shot types

a shot type is one of the most important decisions when it comes to taking an image; the shot type is how close the camera is to a subject and what is captured within the frame. through changing the distance of the subject to the camera one of the three basic shot types including: close-up, medium shot, long shot. these are not a limitation as from the distance a camera can be placed with different angels and filter to also impact the product....

wide angels:

a wide angle is a shot that includes the entire location in frame, looking at the subject from a distance with a large amount of the surrounding also included in the shot This is used to showcase the location for context to a viewer, make a character seem small / a place seem big or to have all multiple actions occurring at the same time visible. 

full shot:

This shot type is when the camera has the full body of a model in frame from head to toe, this can be only just or with excess empty space above and below. Often used to portray the emotions of the character while simultaneously enabling the audience to their movement, actions and body language in the same shot. A full shot is a denotation of the location in context to a character or multiple characters.

mid shot:

A mid shot displays a model’s head to their torso, commonly to keep the focus on the actor but include a partial view of the background. This can also give a clear shot of the facial expressions with partial context of their body language or minor details like characters who talk with their hands. 

medium close up:

Medium close ups are used with the intention of a major focus to one character and their facial expressions, this is whythe shot only includes the head and shoulders of a subject. 

extreme close up:

An extreme close up is a very zoomed in image to focus on one point like a single object or a mouth of a subject. 

Over the shoulder:

An image taken from behind a person looking over their shoulder is called an ‘over the shoulder shot’ being self-explanatory, the shot shows a point of view that is similar to what a character would have seen. 

Shot type	Pros	Cons
Wide angle	Easy to see the full location of the photo.	The subject may be to small to see detail and the setting can take away from  the subject.
full shot	The full person cane seen with their motion and outfit, while seeing their facial expressions also clearly. This also gives freedom of pose and stance as the full person can be seen so many creative ideas can be used.	Although the setting is visible, the focus is on the model resulting in not as many viewers paying attention to the background details.
mid shot	It is a useful neutral point of balance between showing the facial expressions and the physical pose or stance.	However, using this shot type can result in a lack of context or emotional impact as it doesn’t major in either of these.
medium close up
extreme close up	This is used for an emotional impact on the viewer and the give intensive detail.	The extreme close up can be uncomfortable on a consumer as it can come across as invasive and therefore lose context
Over the shoulder	Allowing visibility from a person perspective is a positive quality due to the given impression that the photo is being looked at through the lens of someone else or what they are looking at.	Although this shot adds depth it can also confuse a viewer if they don’t know the context of the person or their expression.

extreme close up:

 This photograph only has the girl’s eye visible. This image required me to be quite to the girl and increase the aperture to her face and specifically her eye. Her eye is in the Centre of the frame with even the edges of the photo slightly out of focus.  

medium close up:

 This image has a girl, including half of her torso to her head. This image had the background reasonably blurred as I places the camera only about a meter from her face and only focused on her. 

mid shot:

 This image has the girl from waist upwards including space above her head. For this photo I placed her head in the Centre of the frame with the background slightly blurred to have her as the main focus point, drawing attention to her laugh. 

full shot:

 This image has the girl in the Centre of the frame, posing. In order to take this photograph, I moved closer to the subject and re-adjusted the focus, keeping the full background in focus. I made sure the full body of girl was in view as this is a full shot. 

wide angle:

This image is a wide shot of a girl, it shows her surroundings and location with the focus still being on her. To take this I stood a good distance from the girl, zoomed in on her to get the correct focus point then drew back to a large aperture point and took the photo on a fast shutter speed to catch all the smaller details.

over the shoulder:

The photo depicts the girls’ shoulder to the side of the frame giving the illusion that we can see what she is looking out upon. For this I stood partly behind her and positioned the camera reasonably high, so her shoulder was below the bottom half of the photo. The background is clearly blurred while the girl is in focus, drawing attention to her and not the location.