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Film Tutorial

Lynne Stahl, Author

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Shots All Around!

An establishing shot, which usually involves a distant framing, shows spatial relations among the important figures, objects, and setting in a scene; even if there are no characters in the shot, it conveys a general sense of the film's tone and ambiance (film credits here).


In a tracking shot, the camera physically moves through space (The Shining).



Zooming in or out is when the lens--but not the camera itself--moves within the camera to create the appearance of getting closer to or further from the object being filmed.



A point-of-view shot presents the image as if it's being looked at by a particular character (The Silence of the Lambs).


Extra bonus: in a dolly zoom, the camera zooms in while being physically moved backward (or zooms out while being moved forward) on a dolly, creating an extremely disorienting effect.

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