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8.1: Basic Shot Sizes

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    124330
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    Framing Basic Shots Sizes

    Knowing how to communicate your vision for a shot is important both on set and when writing a script. Sometimes shots sizes have multiple names, but they mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably, some of which were described in a video in Chapter 4.1. The following are all the basic shot sizes and how to frame each one. The human body is used to demonstrate shot sizes because it is easy to remember and demonstrate.

    When you frame a person in a shot, it is important to remember to not cut them off at a natural joint in the body, like the knees or elbows. It will give the illusion on camera that the person has been amputated. You will notice in the following descriptions that when an image requires cutting out body parts near a joint, it is either above or below a natural joint in the body.

    Extreme Long Shot/Extreme Wide Shot

    A person standing near the Golden Gate Bridge, but the person looks small compared to the surroundings.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Extreme Long Shot. (Unsplash license; Justin W via Unsplash)

    ELS is an Extreme Long Shot. Sometimes you will also see EWS, which stands for Extreme Wide Shot. To frame this kind of shot, you can have the full person in the frame along with a lot of the surrounding area (See Figure 8.1.1). ELSs are also commonly used in establishing shots and do not always need to have a person in the frame.

    Long Shot/Wide Shot/Full Shot

    A woman standing in front of a hill close enough to us to see her full body in detail.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Long Shot. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    LS is a Long Shot. Sometimes you will also see WS or FS, which stands for Wide Shot or Full Shot. They all mean the same thing. A Long Shot has the full body of the person in the frame, but not as much surrounding (See figure 8.1.2).

    Medium Long Shot/Medium Wide Shot

    A woman in front of a hill but we only see from the middle of her thighs to the top of her head.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Medium Long Shot. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    MLS is a Medium Long Shot. Sometimes you will also hear it referred to as an MWS, which is a Medium Wide Shot. Once again, there are two concepts that mean the same thing. In a Medium Wide Shot, we usually see a person from just above the knee to the top of their head (See figure 8.1.3).

    Medium Shot

    A man standing in front of a hill. We only see him from his waist to the top of his head.
    A woman standing in front of a hill. We only see her from her waist to the top of her head.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Medium Shot. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    A Medium Shot (MS) shows a person from their waist to the top of their head (See figure 8.1.4). Make sure not to cut a person off at the hip because, as was mentioned earlier, we want to avoid cutting someone off at a natural joint in the body.

    Medium Close Up

    A woman standing in front of a hill. We see her from the bottom of her sternum to the top of her head.
    A man standing in front of a hill. We see him from the bottom of his sternum to the top of his head.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Medium Close Up. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    A Medium Close Up (MCU) is usually shot from the bottom of the sternum (the bone in the middle of the rib cage) to the top of the head (See figure 8.1.5).

    Close Up

    A man standing in front of a hill. We see the tops of his shoulders to the top of his head.
    A woman standing in front of a hill. We see the tops of her shoulders to the top of her head.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Close Up. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    A Close Up (CU) is a shot of a person from the tops of their shoulders to the top of their head (See figure 8.1.6). A CU can also be of different body parts, like hands, arms, legs, and feet.

    Extreme Close Up

    A woman so close we can only see her nose and eyes.
    A man so close we can only see the top of his mustache, his nose, and his eyes.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Extreme Close Up. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

    An Extreme Close Up (ECU) is so close to the person that it only shows a specific detail of their body, like their eyes or mouth (See figure 8.1.7). ECU can be even closer than shown above to show one eye or another small detail.


    This page titled 8.1: Basic Shot Sizes is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Christopher Clemens (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)) .

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