10 Camera Shots

1. Aerial Shot

• Definition: An aerial shot is a shot of a scene or photo taken from a higher vantage point than what is being filmed.
• Purpose: This gives a greater understanding of what is happening in the scene as you get a virtual 360 degree view of what is going on rather than just the angle the camera is shooting.

2. Arc Shot

Arc Shot

• Definition: A shot in which the subject is circled by the camera.
• Purpose: It's able to reveal new details about the background that the subject is standing in front of. This just makes the audience go "wow" when they view the movie.

3. Deep Focus

Deep Focus

• Definition: A shot that keeps the foreground, middle ground and background ALL in sharp focus.
• Purpose: The scale of small objects can be exaggerated for meaning effect.

4. Dolly Zoom

• Definition: A shot that sees the camera track forward toward a subject while simultaneously zooming out creating a woozy, vertiginous effect.
• Purpose: let filmmakers to represent the sensation of vertigo, a "falling-away-from-oneself feeling" or a feeling of unreality, or to suggest that a character is undergoing a realization that causes him or her to reassess everything he or she had previously believed.

5. Dutch Tilt

Dutch Tilt

• Definition:A shot where the camera is tilted on its side to create a kooky angle. Often used to suggest disorientation.
• Purpose: to portray psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. The primary use of such angles is to cause a sense of unease or disorientation for the viewer.

6. Establishing Shot

• Definition: it establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.
• Purpose: to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot.

Establishing Shot

7. Handheld Shot

Handheld Shot

• Definition: A shot in which the camera operator holds the camera during motion to create a jerky, immediate feel.
• Purpose: Hand-held cameras are used because they are conveniently sized for travel and because they allow greater freedom of motion during filming.

8. Low Angle Shot

• Definition: a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up.
• Purpose: the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful. Moreover, it can make everyone look heroic and dominant. Also good for making cities look empty.

9. High Angle Shot

High Angle shot

• Definition: A shot looking down on a character or subject often isolating them in the frame.
• Purpose: It can make the subject seem vulnerable or powerless when applied with the correct mood, setting, and effects. It can also make the scene more dramatic.

10. POV Shot

• Definition: A shot that depicts the point of view of a character so that we see exactly what they see. Often used in Horror cinema to see the world through a killer's eyes.
• Purpose: The audience sees events through the leading actor's eyes, as if they were experiencing the events themselves.