Framing
Extreme long shot – panoramic view of environment, character is small in the frame
Long shot – character’s full body is visible, as is the environment
Medium – character is seen roughly from the waist up
Close-up – the character’s face fills most of the frame
Extreme close-up – a small part of the character’s body fills the frame
Focus
Shallow depth of field – only the subject is in focus
Deep depth of field – the subject and the background are in focus
Separation – definition between the subject and the background, enhanced by lighting and distance
In a rack focus shot, the focus changes between the subject and the background or between two multiple points of interest in the frame.
Angles
Low angle – the camera looks up at the subject from below
High angle – the camera looks down at the subject from above
Perspective/point of view – the camera sees what a character in the scene would see
Canted/dutch angle – the subject is angled in the frame
Cinematography principles
Rule of thirds – placing important objects or characters along the “thirds” marks of a frame
Leading lines – visual elements in the frame draw the eye to important information
Symmetry – symmetry can have a number of effects on the composition of a frame, but it is always deliberate; it can also be deliberately broken
Insert/cutaway shot – footage of what the character is looking at off-screen
Eye line – the direction a characters eyes are looking off screen – in a dialog sequence, these should match
180 degree rule – this is the basic principle that characters in dialog should stay on opposite sides of the screen during a sequence; if you imagine a line between the characters, the camera should stay on one side of that line
One of the most common cinematic techniques is the shot/reverse shot, in which one character is shown, then the character they are addressing. For a shot/reverse shot sequence to make sense, the 180 degree rule should be followed.
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