The camera angle marks the specific location at which the

movie camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie sc ...

video camera A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos (as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film). Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of oth ...

is placed to take a

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The different camera angles will have different effects on the viewer and how they perceive the scene that is shot. There are a few different routes that a camera operator could take to achieve this effect.

Angles and their impact

Where the camera is placed in relation to the subject can affect the way the viewer perceives the subject. There are a number of camera angles, such as a

high-angle shot A high-angle shot is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up". High-angle shots can make the subject seem vulnerable or powerless when applied with the c ...

, a

low-angle shot In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up.bird's-eye view and a worm's-eye view. A viewpoint is the apparent distance and angle from which the camera views and records the subject. They also include the eye-level camera angle, the over the shoulder shot and the

point of view shot A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being position ...

. A high-angle shot (HA) is a shot in which the camera is physically higher than the subject and is looking down upon the subject. The high angle shot can make the subject look small or weak or vulnerable while a

low-angle shot In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up.neutral shot or eye-level (EL) shot has little to no psychological effect on the viewer. This shot is when the camera is level or looking straight on with the subject. A

(POV) shows the viewer the image through the subject's eye. Some POV shots use

hand-held camera Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...

s to create the illusion that the viewer is seeing through the subject's eyes. Bird's eye shot or bird's-eye view shots are taken directly above the scene to establish the landscape and the actors relationship to it. Worm's-eye view is a shot that is looking up from the ground, and is meant to give the viewer the feeling that they are looking up at the character from way below and it is meant to show the view that a child or a pet would have. When considering the camera angle one must remember that each shot is its own individual shot and the camera angle should be taken in context of the scene and film. A

dutch angle The Dutch angle, also known as Dutch tilt, canted angle, or oblique angle, is a type of camera shot which involves setting the camera at an angle on its roll axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the f ...

, also called a canted angle or even simply the tilted angle, is an angle in which the camera itself is tilted to the left or the right. The unnatural angle gives the viewer a feeling that world is out of balance or psychological unrest.

Types of shots

There are many different types of shots that can be used from these angles. There are extreme long shots which are extremely far away from the subject and might not even show a person at all. Extreme long shots are usually done in a high angle so the viewer can look down upon a setting or scene. Extreme longs shots are used mainly to open the scene or narrative and show the viewer the setting. The rest of the shots are most typically done in an eye level or point of view shot although it is possible to do any shot with any angle. There is the long shot which shows the subject even though the setting still dominates the picture frame. Then, there is the medium long shot which makes the subject and the setting have equal importance and has the two about 50/50 in the frame. Then is the medium shot which emphasizes the character and is about a knees to waist up type shot. Then the medium

close up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long ...

is a shot that has the waist to the chest and up. The next closest shot is the close up which has the shoulders and up or maybe a little tighter on the head. Finally, there is the extreme close up shot which has one body part usually. This can be an eye, a hand or anything else. These shots can be used with any of the aforementioned camera angles.

Production techniques

During

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and post-production, it is necessary to give a unique

alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are a combination of alphabetical and numerical characters. More specifically, they are the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits. An alphanumeric code is an identifier made of alphanumeric c ...

identity to each camera angle, labeled as "scenes." For example: "Scene 24C." Camera angle letters are often pronounced on the set using either the

NATO phonetic alphabet The (International) Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear code words for communicating the letters of the Roman alphabet, technically a ''radiotelephonic spellin ...

or the older police-style

radio alphabet A spelling alphabet ( also called by various other names) is a set of words used to represent the letters of an alphabet in oral communication, especially over a two-way radio or telephone. The words chosen to represent the letters sound sufficient ...

. For example: "Scene 24C" would be pronounced as "Scene 24, Charlie." Some letters are avoided because they look like letters or numbers when written (for example an "S" can look like a "5").

References

{{Cinematic techniques Cinematic techniques

Angles and their impact

Types of shots

Production techniques

See also

References