Camera Angles/Shots and Editing Techniques and General Rules

CAMERA ANGLES/SHOTS

Pan - the horizontal movement of the camera from a static position and can be horizontal or vertical.
Tracking - when the camera moves or tracks to follow a subject at close proximity. It is created using a dolly or steadicam.
Tilt - when a shot moves up and down on the vertical.
Crab - the subtle movement on the horizontal.
Crane - when the camera is mounted on to a crane so can move dramatically up and down.
Handheld - the shaky movement that follows the movement of the operator.
Zoom lens - this creates the illusion of the movement by altering the lens length.
Close up - this is when there is a close shot
High angle - this shows the subject from above. This can make the subject look weaker, powerless and less significant.
Low angle - this shows the subject from below, and can make them seem more powerful, in control
and the dominant character.
Extreme wide shot - this shows the subject from so far away that it is invisible and so is often used as an establishing shot.
Very wide shot - the subject is visible but only slightly, so the emphasis is still on placing them in the environment.
Wide shot - this shows the full frame of the subject.
Mid shot - this shows part of subject in some detail while still giving an impression of the whole picture.
Medium close up - this is half way between a mid shot and a close up
Close up - this focuses on one part/feature of the subject that takes up the whole frame.
Extreme close up - this shows the extreme detail of one part of the subject,

EDITING TECHNIQUES

A cut -  a clean change or break between one scene and the next.
Parallel editing - cross cutting between two or more lines of action going on in different directions.
Eye-line match - the first shot shows a person looking somewhere and the second shows what they were looking at.
Match on action - two different shots of the same action together, making it appear to continue.
Shot-reverse-shot - two shots edited back and forth between two or more characters (often used in conversations).
Parallel action - a convention that cuts between two different places, implying that they are happening simultaneously.
Elliptical editing - this is shown through a jump in time, for example, if the audience sees a man get into a plane and then get off a plane, the audience will realise that person has been on a plane journey and time has passed.
Transition- the way that two images are joined together and can be achieved in many ways.
Dissolve - a gradual transition between one scene and the next with one image dissolving into the next. This can be used to change time or location and signify a link between the two images.
Fade in/out - a gradual transition from the image to black (or another colour). This is often used at the beginning or end of a scene to signify the start or finish of something.
A wipe - one part of the screen moves across the other.


GENERAL RULES

The 180° rule must always be obeyed to help the audience make sense of what is going on. This is the imaginary line that passes from one side to another through the actors, and when filming, you must stay on one side of this line (particularly during conversation) unless you show the move from one side to the other.