Shot Choice

In film there are many different shot choices you can choose from. Long shots can set capture a lot of information from the surroundings which could set the scene or show where the characters are. Mid shots are also an example of a different type of shot. These can capture a conversation between two characters. The third type of shot choice we have learnt about is a close shot. These can be used to show specific details in a scene. For example in the short clip we watched in class today from the film ‘Walk About’, short shots were used to show the emotion on the two characters faces when watching the tribe member hunt the lizards, showing their desperation and hunger.

We watched the short film ‘Teeth’ in class. This took advantage of all the different types of shots we talked about: long, mid and short. Long shorts were used at the beginning to show the location of the characters. This shot included the vast landscape. A long shot was also used to show the passing of time between character 1 losing his teeth and character 2 catching a fish. Mid points were used to show conversation. One example is when the camera shot was over character 1’s shoulder pointing towards character 2 implying a conversation feel. Finally, short shots were used to focus on the teeth. Especially when they were on the side of the boat. This shows that they are the main focus of this shot.