Camera Placement

Placement of the camera

How far the camera is from the subject, as well as the angle and level of the camera, change our experience of what we see on screen.

A wide shot from the film 'Petrol'

Example of a wide shot (also an establishing shot) from the film Petrol.

Wide shot - establishes the setting
Medium wide - establishes the relationship of character to setting
Medium shot - shows characters interacting and using tools
Medium close - that concentrates on human action and motivation
Close-up shot - focuses attention on emotions or objects
Extreme close-up - focuses on a portion of a person's face so we can read something that the other characters usually cannot

Example of a high angle shot from 'Health of a City'

Example of a high angle shot from Health of a City.

High angle - establishes superiority to the subject or sympathy with their plight
Top shot - looks down on the action from above and is sometimes known as the 'God Shot' for obvious reasons
Medium level - establishes equal terms with the subject
Low angle - places the audience in an inferior position to the subject
Canted, Tilted or Dutch angle - here the camera is skewed to suggest that the world is somehow out of joint or that the character we are following is somehow tilted or disturbed.

Top Shot from the film 'Health of a City'

Example of a top shot from the film Health of a City

The way any of these camera positons are used will also depend on the lighting and the specific depth of field that the filmmakers use for each shot. They will also be affected by set design, costume and of course visual composition (the dramatic arrangement of characters within a space) for which one needs to be conversant on a very basic level with the principles of drama, art and design, golden ratios, angularity, etc.

Example of a low angle shot from the film 'Crofters'

Example of a low angle shot from the film Crofters

Links to other pages in this section:

Written by David Griffith, Lead Practitioner in Moving Image Education

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