Media Shot Types

Medium Shot

This medium shot is taken from the film Titanic. 

It shows the two characters clearly from the waist upwards. This makes the body language between the two characters easy to see. The medium shot usually features two characters, which is demonstrated in this shot. In this shot, you can easily see that the body language between the two characters is affectionate and friendly. You can see this because one of the characters is holding the other characters waist and looking at her, whilst the other character is stood close to the other character with her arms stretched out and is smiling. 

You can also see that in this shot, the male character is holding her waist, and is supporting her and almost could be controlling her as he is holding her. Whereas the female character has open arms and isn't touching or looking at the other character. This could suggest that she is more open and free than the other character and also could even be less interested in the male character, than the male character is interested in her. 

You can also clearly see the clothing in the medium shot. The clothing is quite old fashioned which suggests that the film isn't set in a modern era, more Edwardian era. This suggests that the relationship of the characters is more serious and formal than a relationship would be if this medium shot was set in a modern era.

 From the background in this shot, you also get a more romantic feel from the shot. This is created by the used of blues and a sunset. Romantic scenes are usually set when the sun is setting near the sea, so this shot is conventional of a romantic scene. 

The lighting in this shot is on the characters faces. This draws the audiences attention to the characters face so the audience can easily see the relationship between the characters and the feelings that the characters are experiencing in the shot.

Long Shot

This shot is a long shot. This is because you can see all of the characters in the shot full body length. 

This allows the audience to see all of the characters body positions which makes it clearer to the audience as to what the characters are doing. In this shot, the characters are all children and have their arms stretched out wide. This signals to the audience that the characters are playing a game by pretending to be aeroplanes. 

This also tells the audience that all of the children are friends, as they are playing together and look happy. 

Also, a long shot allows the audience to see a good section of the background, however not so much so that it would be considered an extreme long shot. in this shot, you can see that the children are playing in a street, as there is a building in the background and a car is on the road, as well as a tree is off to the side of the shot. 

As you can see the whole body length of a character in long shots, this allows the audience to see all of the characters costumes. You can also see that on the road, there is lots of puddles of rain. This lets the audience have an idea of what has happened before this scene. The puddles of rain on the floor would suggest that it has just been raining, and it has stopped so the children have been allowed out to play.

 The costumes can indicate to the audience about the time era of the film and also what type of person the character is. In this shot, the children are all wearing old fashioned outfits that children would wear around the time of WW2, so this suggests to the audience that this film is set around the time of World War 2. The characters are all wearing shorts and shirts with jumpers over the top, or with braces. All of the characters costumes are quite bland and not very colourful. This was also typical of outfits that children wore during the war, which makes it even easier for the audience to guess the time era of the film. These costumes also make it even easier for the audience to see that the characters are all children. 

The lighting in this still is quite natural, as the scene is set outside on a street, so the lighting isn't used in this shot to draw the audiences attention to anything.

Extreme Long shot (ELS)

In extreme long shots, characters are tiny in comparison to the rest of the shot, and most of the still is taken up by the background.

 In this still, you can see that the characters are on horses, which suggests to the audience that they are on a long journey, as they aren't walking. Also in this shot, the background takes up most of the shot, which emphasises the length of the journey that they have to take, this might make the audience feel sorry for the characters as they have a long journey.

 The background also says to the audience that the setting of the film is in winter, as there is snow on the ground and no leaves of the trees which are further away in the shot. This also makes the audience feel more sorry for the characters as they have to do this journey in the cold. In the background, you can see trees further away in the distance, this could be foreshadowing for the audience as it suggests to the audience that the characters could be heading towards the trees, and that possibly a part of this film could be set in a forest.

 In this shot, you cant see the characters costumes as they are too small. This makes the audience curious and interested in the film and makes them want to keep watching to find out when the film is set and what type of characters they are. 

Also in this shot, the lighting is natural light, as the scene is set outside.

 The characters are placed in the middle of the shot, and there is a strip of light in the middle of the shot on the floor. This would catch the audiences attention and draw it to the characters in the shot. This prevents the audience from looking at the background too much and possibly guessing too much of whats going to happen in the film.

Close Up

This close up is from the film Batman.

 A close up is usually used to draw the audiences attention to something significant in the scene that is about to happen, whether it be an object or a character. A close up can also be used to show the characters facial expressions which makes it easier for the audience to recognise what the characters emotions could be. In this still, the close up is being used to draw the audiences attention onto this character, which is the Joker. The Joker is a famous batman character, who is known for being Batman's enemy. 

In this still, the character is looking to this side with an evil looking smirk on his face. This suggests that he has done something evil before this still and is happy with what he has done.

 In close up shots, you can't see much of the background, this makes the audience slightly uncomfortable as they are unaware of what is in the background, and they can only see a close up of the characters face and a small bit of the background. In this still, you can see that in the background, there is a plain cream wall. This suggests to the audience that they are in an empty place, like a warehouse as there is nothing on the walls, unlike if they were in a house there would be pictures on the wall. 

Also in the background you can see part of another character. However you can't see anything that would make the audience recognise him, apart from his suit. This leaves the audience feeling curious but also maybe slightly uncomfortable as they do not know what is behind him, they can only guess what the character is.  

The lighting in this scene is brighter in the foreground than it is in the background. This draws the audiences attention to the character in the front of the shot, and makes them less likely to focus of the background.

Extreme Close Up (ECU)

This still is from the film series Twilight. 

An extreme close up is used to show a section of the face, in this case, the characters eyes. An extreme close up can also be used to show a part of an object, which would make the audience curious as to what the object is.

 In this shot, the characters eyes look quite angry, as he is staring straight into the camera and his eyebrows aren't raised. This makes the audience feel very uncomfortable as it seems that the character is staring angrily at them. 

In an extreme close up, none of the background is visible to the audience. This also adds to the discomfort that the audience is feeling as they have no where else to look on the screen to avoid the character staring at them.

 This characters eye colour is also a very eye catching colour, that is most likely edited or fake. This also makes the audience feel uncomfortable as the characters eye colour  helps draw their attention to the characters eyes. 

The characters skin is very pale and white against his blue eyes. This then causes the audience to look at the characters eyes as they are a contrast to the rest of his face which is in shot.

Canted Angle

This still is a canted angle.

 This is because the angle of the still is wonky. Canted angles are used in films to give the audience a sense of abnormal. It also warns the audience that something is going to go wrong, or something abnormal is going to happen, as canted angles are not the normal straight shot, like other angles. In this still, the background is quite plain and the main colour is cream. This draws all of the attention onto the two characters in the middle of the shot, as that is where the action will be happening. 

The two characters that are in the still aren't stood next to each other, this suggests that maybe these two characters are enemies, as there isn't any friendly gestures being used by each of them. The character that is closest to the audience is wearing all cream. This causes him to blend more into the background which means that the other character, who is wearing white and black stands out the most in this still. This suggests to the audience that the characters furthest away from them is the most important character in this scene.

 The character which is closest to the audience is also on the floor, whilst the other character is stood up. This creates him to be taller than the character closest to us and makes this character to appear vulnerable to the other character. 

The main lighting in the shot, is on the floor. The bright light on the floor catches the audiences attention as it is a large, very bright area which is a contrast to the background. This then causes the audience to look to the two characters which are next to the lights on the floor.