The document describes different types of camera shots commonly used in documentaries. An extreme long shot is used at the beginning to establish the location and show landmarks. A long shot shows the full body of a character with space above and below to include background. A medium shot contains the subject from the waist up for dialogue or action scenes with a blurred background. A close up focuses on a character's face or specific scene details, blurring the background. An extreme close up frames only a small facial feature like the eyes or mouth with no background visible.

1. Typical Camera Shots in
Documentaries

2. Extreme Long Shot
• An extreme long shot will often be used at the very
beginning of a documentary, this is done because it
immediately creates an understanding of the
location to the viewer.
• However, it is not used for all documentaries, this
would typically be used in documentaries that aren’t
based in a studio, they are more based out in the
environment in which the documentary is based.
• This shot is also sometimes named an establishing
shot. And will most likely feature an outside
landmark.

3. Long Shot
• A long shot will generally show the full body of
a character, with a small amount of space
above and below.
• This allows for the character to be featured in
the frame, but it also doesn’t disregard any
other background occurrences.
• For example, in the image above, we can see
the cowboy holding a gun, but we can then
also see that he is walking in a barren location,
from the dried out tree and dusty ground in
the background.

4. Medium Shot
• A medium shot will normally contain a figure from
the waist upwards.
• This shot will mostly be used during dialogue scenes
and/or to show action scenes.
• The background of the image will often not be
relevant and slightly blurred out. The reasoning
behind this is because the location of the scene will
have already been portrayed earlier.
• A medium shot is also related to an Over The
Shoulder shot. This is a shot taken from behind the
shoulder of a figure, normally depicting another
figure, character or action scene.

5. Close Up
• A close up shot will show only a face of a character,
or a specific part of a scene.
• This will also tend to blur out the background,
making the viewer feature their attention on what
the film maker wants them to.
• The film maker will use this type of shot to either
make the audience feel comfortable about an
individual, and make them trust them. Or to make
them feel uncomfortable about them, and create a
form of tension and uneasiness.

6. Extreme Close Up
• This shot is another extent to a close up.
• It normally will only frame a feature of a
characters face, such as the eyes, or the
mouth.
• There will be absolutely no background
detail.
• This kind of shot tends to only be used to
create a dramatic effect.