. Filmmaking: Establishing Shot How to use establishing shots to introduce time and place The full shot has lost its place as one of the more popular framing options. As we stated earlier, full shots are more expensive to light and harder to compose (i.e. the background needs to be designed or set up and lit etc). Therefore, filmmakers have largely discarded the use of the full shot for more economical medium shots and close ups. The establishing shot's main role in most of today's films is to provide context. The establishing shot is the only shot that can show the audience the setting, what characters are involved and more complex background and foreground details in a single shot. Its main use is therefore as an “establishing shot”. Most filmmakers will use the full shot as an establishing shot but then quickly move into a medium shot or close-up once the scene has been established. Generally speaking, the order of a shot sequence is from wide to narrow. You go from full shot to medium shot to close up. However, some filmmakers will go from a full shot right into a close up. Other filmmakers will start with a medium shot instead of a full shot and then move into close ups. While still other filmmakers will start with a medium shot and work with medium shots for the entire duration of a scene. While you can start a scene with a close-up, just remember that although you may be able to visualize the scene, your audience will not be able to. For example, if you start with a close-up of a man speaking to someone, your audience doesn't know 1) where the location is 2) who the person they are speaking to is and 3) have no sense of time or space (is it dusk, dawn, night, are they in a living room, are they in a car, are they in a field. All of these questions can only be answered with establishing shots, full shots or medium shots. In some cases, you may want to start with a close-up if you're trying to withhold information from your audience. For example, if you are shooting a murder / mystery you may want to start the film with a murder. Maybe you'll start the film with the close-up a man's startled look. Then you'll move to another close-up on a hand running with a knife. Then you'll insert B-roll footage of a close up POV shot of the surroundings and ground as the two people run. Very little can be deciphered from this shot sequence. It's fairly abstract and it withholds a lot of information from us. Why is the one man chasing the other? Who's holding the knife? Who is the murderer? As a filmmaker, withholding information could be your intention and therefore close-ups may work better than full or medium shots. One of the biggest benefits to a full shot (other than it working as the best establishing shot) is that full shots show full body language. Body language is to the full shot what facial expressions are to the close up. Body language says a lot about a character. It will communicate, better than words, what the person is feeling. If they are feeling awkward, your actors could show this through body language. If they are feeling confident, they can show this through body language. While they can show these things through facial expressions as well, sometimes body language helps show the emotion better and it can also provide a creative alternative to using close ups all of the time. Or perhaps you will work with actors who act better with their face than with their body. This will affect your shot choices. All of your actors will have different strengths and weaknesses. As a director you may need to design your shots around these differences. The types of shots used are just some of the decisions you'll need to make as a movie director.   Continue Below... Filmmaking Medium Shot Full Shot / Establishing Shot Line of Sight Cinematography no no's       .

Frequently Asked Questions Film School Home Who can enroll? What do I need to enroll? How much does the course cost? How long does the course take? What is the course curriculum? What have your past students done?	Course Breakdown Ideas & Funding Screenwriting Cinematography & Composition Feature Films Short Films Documentaries Preproduction / Post Production Music & Sound Publicity / Marketing & Distribution Film Jobs	Film School: Popular Pages Screenwriting: Learn the basics of screenwriting by reading this short essay on the beginning, middle and end. Read more... Cinematography: Lights Film School is dedicated to teaching our website visitors and students as much about cinematography as possible.  Read more...