Cinematography is the art of photography and camerawork that goes into making films, movies, and other videos. This is what it takes into making a movie or a video the way it is. From the various angles, types of shots, and focuses, the cinematography is a wide and diverse technique.
While there are numerous ways to change the cinematography, here are a few basic types of cinematography and how it can affect the mood and ambiance of the movie. And since the art of cinematography is all about the picture and video, various examples have been included.
Extreme wide shot
This type of shot is an extreme wide shot of the scene. The subjects in the shot will be barely visible. This type of shot is mostly used for establishing shot. Here are a few examples.
Bird-eye view shot
As the name suggests, this shot captures a scene from right above like what a bird would see when it would be flying.
Establishing shot
Establishing shots are usually the first scene of the movie. They are usually done with an extreme long shot which will set the tone for the movie and leave visual clues and messages regarding the time period and the situation.
Long shot
In long shots, the subjects will be visible from head to toe, even though the subjects do not fill the frame.
Medium Shot
Medium shots consist of shots in which the subject is visible from the waist above.
Close-up shot
Close-ups include shots that fill the frame with the subject in view with them zoomed in.
Extreme close up
Extreme close up shots are used for capturing every detail of expression or elemt within the shot.
Dutch angle
Dutch angle shots are filmed with the camera on a title so that there is an angle between the horizontal line of the scene being shot and the camera.
Over the shoulder
In this style of shot, the scene includes a subject or things taken from behind the shoulder of another subject. The shoulder of the person will be visible but will be blurry. It is used for showing a connection between two subjects in the shot.
Low angle
Low angle shots, as the name would suggest, are filmed from anywhere below the eye line usualluy looking upto the subjects.
High angle
High angle shots consist of the camera looking down upon the subject from above. This is not to be confused with a bird-eye view. High angle shots usually look down upon subjects while bird eye view shots can look down on an entire scene including landscapes, people, and buildings.
