A perfectly tuned camera shot is a work of art. Filmmakers have to carefully balance shot size, angle, and camera movement to find just the right frame at just the right moment. It takes practice to hone that craft and capture the moment, and it all starts with learning the ins and outs of what makes a shot great.
This article will lay the foundation for stronger filming techniques by describing the most common elements filmmakers and videographers consider when planning camera shots.
What’s a camera shot?
The term “camera shot” refers to how and where a camera is positioned during filming. You can distinguish the different types of shots by how they handle four elements:
- Size: How zoomed in you are on your subject or scene.
- Framing: What you’re capturing around the subject.
- Angle: Which perspective you’re shooting the scene from.
- Movement: How you’re moving the shot throughout the scene.
Those four factors influence how viewers understand your video consciously and subconsciously. Other elements — such as lighting, focus, and timing — also matter, but someone who’s perfected size, framing, angle, and movement can handle most shot lists for any kind of story.
Once filming’s done, collaborate on the final cut with other filmmakers or marketers using Vimeo’s review tools. You can annotate at specific time codes to leave feedback on specific camera shots, or get your team or client’s opinion on which framing choice works best. And Adobe Premiere Pro integration means you can move quickly between editing, reviewing, and hosting your video with top-quality tools.
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Types of camera shots by size
One of the most straightforward elements of camera framing is shot size. Size and distance in this context refer to how far your camera is from its subject, not how zoomed in your camera is.
Here are the most common camera shot sizes.
Extreme wide shot (establishing setting)
This camera shot is typically an "establishing shot" that determines your scene's location. These types of camera angles remind us where we physically are, so have this in your back pocket for location switches.
Very wide shot
In a very wide shot, location is still very prevalent, but the subject will also be somewhat visible. This is great to contextualize your characters in their surroundings.
Wide shot
Wide shots are also known as long shots or full body shots. These frames put a more equal emphasis on your subject and their surrounding environment. Your character should take up as much of the frame as possible, while still fitting comfortably within the scenery.
Mid-shot
The mid-shot takes a step closer to your subject. This composition shows body language, gestures, and personality — it's all about them. With this almost full-body shot, we want to see less of the setting and more details of the actual person.
Two shot
Similarly framed to a mid-shot, two shots include two subjects instead of one. Both are given equal stage weight in the frame (as you can see in the example above). Their body language, along with the distance between them, helps convey their relationship.
Medium close-up
In between a mid-shot and a close-up, a medium close-up gives greater detail, but we still see some body language. Typically, medium close-ups depict the subject from the shoulders up.
Close-up
Close-up shots focus on a part of the subject (usually their face) or object. This brings your character's facial expressions front-and-center, and your audience can easily read their emotional responses.
Extreme close-up
An extreme close-up shot focuses on some small detail of its subject, such as a person’s eye, a bicycle pedal, or the title on the cover of a textbook. Seeing something that close can be uncomfortable for viewers, so this shot distance requires a lot of on-camera confidence. Most filmmakers reserve this type of shot for climactic, emotional moments.
There isn’t much framing to do for an extreme close-up, but like close-ups, angles and movement significantly impact the viewer’s emotional experience of the moment.
Types of camera shot framings
Framing a camera shot involves positioning your subjects and their surroundings within the visual boundaries of the shot. It’s integral to establishing the context of an action, and it’s best to plan framing in pre-production so you have everyone you need when it’s time to shoot.
These are the most common camera shot framings.
Over-the-shoulder shot
An over-the-shoulder shot captures a subject — usually a person talking — while someone stands facing them in the foreground. Filmmakers often use it to capture someone’s entire face during dialogue, where a two-shot would only capture their profile.
Over-the-shoulder shots are typically medium or close-up shots at an eye-level angle with little to no movement.
Two-shot
A two-shot capture features two subjects — often two people in conversation or taking an action together. You can use a wide, medium, or close-up shot to capture them, which can provide room to include more of the setting. Close-ups aren’t as common in two-shot framing because the two subjects would need to be physically close together. So, it isn’t as intimate as other shots because of the distance between the camera and subjects.
This framing shot works well in informative, educational content, where viewers feel they’re observing something from a polite distance.
Point-of-view (POV) shot
POV shots capture a candid perspective from the subject, usually including subtle motions that mirror the subject’s natural movement. They’re a unique kind of framing because they say more about the subject behind the camera than they do about what’s in the shot. If you watched two well-shot POV scenes, one from the perspective of a dog and one from a cat, you could probably tell which is which from what they looked at, how they were moving, and what angles were used.
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Types of camera angles
Your camera angle can dramatically change a scene’s tone. To capture a precise mood in your shot, knowing when to use a high or low angle can make all the difference. Here are the camera angle names you should know.
Level angles
Level angles capture a subject straight on. There are specific names for level angles at different heights:
- An eye-level angle is filmed at the subject’s eye level, whether they’re standing or sitting.
- A side-shot camera angle captures a subject from their profile, facing perpendicular to the camera.
- A shoulder-level shot sits slightly lower than the subject’s eye level.
- A ground-level shot is filmed at floor level.
These distinctions indicate the height of the shot, but because they’re filmed at a flat angle without tilting the camera up or down, they’re all level shots.
High-angle
A high-angle shot points the camera down toward your subject. From there, you can move over and around the subject freely. A close-up high-angle shot might capture a character’s startled reaction to a sudden noise, while a wide overhead shot might track someone riding a bicycle down the road.
Low-angle
Low-angle shots point up toward your subject from below, which is just as good at capturing a victorious hero as it is a menacing villain. Filmmakers typically reserve low-angle shots for closer shots in moments when they need to emphasize a character's presence — it’s challenging to capture much of a subject’s surroundings with a low-angle shot unless you’re focusing on something overhead.
Dutch angle
The Dutch angle is more “Deutsch” than “Dutch,” initially popularized by its use in German expressionist films. To achieve this shot, tilt the camera to one side to create a slanted view of the subject. It’s common in horror and action films where you want to throw the audience off balance, but you can also use it to artistically frame a speaker. Just be mindful about your use of Dutch angles, because they’re often associated with negativity on screen.
Types of camera movement
Movement adds a lot of complexity to a camera shot because you can change between angles, frames, and shot sizes as you do it. It’s generally a good idea to become proficient with basic movements like panning and tilting before attempting more complex approaches, like a dolly or handheld shot.
The following types of camera movement are listed from the easiest and most common to the most difficult to perfect.
Pan (horizontal movement)
Panning involves rotating your camera horizontally from a fixed point without moving it (just turning). Use this camera movement technique to focus on something moving by, like a car whizzing past, or to take in a wide landscape from a closer distance. To keep the movement fluid, use a tripod with a pan bar so you can turn the camera without shaking it.
Tilt (vertical movement)
Tilting involves rotating your camera vertically from a fixed point and, like panning, doesn’t shift the camera from its location. If your subject is moving, a well-timed tilt can seamlessly become another camera angle as they take a flight of stairs or climb a rock face. A pan bar can help you turn the camera smoothly for a fluid tilt here, too.
Tracking/dolly shot (following the subject)
Tracking shots are more complicated than panning and tilting because they require moving the camera’s physical location to follow your subjects. These shots are also called dolly shots, because you can put the camera on a dolly and roll it around to smoothly capture the moment. Tracking allows the viewer to follow someone in a medium shot, for example, or capture a strolling conversation with a slow-moving two-shot.
Handheld shot (raw, natural feel)
Anyone with a smartphone and a hand to hold it can get a handheld shot, but only an expert filmmaker knows how to turn it into high-quality content. Making a shot appear candid and authentic while still conveying something meaningful is much harder than it seems: All the movements and angles have to appear casual while still effectively capturing a moment.
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Understanding different types of camera shots helps you organize your approach to shooting footage. With a firm grasp on angles, framing, size, and movement, you can set up a professional shot that’ll impress your audience, whether you’re filming a new product placement ad or making your first short film.
When it’s time to stitch all those shots together into a story, Vimeo is ready to help. You can trim the frame for the perfect camera shot, combine clips, and add features like captions to your video — all from the browser-based platform. And, when it’s ready, Vimeo’s video hosting platform can publish your video in high quality with no ads.
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