everything sharp or in focus this is
called deep focus.
• When a particular part of the frame is picked out and the rest
of the frame is blurred or indistinct it is called selective focus.
• When the focal point changes within the frame this is called
pull or ‘rack’ focus.
• To get an idea of how this works put your finger in front of your face and
concentrate on it. The finger will appear in focus and the background
blurred. Now concentrate on the background, the human eye ‘pulls’ focus
from the foreground to the background.

22. Selective focus
Elephant (Van Sant, 2002)

23. Deep focus
Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)