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photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
,
filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
and
video production Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is 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 ...
that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. These are typically shot now using
wide-angle lens In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane. This type of lens allows more of the scene to be included in the pho ...
es (an approximately 25 mm lens in 35 mm photography and 10 mm lens in 16 mm photography). However, due to sheer distance,
establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s and extremely wide shots can use almost any camera type.


History

This type of filmmaking was a result of filmmakers trying to retain the sense of the viewer watching a play in front of them, as opposed to just a series of pictures. The wide shot has been used since films have been made as it is a very basic type of
cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
. In 1878, one of the first true motion pictures, ''
Sallie Gardner at a Gallop ''The Horse in Motion'' is a series of cabinet cards by Eadweard Muybridge, including six cards that each show a sequential series of six to twelve "automatic electro-photographs" depicting the movement of a horse. Muybridge shot the photogr ...
'', was released. Even though this wouldn't be considered a film in the current motion picture industry, it was a huge step towards complete motion pictures. It is arguable that it is very basic but it still remains that it was displayed as a wide angle as both the rider and horse are fully visible in the frame. In the 1880s, celluloid photographic film and motion picture cameras became available so more motion pictures could be created in the form of
Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an precursors of film, early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic ...
or through projectors. These early films also maintained a wide angle layout as it was the best way to keep everything visible for the viewer. Once motion pictures became more available in the 1890s, there were public screenings of many different films only being around a minute long, or even less. These films again adhered to the wide shot style. One of the first competitive filming techniques came in the form of the close-up, as George Albert Smith incorporated them into his film ''
Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
''. Though unconfirmed as the first usage of this method, it is one of the earliest recorded examples. Once the introduction of new framing techniques were introduced, more and more styles were developed and used for the benefits they could provide that wide shots couldn't. In the early 1900s, motion pictures evolved from short, minute long, screenings to becoming full-length motion pictures. More and more cinematic techniques appeared, resulting in the wide shot being less commonly used. However, it still remained as it is almost irreplaceable in what it can achieve. When television entered the home in the 1960s, it was seen as a massive hit to the cinema industry and many saw it as the decline in cinema popularity. This in turn resulted in films having to stay ahead of television by incorporating superior quality than that of a television. This was done by adding color, but importantly it implemented the use of widescreen. This would allow a massive increase in space usable by the director, thus allowing an even wider shot for the viewer to witness more of any given shot. Modern films will now frequently use the different types of wide shots as they are a staple in filmmaking and are almost impossible to avoid unless deliberately chosen to. In the current climate of films, the technical quality of any given shot will appear with much better clarity which has given life to some incredible shots from modern cinema. Also, given the quality of modern home entertainment mediums such as Blu-ray, 3D and Ultra HD Blu Rays, this has allowed the scope and size of any given frame to encompass more of the scene and environment in greater detail.


Types

There are a variety of ways of framing that are considered as being wide shots; these include: * Wide shot (WS) – The subject comfortably takes up the whole frame. In the case of a person, head to toe. This usually achieves a clear physical representation of a character and can describe the surroundings as it is usually visible within the frame. This results in the audience having a desired (by the director) view/opinion of the character or location. * Very wide shot (VWS) – The subject is only just visible in the location. This can find a balance between a "wide shot" and an "extreme wide shot" by keeping an emphasis on both the characters and the environment, almost finding a harmony between the two of them. This enables the ability to use the benefits of both types, by allowing the scale of the environment but also maintaining an element of focus on the character(s) or object(s) in frame. * Extreme wide shot (EWS) – The shot is so far away from the subject that they are no longer visible. This is used to create a sense of a character being lost or almost engulfed by the sheer size of their surroundings. This can result in a character being made small or insignificant due to their situation and/or surroundings. *Establishing shot (ES) – A shot typically used to display a location and is usually the first shot in a new scene. These establish the setting of a film, whether that is the physical location or the time period. Mainly it gives a sense of place to the film and brings the viewer to wherever the story requires them to be. *Master shot (MS) – This shot can be commonly mistaken for an establishing shot as it displays key characters and locations. However, it is actually a shot in which all relevant characters are in frame (usually for the whole duration of the scene), with inter-cut shots of other characters to shift focus. This is a very useful method for retaining audience focus as most shots in this style refrain from using cuts and therefore will keep the performances and the dialogue in the forefront of what is going on for the duration of the scene.


Notable examples

Many directors are known for their use of the variety of wide shots. A key example of them is the frequent use of establishing shots and very wide shots in
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' trilogy, showing the vast New Zealand landscape to instil awe in the audience. In the 1993 film ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
'', there is a running image of a small girl trapped within a concentration camp wearing a red coat (the only colour in the film). She is frequently pictured in a wide shot format as a way to display both her and the horrific surroundings to build a disturbing contrast. In the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', a very wide shot is used that keeps all the protagonists on screen with the Wizard's palace in clear view. ''The Wizard of Oz'' was also one of the first mainstream motion pictures to include colour. The 1962 ''
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'' contains an enormous number of extreme wide shots which successfully induced the feeling of scale of the lead in his surrounding and aesthetically dwarfed him due to his surroundings making him seem more vulnerable and weak. The 1981 film ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' contains the use of a wide shot to show the dangerous scale of a boulder that is chasing the protagonist. The 2008 film ''
The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and the second insta ...
'' featured a practical stunt in which a large truck and trailer are flipped nose first. This is shot very far back to give the shot more clarity and to see the flip through its entirety as opposed to cutting midway through. In the 2015 Ridley Scott film '' The Martian'', the protagonist Mark Watney is stranded on Mars and the film contains many wide shots. These are used to show the Martian landscape and give the character the sense of isolation that the film would want.


See also

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Camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...
*
Cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
*
Film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
*
Long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blo ...
*
Video production Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
*
Videography Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Further shots and their descriptions

Images from various films – many of which are wide shots
{{Film editing Cinematic techniques Television terminology