Shot sizes. Meaning and motivation.

Big close-up (BCU)

Head or part of head. Used to show emotions and detail. Reserved for passion or conflict.

Mid Shot (MS)

Provides information on the body language and cloths of the character

Wide Shit (WS)

 Master or establishing shot. It is usually used at the beginning of a scene and at the end. Helps to shot the physical geography of the space up from atmosphere.

Point of View (Pov)

Provides perspectives from a particular character’s point of view. The director manipulates whose eyes the audience experiences the story from.

Close-up or close shot (CU)

Head and shoulders .Reveal characters personality. Intimate and powerful.  Useful for dramatic or revealing moments of truth/crisis. Close shots work to increase audience identification with a character.

Medium-long shot (MLS)

Including the knees. Provides more physical information than the mid shot, but less close up detail.

Over the shoulder (0/S)

Helps to create dynamic between the character and what they are seeing. Can also be used to suggest someone is being followed or watched by an unseen presence

High angle

Camera points down from above eyeline, looking down on someone. Can indicate low status or vulnerability

Medium close-up

Head and shoulders to top pocket. Useful all-round shot

Long shot (LS)

Full figure. Often used to distance the audience from events or suggests isolation or loneliness

Two shot, three shot

By framing two or more characters in the same shot, a sense of how they relate to each other is created. The reverse of this is to keep characters in separate frames to suggest a lack of common ground or interaction

Low angle

Camera points up from below eyeline. It shows that the person has high status, someone powerful or intimidating