Having done A-level Film Studies, I was already familiar and confident with my use screen grammar and composition, but I thought I would make a blog of it as it's always useful to.
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| Different shot angles |
A good video which shows you all the types of shot angles in practice can be found under this web link:
https://youtu.be/TuGvRu5N9v4
For a more through understanding of when and why to use certain shot types, read this document:
http://adaptation391w.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2012/08/Shot-Terminology-Reduced.pdf
These are other types of shots:
Pan
This refers to when the camera pivots horizontally. In terms of human action, this can be use to take in the surroundings, or as a surveillance. People associate this camera movement subconsciously with discovering and revealing or assessing, escaping, fearing and also expectation.
Tilt
A tilt is a vertical pivot of the camera and holds different connotations to the pan. It can be likened to assessing depth or height and is a great way to establish power dynamics on film e.g. by looking up to or down on someone or something.
Crane
This is when the camera travels vertically in parallel with the subject. It gives the sense of traveling with the subject. It can be used when someone sits down or stands up for example.
Dolly track
You use a dolly to help your camera travel smoothly horizontally. It's allows the camera to follow the action, away from or towards someone or something without shaking the camera. It can include traveling in front of someone or following them. It can connote meanings such as being able to represent attraction or repulsion at the other end of the spectrum. By combining particular changes in direction you can change the meaning e.g. by advance towards a subject and then retreating from the same subject. Here is my favourite use of a dolly track.
Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990) - Copacabana Shot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYwcObxl78
More Screen Grammar
Zoom
Zoom is used to make objects grow bigger or smaller on the screen. Perspective doesn’t change during zooming in and out and so the main effect is that it gives the impression that you are looking more closely at something, or looking at it from a distance in the case of zooming out.
Cut
This is a term which refers to a switch between two images which involves a juxtaposition. If you are looking at one thing and are then immediately looking at something else, there are a range of different potential meanings, depending on the context. E.g. it could be that the cut causes the viewer to compare the two shots, or it could be that the cut represents a simple transition from one place to another.
Montage
A montage is a series of consecutive shots which suggest some sort of progression and meaning throughout. For the viewer, watching a montage is like taking in a sequence of impressions and drawing some meaning from them; literally building up a picture. See the montage below from filmmaker Brian DePalma in 1983.
DePalma's ScarFace (1983) - Push It To The Limit (Montage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqW_5vTBAXw
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