Track – a shot where the camera follows someone or something along as they move through the scene

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Crab / Truck – the sideways movement of a camera

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Ped / Pedestal – a shot in which the camera raises or lowers in relation to the subject

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Pan – a horizontal movement in which the camera base remains in a fixed location while the camera turns horizontally

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Tilt – a vertical movement in which the camera base remains in a fixed location while the camera pivots vertically

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Crane – a shot taken by a camera on a moving crane or jib

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Dolly – a shot in which the camera uses optics to focus and zoom at the same time, whilst the camera physically moves towards the subject at the same speed as the lens zooms out

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Zoom – a shot where the focal length of a camera lens is adjusted to give the illusion of moving closer or further away from the subject

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Crash Zoom – a similar shot to a Zoom Shot, but executed rapidly to provide energy and impact to a reaction shot

Name of the Shot and Abbreviation	Description of the Shot in Relation to the Subject	The Use in Storytelling
Extreme Close-Up (XCU)	Part of the face e.g. eyes take up the frame	Gets inside the head of a character
Close-Up (CU)	Whole face takes up the frame	Reveals character’s emotional state
Medium Close-Up (MCU)	Head and shoulders in frame	These shots are usually used when a scene needs a “neutral” narrative approach
Low Angle Shot (LA) / High Angle Shot (HA)	In a Low Angle Shot, the camera points upwards to a subject / In a High Angle Shot, the camera points downwards on a subject	A Low Angle Shot usually makes the subject seem grand or threatening / A High Angle Shot can generate a vulnerable appearance for the subject
Extreme Long Shot (XLS)	Only scenery visible; can’t make out individual people	Used as an establishing shot
Medium Shot (MS)	One or two subjects in frame from waist height, sometimes taken from “over the shoulder” of one of the characters	Often used as a Master Shot / Two Shot / Shot-Reverse for conversations
Pan / Tilt	A pan is when you move your camera horizontally / A tilt is when you move your camera vertically	Mimics static character looking round a scene
Track (on a Dolly, Steadicam or a Handheld)	The camera follows a subject by moving along with them	It keeps the audience engaged with the actions occurring on screen

what went well: how the group cooperated and time management

what we could have done better: organised the project before hand(what shots we were going to take, whos doing what, book certain rooms like the tv studio or drama studios, using tripods or gimbals when using th camera to keep it still)

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/f84daa0a-6853-4d2d-99f6-bdf185f0cb90?list=user&userId=01a2bf5e-ea69-410d-bb9d-6d2c18338acc

What Went Well?

We were able to shoot everything that we wanted to and the team worked great together. We picked a setting that could support the scene and the actors performed well.

What Went Wrong?

In our shoot, it took us numerous takes to finally get the shot we were happy with due to frequent disruptions. We also did not know how to use the camera properly, so instead we utilised a phone. However, using the phone caused the camerawork to be a bit shaky, which was not an intended effect.

What Will I Do Next Time?

Next time I will make sure that our team is more organised and prepared for the shoot (possibly by creating a storyboard), and we will learn how to use the camera. I will also make sure to book a room that we can shoot in before the allocated time of filming.

What Didn’t Go Well? In our shoot when I looked back at the footage I noticed that the camerawork was a bit shaky which distracted me from the rest of the action. We were unprepared for where we were going to shoot so we spent some time looking for a place to film.

What Went Well? We managed to shoot everything that we wanted to shoot and the acting was more than adequate, we also managed to shoot many different styles of filming.

What Are You Going To Do Next Time? Next time I will make sure that we are more prepared and know how to use the camera, we will book out specific rooms.

What went wrong: When filming zoom out shots or just regular shot my hand was kind of shaking and made it go out of focus.

What went well: Our shots were consistent and conveyed what we wanted.

What I would change: Make shots still and focused, prepare where we were going to shoot beforehand.

What went wrong:

There were a couple of times during which we couldn’t decide what shot exactly to use and we could have planned ahead of time to avoid this. Additionally, using our own group as actors lessened efficiency because we couldn’t always be completely serious.

What went well:

Although we couldn’t always decide on a shot, there were many occasions on which we could quickly think of shots that would convey the emotion or message we needed. Our level of creativity seemed to be quite high as we did allow a lot of ideas to flow.

What I would change if I repeated:

I think that the biggest action to take to improve our filming would probably be to plan shots and shot order ahead of time. This would definitely reduce wasted time, as well as the allowance of an overflow of numerous separate ideas.

Some things went well, I had spend time before filming planning storyboards and as a group we discussed angle and camera placement ideas. We had also asked for permission to record in a certain location, which came in useful. Printing out the script and marking lines was also handy.

To improve I would have definitely placed the camera down more, as my hands were very shaky on the day. Doing some research on using the camera would probably have been useful as well. A lot of the cinematography mistakes are probably down to inexperience, like filming parts going down the script instead of doing it based on camera placement to make the shots more consistent. I think there was also a lot of nerves, as it was our first shoot, which will hopefully be gone by the time we film again.

i think that next time planning and organisation before hand will be very helpful as our group weren’t as prepared with story boards and so on, I also think planning where we would film before hand so we could book it would be helpful.

i think learning how to use a camera more will be more helpful next time as the camera work was shaky. I think the different types of shots was well however the execution of filming wasn’t as good as I hope it would be.