Different types of shots and camera angles in film.

Extreme close-up shot (ECU).

An extreme close-up shot focuses on a specific detail — this could include a character's eyes, lips, or an important object — to heighten drama and bring the viewer’s attention to a moment of significance in the story. By homing in on a small feature within the frame, this type of shot amplifies the audience's connection to the subject and frequently reveals feelings and emotions that dialogue alone cannot always convey.

For example, in a scene where a character has been hurt by another character, a tear falling down their face can speak volumes about how the interaction went.

Close-up shot (CU).

Close-up shots, especially extreme close-ups, often employ longer focal lengths (85mm–135mm) to compress facial features and blur backgrounds. Filmmakers may use wider apertures (f/1.8–f/2.8) for a shallow depth of field.

A close-up shot can reveal emotions from subtle facial expressions, body language cues, or an object of significance. It minimizes distractions by filling the frame with one element.

Medium close-up shot (MCU).

A medium close-up shot frames a subject from around the shoulders or chest up, capturing both facial expressions and some body language. The shot is most commonly used in scenes with intense emotions because it helps the audience to connect with how the character is feeling.

For example, it might include actions like a clenched fist with a teardrop going down a character’s face at the same time. By keeping part of the torso in the frame, a medium close-up shot lets filmmakers show character emotions and situational context.

Medium shot (MS).

Medium shots typically use standard focal lengths (35mm–50mm) to provide a natural perspective. Lighting often balances the subject and background.

This shot is often used in scenes with dialogue or group interactions because it provides enough space to show multiple characters while still showing various actions and body language cues. Medium shots are great for balanced coverage as they maintain visual context without forgoing emotional transparency.

Cowboy shot.

In the 1930s, American filmmakers started using a style of movie shot known as a cowboy shot, which portrayed gunslingers from hat to mid-thigh to include their holsters. Modern films use cowboy shots to show a subject’s body language and some background while still capturing their facial expressions. In Wonder Woman, for example, a cowboy shot captures Diana as she crosses the battlefield, punching away bullets and smiling at her sense of power.

Medium long shots (MLS).

A medium long shot frames the subject from the knees up, creating a combination of spatial awareness and detail. It provides enough distance to show actions and body language while still giving viewers time to connect with the character emotionally.

This shot is a staple of Western movies, where you can see it used to display lone figures in wide landscapes, creating an interesting contrast between a character and their environment. It's also frequently used in standing conversations or when capturing character movements, making it a great choice for scenes requiring both action and dialogue.

Long shot (LS).

The long shot camera angle frames an entire subject, usually from head to toe, while also showing a significant amount of the surrounding environment. This wide framing is typically used to focus on distance, scale, or isolation, placing characters within the context of their environment.

Filmmakers will use the long shot camera angle to establish the setting, depict a character's relationship with the environment, or focus on the vastness — or emptiness — of a scene.

Full shot (FS).

A full shot frames the entire body of a subject from head to toe, while still keeping space in the frame to include background features. This shot creates a visual balance between a character and their surroundings, making it a great choice for showing movement, body language, and the environment all at the same time.

The full shot is typically used when viewing an entire character is essential to a scene. For example, a full shot could show a teacher standing in front of a chalkboard in a classroom, pacing back and forth and waiting to begin the first day of school.

Wide shot (WS).

Wide shots often use wider focal lengths (16mm–35mm) to capture expansive scenes. They may require higher f-stops (f/8–f/11) for greater depth of field. Filmmakers will typically use wide shots to establish scale and setting or to focus on the relationship between characters and their environment.

Master shots, two-shots, cowboy shots, and other shot types can often be considered wide shots.

Over-the-shoulder shot (OTS).

Over-the-shoulder shots are reverse shots that use standard to slightly telephoto lenses (50mm–85mm). Lighting needs to balance both subjects while maintaining depth. These shots strengthen conversation flow by mirroring how we experience real-life dialogue and putting the viewer in each speaker’s shoes. This helps the viewer easily follow the back-and-forth conversation.

This shot can convey emotional distance by subtly controlling how close or far away the viewer feels from each subject. When the audience is positioned behind one character, it can create a more biased perspective with that character’s point of view. This can show changing power dynamics, highlight tension, or display unspoken emotions depending on how the shot is edited and composed.

Two-shot.

A shot with two subjects is known as a two shot. By capturing the subjects’ interaction, their distance from one another, and their body language, a two-shot can tell the viewer a lot about the subjects’ relationship. “We try to keep the two-shots for the majority of a scene and then use the single or the tight shot for a killer line or important detail,” Ruckus Skye says.

Three-shot.

A three-shot includes three characters in the same frame, usually arranged to emphasize their interactions and relationships. This shot is often used to establish dynamics like unity, imbalance, or conflict within the group.

When characters are evenly spaced or close together, this shot could imply collaboration or shared values. On the other hand, if a character is separated from a group or framed at a different height, this shot can highlight tension or conflict within the group.

Eye-level shot.

Eye level is the angle of everyday life. This nonjudgmental camera angle doesn’t have the same storytelling effect as shooting from above or below a subject, and many filmmakers avoid using eye level in their work. “There’s no perspective,” Lane Skye says. “When you’re above a character looking down, they feel smaller,” Ruckus Skye adds. “They’re maybe not as confident or powerful. And if you look at any superhero, you’re always looking up at them. That’s a cliché, but you can do that on smaller levels and it’s more subconscious.”

The eye level shot is regarded as a neutral shot because the camera is positioned at the same height as the subject's eyes, displaying how we view other people in real life. This angle steers away from emphasizing power dynamics or emotional distance, making it the best shot for portraying realism and objectivity.

When using a medium focal length lens — usually around 35 mm to 50 mm on a full-frame camera — the perspective stays true to how people see the world.

High angle shot.

In a high angle shot, the camera is positioned above an actor and looks down at them. This perspective makes characters look small, vulnerable, or lost in their environment. High angle shots are often used in horror, thriller, or suspense films because they convey danger or shock.

Early in Titanic, James Cameron uses a high angle shot of Rose looking down at the ocean to symbolize her powerlessness over making her own life decisions. Likewise, in the Harry Potter franchise, Dobby, the house elf, is almost always filmed in a high angle shot. This type of camera angle reinforces his short stature and his diminutive role as a lowly servant.

Low angle shot.

Any shot that looks up at a character is known as a low angle shot, whether the camera is positioned just a few inches below the character’s eyeline or if it’s down by their feet. Low angle shots give the impression that a character is towering over the audience, so directors use them to convey a sense of power and authority.

This type of camera angle helps the viewer connect with and relate to powerful and invulnerable characters, so they’re often used in action films or superhero films. In the classic western Stagecoach, John Wayne’s heroic character is introduced with a low angle shot that makes him look large and in charge.

Dutch angle shot.

Dutch angle shots can be achieved with any lens. The key is to tilt the camera off its horizontal axis, typically by 15 to 45 degrees. Unlike a basic tilt shot, the Dutch angle shot creates a sense that something is off with a character or within the scene. It’s often used in film to build tension or unease, frequently showing a character’s mental instability or the uneasy feeling of the scene.

Bird’s-eye view overhead shot.

Looking down from above, this aerial shot may suggest the smallness of the subjects or the vastness of their environment. The overhead shot can depict powerlessness, isolation, or insignificance. For example, this shot could pan over a big city after an apocalyptic event, showing damaged buildings and streams of smoke across the horizon line to indicate the huge impact the event had on the inhabitants.

Point-of-view shot (POV).

A point-of-view shot can use various focal lengths depending on the desired effect. The filmmaker may employ handheld or stabilized camera movement to mimic natural head motion.

The POV shot lets the audience see through the eyes of a character, further immersing the audience into the character’s emotional state and experiences. It can create deeper connections between the viewer and the film’s characters as it allows the audience to feel emotions along with the subject.

Reverse shot.

A filmmaker may use a reverse shot to show another character's reaction or dialogue with the first character shown (in the POV shot). This shot captures the opposite perspective of the POV shot, and it often comes after an over-the-shoulder shot, changing the viewpoint while keeping the same axis of movement for spatial continuity.

This shot usually uses medium focal lengths (between 35mm and 50mm) and similar framing to a POV shot (typically a medium or medium close-up) to maintain scale and perspective. By cutting between two perspectives, this shot keeps audiences engaged with the dialogue and actions without using jarring changes in viewpoints.

Profile shot.

The profile shot frames a subject from the side, capturing their full face profile, usually at a 90° angle to the camera. This shot can create a feeling of deep contemplation, observational detachment, or emotional distance because it doesn't show the audience direct eye contact or frontal expressions from the subject.

A profile shot lets filmmakers show a character's feelings of emotional withdrawal or overall reflection. It’s typically framed with a medium to medium long distance using a focal lens between 35mm and 55mm, presenting a natural look while still capturing posture and facial expressions.

Tracking shot.

A tracking shot has the camera follow the subject through their environment, often moving alongside, ahead of, or behind them. This technique creates a sense of momentum that makes the viewer feel like part of the action.

The tracking shot can be done from multiple angles, including side profiles, low angles, or over-the-shoulder shots, depending on the feeling or visual effects you’d like to highlight.

For example, as a subject walks through a dim hallway, the camera could track them from the side to highlight the tension and fear of exploring a spooky building.

Pan shot.

A pan shot moves the camera horizontally to reveal hidden information by gradually enlarging the audience's field of vision. It can build tension as the audience anticipates what will come into the frame or create spatial awareness as it shows the environment around the subjects.

You can also combine the pan shot with various camera angles to change the tone, perspective, or focus of the scene within a single, continuous movement. An example of this is using a profile shot of a character sitting at a bar, the camera panning across their face to show their expression. The camera continues to pan behind them to show another character walking into the bar from the opposite side of the room.

Dolly in/out and zoom shot.

A dolly shot entails physically moving the camera on a track or wheeled platform to steadily approach or follow a subject. This provides a natural, polished look for your film. There are a few key types of dolly movements, each helping to progress the story in a different way:

• Dolly in. The camera moves closer to the subject — typically using a telephoto or medium lens — to build a feeling of emotional intensity or increase the focus on a particular element in the scene. This shot is used to emphasize a character's realization or build anticipation as the viewer moves closer to the character.
• Dolly out. In this shot, the camera moves away from the subject, creating a feeling of vulnerability, detachment, or revelation. To symbolize change or isolation, use a wider focal length to focus on the background and environment as the subject grows smaller in the frame.
• Dolly zoom. Also known as the "Vertigo effect,” the dolly zoom integrates a dolly in or out with a simultaneous zoom in the other direction. This creates a sense of disorientation and shows the panic, shock, or sudden realization occurring within a scene. A telephoto lens works well with this dramatic shot to exaggerate and distort the background.

Master shot.

Shots that capture all of the action happening in a scene are master shots, and they usually set up as long shots or wide shots. Because they record everything, these are crucial camera shot types for basic coverage. Editors can let a scene breathe by cutting to the master shot during pauses in action or dialogue.

The master shot and the establishing shot serve different purposes in a film. The master shot captures an entire scene from start to finish, often in one take. It serves as an anchor for the scene, showing all of the characters and their spatial relationships within the environment. An establishing shot, on the other hand, shows a new location at the beginning of a scene. It gives the viewer geographic context, such as where and when a scene is taking place.

Establishing shot.

An establishing shot is a wide shot used at the start of a scene to set the tone, time, and location. It shows where the action will take place, typically capturing exterior environments such as buildings, neighborhoods, or landscapes.

For example, a slow aerial shot of a city skyline at sunset with many cars bumper to bumper may indicate a modern, energetic setting, while a static wide shot of an empty street at sunrise can set a calm, introspective tone.

Cut ins/insert shot.

These types of close-up shots capture small details like a subject’s hands or feet. If a character looks at a text on their phone, the director might want to capture close-up camera angles of the phone screen. An insert shot isolates small but significant details within the larger scene.

These shots direct the viewer’s attention to actions, gestures, or objects that are important to the narrative but could be overlooked. This might include something like a hand passing a note under a desk in a classroom.

Cut away shot.

The cutaway, the opposite of the cut-in, jumps from the subject to something else, like from the startled expression on an actor’s face to a barking dog or from a ball crossing the goal line to fans cheering in the stands. Gathering types of movie shots like these can be useful for editing together multiple takes of the same scene.

A cut away shot disrupts the main action in a scene to show something related but outside the main frame, such as a location, object, or off-screen action. This shot adds visual context without breaking continuity. The cut away shot draws attention to important narrative elements by showing what a character is reacting to or building tension by showing something the subject hasn't noticed yet.

Reaction shot.

Since the crucial visual in a film isn’t always on the person talking, reaction shots are close-up shots that offer important opportunities for character and story development. Reaction shots capture a character's emotional response to something happening off screen — perhaps a joke, a revelation, or a threat — and give the audience insight into a character’s feelings that a shot focused on the speaker would fail to reveal.

Push-in/push-out shot.

In a push-in shot, the camera moves closer to the subject to encourage the viewer’s attention or focus. A push-out shot does the opposite, highlighting a character’s isolation by increasing the distance between the viewer and the subject. These types of moving shots usually require a dolly, jib, or Steadicam.