An establishing shot is a shot at the head of a scene that clearly shows us the location of the action. This shot often follows an aerial shot and is used to show where everything will happen. It can give you crucial details about the location or world where the scene will take place.

This confirms the location and geography of the scene. It also confirms the characters that are in the scene.

The wide shot positions subjects far from the camera to establish their relationship to their environment. It can be used to make subjects appear lost, lonely, or overwhelmed.

When the entire subjects body reaches from the top to the bottom of the frame. This example is effective when you need to present a full character or make a statement about their physical state.

This shot frames the subject from roughly mid-thighs up. It’s called a “cowboy shot” because it is used in Westerns to frame a gunslinger’s gun or holster on their hip.

One of the most common camera shots. It's similar to the cowboy shot above, but frames from roughly the waist up and through the torso. So it emphasizes more of your subject while keeping their surroundings visible.  

A medium shot can often be used as a buffer shot for dialogue scenes that have an important moment later that will be shown in a close-up shot.

This frames your subject from roughly the chest up. So it typically favours the face, but still keeps the subject somewhat distant. The medium close-up camera shot size keeps the characters eerily distant even during their face-to-face conversation. 

This shot can reveal a subject’s emotions and reactions. Of all the different types of camera shot sizes in film, a close-up is perfect for important moments. The close-up shot size is near enough to register tiny emotions, but not so close that we lose visibility.

This is the most you can fill a frame with your subject. It often shows eyes, mouth and gun triggers. In extreme close-up shots, smaller objects get great detail and are the focal point.

After going through this lesson. Your task will be to create a video of your own that contains the following:

• An intro screen with the following text: Camera Shot Sizes by <insert your name here>

• One example of each of the 9 camera shots outlined in our lesson (max 20 seconds per shot)

• A text label on each shot that identifies what the shot name is

• School-appropriate background music for your entire video.

• A closing screen with credits (names of people who helped you with the video and what their role was)

Upload your finished video with the label "Camera Shots Assignment" to your Unit 6 page of your portfolio.