The document discusses different camera techniques used in TV drama such as shot sizes, angles, movement, composition and focus. It defines terms like low and high camera angles, pans, tracks, and steadicam shots. Students are tasked with storyboarding, analyzing shots in a drama, and learning about the rule of thirds and how depth of field and focus pulls are used.

1. Year 12 Media Studies
Camera angles, movement and composition

2. L.O.
• To know the different camera angles used in TV
drama and how movement affects shots
• To know what composition and the rule of thirds
means
• To be able to storyboard using shot sizes and
angles
• To be able to analyse a TV drama and identify
camera shot sizes, angles and movement

3. The International
• Look at the camera angles and shot sizes
and think about why they were used.

4. Camera angles
• Low angle - connotes superiority
• High angle - connotes inferiority
• Tilt - camera tilts up or down
• Pan - when the camera swivels from left to
righ to right to left. Pans usually slow and
steady
• A whip pan is a very quick pan

5. Camera terminology
• Track - when the camera physically moves
across the floor. A camera could be on
wheels on a track - called a “tracking shot”
• Camera can have wheels bolted onto the
bottom of the tripod for the same effect
• Much more often ‘steadicam’ is used, where
the camera is fixed to the body of a camera
operator with belts, for even smoother
action.

6. Tasks
• 1. Storyboard story as listed on sheet
• 2. Watch Life on Mars and fill out table
•

7. Composition
• Rule of thirds:
• createvideonotebook.blogspot.com
• Depth of field - is the portion of the shot or scene that
appears acceptably sharp in the image. Its determined
by how far the camera is to the subject, the lens focal
length, f numbers and other factors. You can change
the depth of field so that even though a lens can only
focus on one area, a large or small area can be sharp.
•

8. Focus
• The more shallow a depth of field, the more narrow an
area will be sharp.
• Deep an shallow focus - a large DOF is often called deep
focus and a small DOF is often called shallow focus

9. Focus pulls
• Used in TV drama when the camera ‘pulls’
from one point on focus eg a gnome in the
foreground, to another point of focus, eg. a
gnome in the background.
• Creates a dramatic shot, movement and
action, all within one smooth shot
• Also concentrates the viewers attention.