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Level 7

Shots, Cuts, and, Angles

Process

• You will need to watch and rewatch parts of your film many times to accomplish these assignments.

Set-ups

WATCH:Setups

• Watch this to learn about what a set-up entails.

Camera Angles/Shots

WATCH:Camera Angles with Zach King
WATCH: Basic Camera Shots for Filmmaking
READ:The 30 Camera Shots Every Film Fan Needs To Know

1. Wide Shot
   • Establishing shot
2. Long shot
   • Head room and feet room; fullbody
3. Medium/Mid Shot
   • Waist with headroom
4. CU or Close-Up shot
   • Top Torso and head
   • Part of head is out of shot
5. Extreme Close Up
   • Focus on part of the face: eyes, mouth, ear, or nose
6. Cut Away
   • Something other than subject in the frame
7. Pan
   • follow left to right or right to left
8. Tilt
   • Going up or down
9. Handheld
   • Shaky movement as if being hand carried
10. Steady Cam
    • Smooth flowing movement
11. Arc Shot
    • Circles around (arcs around) actors or object, usually rising camera up
12. Aerial Shot
    • From a plane's view, or at least much higher than a human can hold a camera--that is, on an angle down to the subject, not from directly above
13. Bird's Eye
    • directly above looking down
14. Dutch Angle shot
    • diagonally held camera--disorientation/dissassociation
15. High Angle
    • camera up high (human arms up hieght)
    • Looks down on subject
    • Shows subject lower than/less than other character
    • Makes character/s distant or isolated
16. Low Angle
    • camera down low
    • Looks up at subject
    • Shows subject as superior/more important than other characters.
17. Over the head
    • Head is in frame, but camera looks past (over) the head
18. Over the shoulder
    • Head is in frame, but camera looks past (over) the shoulder
    • usually for conversations

Cuts

WATCH:Cuts & Transitions 101

1. Cutting on Action
2. Cut Away
   • insert shot/inside head
3. Cross Cutting
   • across locations/inside a head
4. Jump Cut
   • i.e. passing of time/montages
5. Match Cut
   • visual or verbal
6. Smash Cut
   • Abrupt transitions
   • Waking from dream
   • Intense to quiet or vice versa
7. Invisible cut
   • Whip pans (camera whips in a direction)
   • Object in frame
   • Subject leaves the frame
8. L-Cut
   • Audio cut
9. J-cut
   • Audio starts before next scene

Transitions

WATCH:Cuts & Transitions 101 [start at 3:53]

1. Fade In/ Fade out
   • to black
   • to white
2. Dissolve
   • blend one shot into another
3. Iris
   • Like a closing or opening eye
4. Wipe
   • Literal wipe across screen

Assignment: 1 project and "4 papers"

• Create Images or videos of your subject (another person) that you will, in-person, narrate the story of
  1. Wide Shot
  2. Long shot
  3. Medium/Mid Shot
  4. CU or Close-Up shot
  5. Extreme Close Up
  6. Cut Away
  7. Pan
  8. Tilt
  9. Handheld
  10. Steady Cam
  11. Arc Shot
  12. Aerial Shot
  13. Bird's Eye
  14. Dutch Angle shot
  15. High Angle
  16. Low Angle
  17. Over the head
  18. Over the shoulder

Set-ups

• Focus on one full scene that has many cuts and multiple shots
• Determine total number of shots/angles
• Take a screenshot or picture of each shot.
• Determine total number of set-ups.
• Organize the shots/angles in a table with the setups (see the video's example)

Angles/Shots

• Discuss 10 different camera angles that work well (name the camera angles/shots used) Give timestamps for the shot.
• Consider taking pictures with your phone, or screen shots if on a pc or phone, for your presentation.

Cuts

• Discuss 5 different cuts that work well (name the cuts). Give timestamps for the cut.
• Consider taking pictures with your phone, or screen shots if on a pc or phone, for your presentation.

Transitions

• Discuss 2 transitions and name them. Give timestamps for the transitions of each scene.
• Consider taking pictures with your phone, or screen shots if on a pc or phone, for your presentation.