Camera Angles and Shot Types

In this lesson we learnt about a number of shot types and camera movements, here are some examples and definitions.

Close up- This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face.

Extreme Close up- As its name suggests, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever.

Point of View- This show it what it says in the name really, it is taken from the point of view of one character. You can see what they would be seeing. The camera becomes the eyes of one particular character.

Over the Shoulder- Close-up of a character as seen over-the-shoulder of another person in the foreground.

Aerial Shot (bird's eye view) - This is a shot from directly above the head. The shot puts the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. it is also very good at setting the scene on a vast scale.

Extreme Long Shot - This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot.There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

Long Shot- This one shows the entire body of the pers

on or people in the shot. it is quite hard to catergorise at times.

Medium Shot- Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action.

High Angle- Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary).

Low Angle- These increase height and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene.

Canted Angle- Sometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability. It is popular in horror films.

Television Advert Analysis

I chose to analyse is the Coors light ‘Jean-Claude Van Damme’ advert. This is a link to the advert. http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA13448

Location/Setting
· The location is the Rockies Mountains in America; these are snowy and very cold. This represents the beer being cold and refreshing.

Costumes/Make-up
· Jean-Claude Van Damme is wearing a sleeveless demine jacket.
· As it is obviously very cold where he is it shows that even though he can handle the cold of the mountains and snow he still finds Coors light refreshing.

Props
· The main prop in this advert is the bottle of Coors light.
· At first we don’t know that the bottle is in the advert and we are made to think it is a tear. Then when the camera zooms out we see the bottle.
· It is used to show that even in snowy and cold the beer is still refreshing as it is codensating down Van Damme’s face.

Lighting/Colour
· When we first see Van Damme, with what we think is a tear, there is no light shining on his face. This shows negativity and sadness.
· When the camera zooms out and we see the bottle the light shines on the bottle however still not on Van Damme. This suggests that it’s all about the beer and not Van Damme.
· At the end of the advert we see the bottle and a glass on top of the mountain, with the sun shining on both of them.
· The light shining on the bottle shows us that it is the main product and it is important. It perhaps even symbolises that the beer is heavenly as the light is like a halo.

Photo analysis

The low camera angle makes the subject look big, powerful, and dominant, as if the subject has a lot of authority.

Light from behind the person shows that he is the subject of the photo. Although the light is artificial it looks like the light is from the sky or heaven. This makes the person look godly. Even though the light is shining from behind the person, his body and face is still in the dark, this could represent him having a darker side, which contrasts with the idea of him being god-like.

The fact that the light is artificial relates to the theme of the picture which is football. We can tell this from the way the person is dressed.

With all the factors of the picture combined, it gives the idea that the player is some sort of savour for a football team that is in need of help. Because the picture suggests he has two sides, light and dark, this could mean he is prepared to do anything.