English Film Techniques

• Camera shots


  Indicate the size of the subject within the frame
• Camera angles


  Refer to the direction and height from which the camera takes the scene
• Camera angles

  • High angle shot
  • Low angle shot
  • Eye-level shot
  • Bird's eye view shot
  • Over the shoulder shot
  • Worm's eye view shot
  • Dutch angle shot
  • Point of view shot
• Camera movements


  Refer to a change in frame or perspective through the movement of the camera
• Camera movements


  • Static
  • Panning
  • Tilting
  • Zooming
• Composition


  Refers to how the visual elements are arranged within a frame
• Properties of colour


  • Hue
  • Value
  • Saturation
• Hue


  Refers to the colour itself, e.g. blue, green, yellow etc.
• Value


  Refers to how light or dark the colour is
• Saturation


  Refers to the intensity of the colour. High saturation means the colour is bright and intense, whereas low saturation means the colour is more subdued and muted.
• Lighting properties


  • Direction
  • Quality
  • Colour
• Hard lighting


  Creates shadow and contrast
• Soft, diffused lighting


  No shadows and low contrast
• Diegetic sound


  Sound which originates from within the world of the film which the characters can hear
• Diegetic sound


  • Dialogue
  • Object sounds
  • Music
• Non-diegetic sound


  Sound which is added by editors during post-production
• Non-diegetic sound


  • Musical score
  • Voiceover/narration
• Facial expressions


  The movement of the face to communicate emotion
• Gestures


  The movement of the body, hands, arms, or head to express an idea or feeling
• Prop


  Any inanimate object that an actor interacts with in a film
• Costume


  The set of clothes an actor or actress wears whilst performing
• Set


  The enclosure in which a film scene is shot; includes scenery and props
• Symbolism


  An object, action or character which represents a theme or idea, beyond its literal meaning
• Medium / mid Shot


  Captured at a medium distance from the subject, often shows the character(s) from the waist up. Used to depict body language and setting.
• Close Up Shot


  Captured at close range to a subject or object, often shows a character from the shoulders up. Used to show greater detail to the viewer.
• Extreme Close Up Shot


  Often used to focus on a smaller detail, for example a character's facial expression to highlight their emotions.
• Long Shot


  Shows the full length of the subject while also including a large amount of the surrounding area of the film setting.
• Extreme Long Shot / Establishing Shot


  Covers a wider area than a long shot. Often used to establish or focus on the setting.
• High Angle Shot


  Camera points down on the subject from above, makes the subject or object below seem vulnerable, powerless, or weak
• Low Angle Shot


  Camera points up at the subject from below, makes the subject or object look strong and powerful
• Bird's Eye View Shot


  Camera is located up above, overhead, capturing the action going on below, used as establishing shots to give context of where the setting of the film is
• Worm's View Shot


  Similar to a low angle shot, only the camera points up at the subject from an even lower position, used to create an even more exaggerated effect than a low angle shot
• Dutch Angle / Tilt Shot


  Camera is tilted on one side, resulting in a frame that is not level, used to heighten psychological distress and tension or make the audience feel disoriented
• Eye-level Shot


  Camera is placed at the same height as the eyes of the characters in the frame, used to humanise characters with a neutral camera angle
• Over the Shoulder Shot


  Camera is placed just behind an "off-screen" actor so that their shoulder is in the frame while capturing the "on-screen" character, most commonly used to present conversational back and forth between two subjects
• Point of View Shot


  Camera shows what a character is looking at in the first person, the camera acts as the eyes of a character and the audience sees what they see, to highlight their perspective
• Camera pan

  Horizontal movement in which the camera moves right to left from a central axis
• Tilting

  When the camera stays fixed but rotates up and down on a vertical plane
• Tracking shot

  Any shot that physically moves the camera through the scene for an extended amount of time
• Rule of thirds

  An image is divided into a 3x3 grid using 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines, and subjects are positioned along one of the dividing lines or intersection points