12 CAMERA ANGLES to Enhance Your Films

hey how's it going Parker well back here with full-time filmmaker comm and today I'm joined by one of our team members Jake wise ler and in this video we're gonna be sharing with you our 12 different camera angles that you'd want to use to enhance your films and help bring more emotion to your stories one of the biggest questions I get asked is which camera angle should I use and when so we're looking to answer that question today but first let's answer the why why our camera angle is important a few reasons number one being

perspective by shooting from different angles you can give your audience multiple perspectives of what they're looking at to help to understand the scene and feel more connected to it number two emotion different camera angles can help you convey different emotions as we'll talk about more in just a moment and number three editing editing your video becomes a lot easier when you have multiple angles to choose from which will ultimately help you tell a better story now that you understand the why let's talk about what are the twelve most popular camera angles you'll see in everyday

films and when you'd want to use them you have your wide shot your long shot your medium shot the cowboy shot a tight or close-up shot a detail or extreme close-up shot a low angle a high angle a Dutch angle and over the shoulder a POV shot and a cutaway shot a wide shot is usually captured on a wider angle lens so as to see more of your surroundings and is more frequently used when you're wanting to establish a location so the viewer can understand where the scene is taking place wide shots can also be

used to portray emotion like loneliness insignificance or feelings of being removed from the action a long shot is also used to establish location but with a bigger emphasis on your subject filling the entire frame usually showing their full body this look is best created using a tighter focal length and shooting from a distance a medium shot is usually from the waist up and is used to help the viewer focus in on what your subject is doing or saying this shot is also great for helping the viewer feel as if they are close to the subject

because a medium shot most closely represents the distance you view people from as you're having a conversation with them a cowboy shot is in between a long and a medium shot frame from the mid thigh up called so because of its popular use in western films this would be used instead of a medium shot if you need to show till around the waist like a frickin gun a tight shot is often just the head and shoulders of your subject used mainly for dialogue or to show the detailed expression of your subject tighter shots are usually

used for important or intense or intimate pieces of dialogue or action to help the viewer know that they should really pay attention to what's being said and tight shots are typically best shot on tighter focal links like around 50 to 100 millimeter a detail or extreme closeup shot is used to put emphasis or importance on a specific detail in your image detail shots are a great way to create mystery in depth in a story to help draw the viewers attention to the common theme and again detail shots are typically best shot on tighter focal lengths

like 50 to 100 millimetres or macro lenses a low camera angle is used to make your subject appear larger the life and to portray power and dominance low camera angles can also be made to portray Wonder and majesty as long as your subject is smaller than what surrounds them in your image a high camera angle does the exact opposite by portraying your subject as weak and inferior or smaller and vulnerable now a Dutch angle is basically any time you slightly tilt the horizon of your frame and is usually used to convey an uneasy motion like

something isn't quite right basically giving the feeling like the world is on its side Dutch angles can be artfully utilised to tell us that something is wrong over the shoulder shots are exactly how they sound when you have two subjects talking to one another you put the camera behind the shoulder of one of the two placing one on the foreground giving the perspective as if you are the person that is being talked to a POV or point of view shot depicts an angle that shows what a character is looking at this episod allows the viewer

to take on the perspective of the character and begin to understand their state of mind on a more personal level this is commonly used in action or sports scenes to help give the audience the thrill of being in the driver's seat and is usually shot on a wide-angle lens so that you can see more of your surroundings a cutaway shot is an interruption of a continuously filmed scene by inserting a view of something completely different cutaways are great to help transition to new scenes or to show side stories happening at the same time as you're

a main story so there you have a quick look at the 12 most popular camera angles let's now give you some examples of how we apply each of these angles into different styles of films in our first example we're going to show you a scene shot from all 12 camera we just mentioned to show you how much more life it brings to your film when you utilize camera angles check it out [Music] as you can see by adding multiple camera angles that creates a variety of perspectives adds more emotion of intensity and it helps the

editor more easily piece together a compelling story now of course we also added slow-motion sound effects sound design a letterbox a color grade and so on but camera angles were a huge part of making this sequence more cinematic be careful though adding more camera angles isn't always better before you start shooting extra camera angles for your scene first ask yourself does this angle add or take away from the story and emotion I'm trying to convey let's look at a second example where multiple camera angles would actually distract from the story rather than add to it

in this scene let's say we're trying to portray an emotion of loneliness in mediocrity here's our first attempt at this scene filmed with multiple camera angles check it out [Music] you okay so how did we feel it was busy riot like our subject was in a rush or he was late definitely did not convey an emotion of loneliness because the camera was accompanying him the whole time let's try again using just one camera angle check it out [Music] that felt a lot more lonely didn't it the frame was completely empty except for our main subject

thus portraying that he was all alone in a big lonely world and I see this mistake a lot in amateur films people filming close-up detail shots of things that aren't important and not adding anything to the story why would you film a close-up shot of his watch or shoes unless he's looking at his watch to show that he's late for something or showing that his shoes are untied which would eventually lead to him tripping and causing drama in that scene if those detail shots are irrelevant to the scene which is just him walking all alone

down a street then it will confuse your audience because they'll be thinking wait why did they cut to a close-up of his shoes was there a detail on the shoes that I was supposed to catch was there something important on a shoe why did they go to a close-up there so don't add angles unnecessarily unless it's adding to your story and the emotion you're trying to convey now one thing to be aware of when feeling multiple camera angles is something they teach in film school called the 180 degree rule the 180 degree rule is basically

an invisible line that you draw in the middle of your scene and you have to make sure not to cross over the other side of that line as you are going from camera angle to camera angle for example in this scene we have dialogue happening between two people subject 1 is on the left side of the frame and subject 2 is on the right side of the frame using the 180 degree rule we want to keep both subjects on their own side of the frame so that's evident and they're talking to one another as you

cut back and forth between them if you were to cross over that line for one of the angles they'd both be on the same side of the frame making it harder for the viewer to know where each of these subjects are in relation to the other the only time it's really acceptable to cross the 180 degree line is if you do a continuous shot moving across that line with one camera movement but when cutting between two shots make sure to stay on one side of that invisible line there's also times where the 180 rule is

less applicable like when you're filming a montage of an event like a concert or a wedding venue where you usually just want to capture the event from every angle possible but even then keep the 180 rule in mind in the editing room to make sure your cuts flow together smoothly and seamlessly without confusing the audience which reminds me of another rule to keep in mind when editing camera angles called the 30-degree rule which basically states that when cutting between two angles of the same subject like an interview of someone talking you want to make sure

that our angle a and camera angle B are at least 30 degrees apart and ideally they'd also be a different type of angle like cutting from a medium shot straight in front of the subject to a tight shot by keeping this in mind it will help your angles cut together more seamlessly and professionally now a question I get a lot at this point is how many camera English should I shoot per scene like we've talked about it depends on your story but when covering an important piece of action I typically like to cover at least

five different angles for example here's a music video that I shot for a local band foreign figures I started the video with a wide establishing shot to show off the whole location then I cut to some tight shots of different band members faces and instruments I also mixed in some medium shots of the waist up and some long full body shots here and there and occasionally an extreme closeup to show off some specific details I even did some drone shots to give a high angle for a new perspective and some low angles up against the

water for another perspective and it about 20 total takes on this shoot but made sure to cover those 20 takes from a variety of camera angles so that I had freedom and flexibility in the editing room to cut between those different angles to give the viewer a much more dynamic viewing experience and immerse them into the video so there you have it guys that's it for camera angles hopefully those tips were helpful if you'd like to learn more filmmaking tips just like this this is just one of over 300 videos inside our ultimate online film

school full-time filmmaker where we help filmmakers from all over the world go from knowing nothing about filmmaking to becoming professional full time filmmakers so make sure to check that out at full time filmmaker comm also you can check out our free one hour filmmaking training by clicking over here to see our top 10 tips to achieving cinematic shots but that's it guys don't forget to subscribe and if you have any further questions please let us know