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Planning your shoot
Promote Your Great Day Out... with Film
Camera shots and angles
Once you have outlined the key elements of your film (My Film sheet). The next step is to
plan which camera shots you will use to promote the best bits of your 'Great Day Out'.
Professional cameramen and directors use a range of different shots when they are
creating a short film and they plan out their choice of shots using a storyboard. A variety of
shot types helps to tell a story and to keep the audience interested.
Here are some examples of the main types of shots; these are then edited together into a
sequence.
CU Close Up
MCU Medium Close Up
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MCU Medium Close Up
WS Wide Shot (Establishing shot)
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PTC Piece to Camera; when a presenter speaks to camera, looking directly into lens as
though making eye contact with the viewer.
Low angle This is when the camera is pointing up and makes the subject look powerful.
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High angle This is when the camera is pointing down and makes the subject look weak.
POV Point of View is a shot from the angle of view of the presenter or audience.
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Zoom A zoom is when you use the lens of the camera to zoom in or out of a scene or
person. NB these shots should be kept to a minimum and are only used for really
interesting detail.
Cover A shot that is used to illustrate the narrator's or presenter's description.
Cut-away A shot that contains a different view of the scene e.g. a close up of hands.
This type of shot gives the audience information that the main action does not reveal.
(It also can be used to cover an untidy edit)
Creating a sequence
To shoot a film sequence you need to record at least three shots.
This will involve changing the camera lens... Or the camera position.
Wide shot (WS) - shows the person engaged in an activity, sets the scene and tells the
audience what's happening. The wide shot should be wide enough to show the whole
action, for example at the Adventure playground..
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Mid shots can be used to focus the audience's attention on a particular subject or object.
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Close up (CU) - a tight shot of the person’s face; this can be used to show the person's
feelings.
Over the shoulder,
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Profile
or Head on,
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Point of view
Camera height e.g. high angle, eye level or low angle
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Now use your storyboard to plan your sequence of shots for your film.
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