shot distances

November 7, 2021 Bryna McGee Leave a comment

Activity: give an example of each shot distance from a film you have watched and explain the effect on the viewer.

Big or Extreme Close Up (BCU/ECU)

Image result for killbill close up — (KILL BILL: VOL. 1 (QUENTIN TARANTINO, 2003))
(Allows the audience to focus on specifically, characters’ emotions relative to the circumstance. Can also be useful as dramatic reaction shots to denote to relationship dynamics.

Close Up (CU)

See the source image — (BRAVE (MARK ANDREWS, BRENDA CHAPMAN, STEVE PURCELL, ANDREW COATS, 2012))
Much like the extreme close up, these show the audience a character’s emotions by focusing on mainly their face (usually close enough to observe the eye movement), however there is room in this shot for elements of background characters (whether portrayed with shallow or deep focus) or even body movements which can be linked to the emotion portrayed. This example is implying a strong tether between Merida and her bow and arrow as we as an audience are able to read her expressions and the other people featured are eliminated by use of focus to arguably emphasise the weapon’s importance.

Medium Close Up (MCU)

Image result for Medium close upfilm — (FORREST GUMP (ROBERT ZEMECKIS, 1994))
A medium close up is a tool to introduce the audience to what is going on below shoulder level or what the character is physically doing which may relate to the purpose of the scene, without totally disassociating from the identity and emotion of this person. It could be said to be the bridge between close ups for emotional and theoretical purposes and long or wide shots for literal and objective purposes.

Medium or Mid Shot (MS)

See the source image — A medium shot shows the audience all character action until the waist, which means that it is probably most useful in static scenes as it suggests a focus should be on upper body language and/or character hand movements. In this example from Shutter Island, (Martin Scorsese (2010)) the movement of Teddy’s shoulders and arms is very important as an indication of his discomfort and self-preservation reflex. Without the elimination of lower body visibility, this would be a lot less of a focus for an audience.

Medium Long Shot (MLS)

See the source image — Contrary to the medium shot, a medium long shot requires the inclusion of more of any characters’ bodies, which places them higher in the arrangement of the frame. This is important because it is a leeway for establishing power dynamics (as seen above in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino (1994))) and labelling characters as the subject of an action sequence. This shot can be used as a reaction to a medium shot to alter the equality of general character status and mirror state of mind.

Long Shot(LS)

Image result for donnie darko stills — (DONNIE DARKO (2001, RICHARD KELLY))
Long shots are arguably an opportunity for viewers to begin to take in and focus on setting surroundings. Inclusion of long shots is important as they ground the story and remind the audience that scenes and sequences are occurring relative to the place and time revealed.

Panoramic Shot

See the source image — (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2006, ANG LEE))
A panoramic shot can be an easy way to detach characters emotionally and to additionally help the audience to focus on the setting, (can be utilised as an e.g. foreshadowing technique) as well as separate characters physically from the setting itself to remind viewers that there may be other characters and places featured throughout the story, reflecting the enormity of the natural world compared to the subject.

(WRITTEN ELEMENTS NOT FROM SOURCES…. FROM ME?)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Just another Hautlieu Creative site