SHOTS,

ANGLES

SHOTS

They are one of the most cinematographic part of comic. When an author creates a work, they have to visualize the scenes in different ways: focusing on the faces, or to the wrist, or concetrating on landscapes, etc. The most difficult thing is not to learn them, but to learn when to use the appropiate one in each moment.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP
CLOSE SHOT
CLOSE-UP
MEDIUM SHOT

The camera is next to something, to highlight something tiny; an eye, a hand, a gun, an louse, ...

We see the face, with all its emotions: anger, happyness, ...
Something in between the previous two: a face that doesn't fit the frame.
We take somebody to the wrist. Useful when they move their arms, or when they hold something in their hands.
AMERICAN SHOT
FULL SHOT
LONG SHOT
EXTREME LONG SHOT

People are no longer important. Landscapes, big sceneries. Good to show locations, and even for transitions between scenes or moments of the story.

We see the whole body, and also all the things arround it. Interesting for place presentations, to see the atmophere around the people, etc.
People to the knees. Called like this because of westerns, and guns.
The full body. Good for introducing characters, to see their clothings,...

ANGLES

While with shots we showed more or less from the characters, with angles we place the camera ata higher or lower position from the character. It is a change in perspective.

PITCH ANGLE

 

We see the characters and the settings from a higher position. With this effect we can make the character look absurd, small. It also good to show the scene from a global position.

LOW ANGLE

Observamos a persoas e escenarios dende un ángulo inferior.

The opposite: from below.

We make people look taller, more powerful, more important. In this case, we see a woman from below, to sho her power. She is a judge, and is about to change an unfair situation.

 

 

PRACTISE

  • Identify the shot and angles from these pages:
Make groups of four people. Each groups has a mission, find samples of film shots: the group in charge of CLOSE-UPS, MEDIUM SHOTS, AMERICAN SHOTS, LONG SHOTS, FULL SHOTS. Once you find the samples, copy them and cut them out. Stick them on a board and show them to your fiends. You can also give a short speech on them.