Shot reverse shot is a useful technique which can be used in scenes such as conversations. One character is shown to be looking at another character off-screen, and then the other character is shown to be looking at the other character once again off-screen, creating the impression that they are speaking to one another.
A shot is a series frames which are recorded continuously from when the camera starts rolling and when it is cut, completely unedited.
These shots are what make films so entertaining and can be used to show a characters emotion or an important part of a plot or story arc unfolding before our eyes.
Some of the first examples of shots being used in the early 20th century was when a camera would be stabilised by a tripod and would only capture motion within the frame such as a party which was interesting at the start but filmmakers began to realise they could tell a more engaging story by piecing together various shot sizes.
There are numerous types of shots, with the most common types including:
Wide/ Long shot – The characters can fully be seen in relation to the location or each other and can be used to show how the character is small in relation to their surroundings or if there is no character it can just be used as an establishing shot. It can also be used to show a new location so when the camera moves in tighter the audience knows where they are.
Full shot – The character is fully in the frame but the location isn’t the focus and its purpose is to show how a character dresses, how they move or what action they are doing
Medium shot – Shows the character from the waist up in greater detail and are often used in dialog scenes and focuses on body language
Medium close-up shot – between the close-up and medium shot that frames the character from the shoulders up and might be used to show more body language and emotion. Might possibly be used to build up to to a climax that reveals information but no as intimate as a close-up.
Close-up shot – Shows the characters face in greater detail showing their emotion by facial expressions that you might miss in a medium shot. Can be used to show specific small actions such as putting a ring on a finger but used infrequently with great importance to the audience.
Extreme close-up shot – Puts the frame even tighter on the face highlighting specific features. Its uncomfortably close so the audience can feel what what the actor is conveying and is why it is used to show intense emotion when the drama begins to increase.
Establishing shot – It tells the viewer where the story is taking place and can include things such as a building or a traffic jam. The shots can be tighter to show more specific locations such as an office in that building. Its important to use this to reveal relevant information so as not to confuse the viewer.
Extreme wide shot – Shows large landscapes in the frame giving the audience a feel for period and setting of the film. Characters are very small in context to the backdrop which is the purpose of the shot.
An editing technique that improves continuity where one shot cuts to another shot, showing an action of the subject in the first shot crating the impression that there is continuity which takes the attention away from any other continuity issues. It shows the same action being continued in 2 seperate shots.
It refers to an imaginary straight line that you draw between two subjects in a scene where you keep all cameras behind that line. This will often mean that there are three cameras, one that films a wide shot and the others film a close-up shot on 2 characters conversing.
An auteur is a film director who has such a strong signature on a film that you are able to know it is one of their films without seeing their name on it.
The director that I have been given is Guillermo Del Toro, a Mexican filmmaker, famous for his many works such as Pacific Rim (Del Toro, 2013) , The Shape of Water (Del Toro, 2017) , and Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro, 2006) , many of which are Oscar winners. I have seen many of his films including the ones above and can note that he is definitely an auteur. His signature is that his films typically deal with the supernatural and the film focuses on the main character who ignore clear warnings and this leads to bad consequences, implying the statement that it is the humans that are the monsters.
Much of his filmography includes visual representation for ideas such as his use of snowfall when there is a gateway and is often to show that it is supernatural. Another is that clockwork represents the unhindered work of time and evil and can be seen put to effect in many of his films.
Aaron Bruce's Film Studies Blog 