Extreme Close-Up (XCU)

In Kill Bill: Vol 1(2003, Tarantino) an XCU is used to convey The Bride’s thought process in a crucial fight scene… As enemies are flooding through the exits and entrances, she analyses all of them before they are all ready to fight. Using the XCU in this situation could also be seen to emphasise the tension and sense of urgency in this scene, giving that message to the observer can make it much easier for the observer to emphasise with The Bride or put themselves in The Brides situation, whether that be hypothetically or not.

Establishing Shot (XLS):

In Bladerunner 2049(2017, Denis Villeneuve) An establishing shot (also known as an extreme long shot) is used at the start of the movie to establish the scenery and the setting of the movie or at least the setting of the majority of the movie, This shot is very large and contains no characters just scenery, this can be seen to help the verisimilitude towards the viewer as seeing this fiction, dystopian world would be hard to see as real and will there for make the movie worse for the observer since they probably won’t be fully invested into the story because they don’t yet believe this world and its construct.

Medium Close-up(MCU):

In Avengers: Endgame (2019, Anthony and Joe Russo) a MCU shot is used as the past Thanos believes he still has the stones and is about to snap his fingers in order to wipe all life from the universe in the timeline(present) the movie is set in, but is unaware that Tony Stark swiftly stole the stones as he acted out he was just trying to take the gauntlet. So the MCU is used to see a few of Thanos’ emotions, him being complacent as he’s about to ssnap and snapping, his initial turmoil as he realises he isn’t feeling any pain and there has been no affect on the surroundings yet and of course the surprise when he realises what Stark actually did. this technique is also used as a tension builder to indicate to the audience that something huge is about to happen, there are left uncertain on whether it’s going to be good for the avengers or bad but there anticipation rises quickly.

Diegetic- The audience is being presented certain information chosen by the director.

Intra-diegetic- the audience is placed in the world as a character and seeing things from their point of view.

Extra-diegetic- the audience is directly addressed by, breaking the fourth wall.

Low Angle- A low angle shot is used to show the subject/character as powerful.

Eye Level- An eye level shot is just at the same level as the characters eye.

Dutch angle shots- A Dutch angle shot is used to make the scene fell uneasy/distorted and unsettling.

Name of Shot (Abbreviation)	Description of Shot in Relation to Subject	Use in Storytelling
Extreme Close-up ( ECU )	Part of the face e.g. eyes takes 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	Allows the audience to see characters face and body. It shows there emotional state and their behavior. It also show the background and setting
Low Angle Shot (LA)/ High Angle Shot (HA)	Low angle: looking up at someone/something High angle: Looking down at something/someone	Low angle: Show the character as powerful High angle: Shows the character as weak and vulnerable
Extreme Long Shot (ELS )	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 (OSS)	Often used as a Master Shot/ Two Shot/Shot-Reverse for conversations
Pan/ Tilt	Pan – the camera only moves horizontally (left/right) Tilt – the camera on moves vertical (up/down	Mimics a static character looking round a scene
Track (on a dolly, Steadicam or handheld)	Camera follows a subject by moving along with them	Used to make the audience fell as if they are following the character

Give an example of where at least 3 of these shots were used in a film that you have watched and the effect on you as the viewer.

The close up: The use of the close up in this movie (The Guilty) is used as a realization shot, where the character realizes an important factor of the movie. This shot created tension and fear and it really shows the characters thoughts and emotions by getting up close to his face.

The extreme long shot: The extreme long shot in this film (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone) is used as an establishing shot, creating the world and scenery of the world. By doing this it created a sense of realism as it introduced us directly, showing us by using an extreme long shot.

The extreme close-up: An extreme close-up shot frames a subject very closely, often so much so that the outer portions of the subject are cut off by the edges of the frame. On an actor, this is commonly used to show specific portions of the body, like the face or hip, but it can go closer to show only an actor’s mouth, or even a single eye. In this shot the extreme close up is used to express the characters emotions without using dialogue.