This guide will teach you what to do and what not to do with your equipment. It will also teach you what camera shots, camera angles, camera movements, camera rules are and how to use them in your scenes.
Extreme Long Shot This shot is used to show the audience the location of the film. Extreme long shot distance is 1mile away and onwards.
Long Shot A long shot is considered when you can see the actor/actress from the top to bottom and a lot of the background.
Medium Shot A medium shot is considered when you can see the top of your actor/actress to he or she’s waist, also the background is shown to give the audience an idea of the scenery.
Close Up Shot This shot is used to emphasize on the actor/actress but also to show a little bit of background for the audience. Extreme Close Up This shot is used to only emphasize on the actor/actress face (part of face or body)
Low A low angled shot is used to make an object in the shot seem big to the audience. Used mainly to show the characters authority.
Birds eye view Bird’s eye view is used to show the location of the film
High High angle is used on a subject to make the object seem small to the audience.
Canted Canted is a shot that has been tilted to the side.
Eye level Eye level is the standard level of shot.
Panning Panning is camera a movement where the camera can only maneuver left and right. Tilting Tilting is a camera movement where the camera can only maneuver up and down.
180-‐Degree Rule There is a 360-‐degree circle around your actors, your actors are on the 180-‐degree line and you must not cross this line because crossing it will result to confusion to the audience
Crane A crane is used to view the actors from above or to film the actors when they are high up, e.g buildings and the cameraman can move in and out of them. Crane Shots • Rise Up – the camera rises vertically. • Fall down – the camera moves vertically downward.
Rule of Thirds Rule of thirds is how to frame your shot. When your shooting, make sure your object is touching one of the crosses on the grid, this is so that the audience focuses on the object that you have put in the center or on the crosses.
Dolly A dolly is a cart, which travels along tracks. The camera is mounted on the dolly and records the shot as it moves. Dolly shots have a number of applications and can provide very dramatic footage.