So far, we’ve talked about how you choose story ideas and shape it into something people will want to watch. Now we’re going to look at how you turn your words into images.
Talking the Talk
When you’re working with other people, it really helps if you all speak the same language, and I don’t just mean English or Maori or Spanish or whatever, we all need to be using the same words for the same things so everybody knows what we’re talking about.
Filmmaking is no different, especially if you’re the director.
Say, you want your team to shoot a tiny figure in the middle of a deserted beach or grab a shot that’s so close, you can see the pimple on somebody’s nose.
What you don’t want is to have to spend ages explaining what you mean.
To make life easier, Film crews have invented their own names for things and when you use one of those names, everybody on the team gets it right away without having to ask.
If you asked for a tight shot. They all know you want a close-up, ask them for a wide shot and they know you want the exact opposite of a tight shot.
Every kind of shot has its own name and they all do a different job. We call them shot sizes.
Shot Sizes
Now, that sounds a bit weird because on your TV screen every shot’s exactly the same size, but what we’re talking about is how big a person or an object looks inside the shot.
So, let’s take a closer look at the standard shot sizes. The shots video makers use every day.
First off is the wide shot. This is a big scenic shot mountains and valleys, long beaches and clouds, that kind of thing.
Use this shot when the place is really important, not the people.
Quite often there are no people in wide shots or if there are, they’re very tiny and far away.
This means the wide shot is really great for introducing your locations, the places where things are going to happen in your video, it’s called an establishing shot because it tells the viewers where you’re taking them.
Say your video is about looking for a pukeko in the Chelsea reserve. Your wide shot is going to show lots of trees and water. If there any people around, they’ll just be little specs.
The long-shot: If you introduce a person into the scene, they’re not close to the camera, it becomes a long shot.
You can see all the person from head to toe, but you’re still just as interested in showing the location right now.
The medium-long shot: Moving a bit closer and you have a medium-long shot.
Now you can see the person in more detail from above the head to below the knees.
The shots handy for introducing somebody we’ll be seeing a bit more of later. When a person we’ve met earlier in the video is telling us about the location.
The mid-shot: When the person wants to come closer, tighten a bit more and use a mid-shot.
This shows them from just above the head down to the waist. The mid-shot is what’s called a safe shot.
It’s tight enough to show their face properly but not so tight that you lose bits of them outside the edge of frame if they start to wave their arms around.
That makes it really handy to use when you’re filming presenters who are talking directly to the camera and also for interviews.
The mid-two-shot: If there are two people in the mid-shot, it’s called you guessed it, a mid-two-shot.
How hard was that? Bet you can’t guess what it’s called if there are three people in the shot.
If you go on even tighter, you’ll have a medium close up or MCU close enough to see every expression on the person’s face, which is why it’s become the standard shot to use in interviews.
The close-up: Move in even tighter and your shot becomes a close-up or CU you.
You can use this for a bit of variety during the interview. Mostly when the person is getting weepy or grumpy and you want to see a bit more of their face.
The big close up: The final shot we talk about today is the big close up or BCU.
You have to be a bit more careful with this one and here’s why.
If you’re chatting with someone, you wouldn’t stand nose to nose with them, would you?
Why not? Well, because it feels all wrong. You’re crowding them and invading the space.
It’s exactly the same with a big closeup. It’s too close for comfort and interviews unless things are getting really emotional.
That’s why it’s mainly used in dramas, so mostly, you’ll be using a wide shot or maybe long shot to set the scene, then mid-shot and medium close-ups to show the people.
Okay. If somebody starts to cry or they confess they just shot 15 people and robbed a bank, maybe you will want to add the other close up.
Adventures in Space
When you’re setting up a shot of a person, there are two more things to remember.
One: Always leave a bit of space at the top of the frame. It’s called head room.
If you don’t, your shot will look as if the person’s head is jammed up into the ceiling.
Two: Leave a bit of room in front of the face. We call that breathing space.
If they don’t have any, they’ll have their nose pressed up against the edge of the frame and it’s not a great look.
In Conclusion:
You should now have a good understanding of the main shot sizes.
Now we need to think about how you’ll use them in your video because you kind of just mix them up in any order. That looks really messy and confusing.
So, we’ll be talking about how shots fit together in the next video: Moving Right Along