Opening Shots

The Opening shot to a film is the viewer's first look into the world of the film. This means that it is important that this first scene works well to convey the story's main plot, perspective and character arcs. I personally like the opening shot with a catchy song and fast pace to pull me into the story.

Establishing Shot

These are used to show the audience context for the next scene. These are also used to help the viewer to not get mixed up with different locations. Establishing shots are normally taken with a drone to show a sense of scale in films but can also be taken from a lower point of view to make the scene feel more grounded.

Very Long Shots

This shot normally incorporates the whole body of the character and a lot of the background. This type of shot is commonly used to establish a location, tone or character's relation to the background.

Long Shot

This shot is where the frame captures the whole body of the subject. This is used to show the relationship between the character and the environment.

Medium Long Shots

This is a shot in film making where the subject is framed from their knees up. These are normally used for group shots, two shots and emblematic shots as they provide enough room to fit many characters side by side.

Medium Shots

These shots are crop from the waist upwards. These shots are used to maintain a balance between showing the character's face and their interactions with the world around them.

Medium Close-up Shots

These are used so that you can still easily register the character's emotions while also retaining some of the background. This is a normal type of shot to be used with dialogue.

Close-up Shots

Close-up Shots are used to really emphasise emotion to a scene. These are used to signal to the audience that something is really important like a prop, location or character.

Extreme Close-up

This type of shot is useful to focus on a detail of a person for example mouth or eyes.

Dutch Angle Shots

This shot is when the camera is tilted around 15-30 degrees. It is normally used to create an uneasy and disoriented tone for the audience.

Low Angle Shots

Low angle shots are when the camera is positioned below the eye line of a character. This shot has 3 primary functions: powerful, vulnerable or both. The slight low angle shot can be used to make a character seem more heroic or powerful as it makes you have to look up at them. However, an extreme low angle can make a character seem weaker and exposed as you can normally see the floor and ceiling of a shot which makes it feel claustrophobic.  

High Angle Shots

High angle shots are when the camera is positioned above the character. This type of shot also has 3 main functions: narrative-driven, emotional response or character-driven. Narrative driven shots are normally used to establish context for landscapes or large crowds. Emotional response is used to give a thrill with a character moving or vertigo. The third function, character-driven, is used to make a character feel small, or more vulnerable.

Panning Shots

Panning is used to show a character moving from point A to point B in a single shot. It is like moving your head from side to side. It can also be used to establish a location or item.

Top-Down Shots

This type of shot is the camera is placed above the subject (like a birds-eye shot) to capture the top surface of the subject. This type of shot isn't typically used in films other than as a type of establishing shot and is more commonly used in "How to" videos.

Pull focus shots

Pull focus is used used to change the focus in the same shot. It is created when using a low F stop on a camera which blurs a part of the image when using manual focus then you either move the camera or twist the camera lens to change the focus. In films, it normally is used in conversations to change focus to each speaker or used to show an object.

Imaginary "How To" Camera Task

I composed some shots that could be used at the start of a "How To" video about my Xbox.

How to set up a camera on a tripod [PRACTICE VIDEO]

Here, me and my group filmed us setting up and taking apart the camera and tripod. We tried to used a variety of angles but I wish we used more mid shots and it seems to be mainly long shots or close-up shots with no in between. On this video I added music to help make the video less boring however I wish that I could have made the music quieter as it is quite loud. I didn't get chance yet to recored a voice over and I would like to recored one and upload it here in the future. I also added text at the start of putting it together and taking it down which this was there first time I tried and it worked well. I would like to try and experiment with text to add more exciting backgrounds and different fonts.

In this video, I was able to record audio for the video with my group. We recorded the audio in Adobe Audition 2020. When editing the video, I learnt how to change to volume of audio which helped me to make the voiceover louder and the new music quieter. I changed the music because I didn't think that the music fitted after watching the video again. Next time I make a video I still want to try to add more text and effects but for this video, I just wanted to change a few things. After rewatching this video, I wish that I added a title or had someone say "hello" or "welcome" as without this it makes the video seem rushed or that a part was missing.