Camera Angles: How You View the Scene

You’ve just learned a series of basic shots, each of which is an example of what the camera sees. When you decide the angle of each shot, you determine the viewpoint from which the camera shows the scene to the audience. Each camera angle, or viewpoint, is part of your visual language that tells the audience about the characters, their story, and the emotion of the scene. Following are the 10 most important shots associated with specific camera angles:

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LOW-angle shot in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

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Bird’s-eye view (overhead) shot in Goodfellas (1990)

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Dutch angle in The Third Man (1949)

ACTION STEPS

Low-Budget Dutch Angle Trick

You don’t need fancy equipment to get a professional-looking Dutch angle—you just need the camera and your tripod.

  1. image Remove the base plate from the tripod and install it on your camera at a 90-degree angle.
  2. image Tighten it firmly, and then slide the camera onto your tripod.
  3. image You can use the tripod’s tilt lever to create a Dutch angle.

image USE POV CORRECTLY

Point-of-view shots must be taken from the perspective of the character whose point of view it is. If you start with a character’s POV shot at a wider angle and then move in closer, it tells the audience that the character is observing a detail or noticing something important, or that the filmmaker is emphasizing something.

FIGURE 7.1Diagram of a reverse shot

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image OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE SCENE WORK

Using a one- to two-page, two-person scene as material, shoot it two ways: first, in a single shot in which both actors are in the frame; second, with POV shots from the position of each of the actors. The first version is an objective view of the scene, whereas the second version is a subjective view of the scene. Play back the footage and observe how the scene’s meaning is altered. What does each variation convey? Decide which angle (objective or subjective) best tells the story and emotion of the scene you’ve selected.

ACTION STEPS

Dirty vs. Clean

A medium or close-up shot that includes a foreground actor, such as an over-the-shoulder, is called dirty. A shot that does not include any other actor in the frame is called a clean shot. How do you shoot them, and when would you want the shot to be dirty or clean?

  1. image For a dirty shot, focus on the main actor, and include some of the other actor’s face or body in the shot (enough so it’s clear that the second actor is making the shot “dirty”). This shot emphasizes the emotional or spatial relationship between the two characters.
  2. image For a clean shot, isolate the main actor. No one else should be visible in the frame. This shot emphasizes only the main actor.
  3. image Pro camera move: go from dirty to clean in one shot. This move starts with a dirty shot, then pushes in to the main actor until the shot is clean. Use this move when you want to show that something important is happening to the main character—for example, a moment of revelation, an emotional change, or a glimpse of recognition.