Rules of Shots in Cinematography

What's What

In this post I will be breaking down the types and styles of different shots throughout film and TV talking about the technique, how effective they are as well as some of my own shots. Hopefully it will teach you something new.

Anyways enjoy!

Shot/Reverse- Toby Maguire's Spider-man  So in this shot you can see a character having a conversation in the mirror with two opposing characteristics, one being happy and manic and the other being down and confused. The way that this shot works is that when there's one shot after there's a similar shot but at a reversed angle to show the flip of the scene hence showing the duality of the character. This type of shot is more generally used for conversations between characters as it gives the impression that both pieces of dialogue are happening at the same time, like the one in the clip above.                     

 Here's my interpretation of the shot reverse technique with the two splits of the same character interacting together and the jumps showing that it's at the same time but the outcome is almost completely different to what's expected. Overall I fell that we demonstrated and captured this rule well as it shows what it is and what it can do along with the effect it can have when used effectively.

180 Degree Rule- The Dark Knight  Here we have a scene which is another dialogue section but the rule still applies, basically when the camera moves in this section it's only allowed 180 degrees movement within the area of the scene. Here in the scene between Batman and Joker the cameras that switch views between them have a cut but that's just for between the characters where as if you look at the actual movement then it follows this rule and actually loops back while the conversation carries on. Generally when using this the characters tend to show more of a body to what ever side the camera on but when you have multiple so long as you have a bit of room the effect will be the same.

Here's my interpretation of this rule:

 Here there isn't as much camera movement and that's probably one of the biggest downfalls of the piece example but the basics are all still the same where the characters are leaning more towards the side with the camera and generally working in that direction showing off the rule just as well. This demonstration has worked well because it shows off the rule and how it might be edited but on the other hand there's very little camera movement so it's less accurate then it would be other wise.

30 Degree Rule- Various  This type of angle is much tighter than normal, as you can see if the camera does move then it doesn't move very far or at that much wider either but it's mainly used to highlighted certain characters or features within a scene. As you can see in the video above there's a few different scenes where this is used but they're not as wide ranging in what they cover making the audiences eyes focus on the thing that's in focus right in front of them in the scene. 

Here's my interpretation of the rule:

 So as you can see we've narrowed the scope but kept the scene similar to the last one to show that you can still have a similar type of scene but you have to be careful in what you include to this so that it's not too crowded and makes the audience loose immersion within the scene, having the rule as well allowed us to give focus or highlight one character within the scene. Now issues with this shot is similar to the last where we really didn't demonstrate any real movement of the camera to show off what the angle is or how impactful it can be.

Cutting On Action- Unknown  This one is just a brief note as it's used more by TV channels for their shows for adverts, so they can keep their audience hooked on what's going to happen when it cuts back to them. However this doesn't mean that it's only television that can use this rule, some films do this too where they cutaway from a piece of action to a different scene for other characters, it's a good one to consider for some light tension building or comedic effect but isn't really one of the best to use a lot.

Crosscutting- Inception  Now this is an interesting technique because of what it can do to a scene, as you can see in this scene there are times where it cuts away and back quite frequently but why? Well that's because this rule tries to make multiple things happen within the same space, almost like they're going on at the same time. This is the effect that it creates having a cut that's quick enough and close enough to the last creates this feeling that both things are happening within the same time making each cut or change synch together like in the scene above.

Here's my interpretation of this:

 This isn't as much a cinematic or big example as the one above but it still demonstrates the rule well, having these things edited so quick and close together with n invisible cut helps to create that sense of both have happened within the same time frame. The big thing though is that this looks similar to a shot/reverse shot but it's not as the shot/reverse shot is more to do with characters interacting and dialogue whereas this is more built for sequences like the scene above.

The actual footage itself I feel works well to demonstrate this rule but I feel like if we had worked a bit more to tackle the seemingly synchronicity of the technique then it would have had a much clearer display but this works well as an active example of the technique.

Establishing Shot- Harry Potter  Well we all know this one, almost every film has them and always look really pretty. Establishing shots. They are all about one thing, setting a scene of a location where your characters are based such as the Harry Potter example above, there's little to add here but how they're taken now that can change from a camera on a track to a drone flying over head with the camera angled face down.

Here's my interpretation:

 As I said earlier there really isn't a whole lot to do with this one other than camera stability and time, too long and it'll be boring too short and well it can throw the audience out of the moment when the scene changes so overall I'm happy with the outcome of this as a demonstration into what an establishing shot looks like.

Match On Match Action- Friends  Now this is an interesting one, this involves a multi-camera set up and more close editing to get right. So as you can see by the clip basically this rule is where you have one shot with the character doing the action (like opening a door and walking into the room) and then the next shot is them continuing where the camera left off. Friends is iconic for this type of shot as that's primarily the type that's featured within the show.

Here's my interpretation:

 As you can see this is a similar format but with less on screen so you can clearly see the effect as the clip goes, the cut between entering the door and the camera changing to inside the room is clear so that you can see what we're matching with the door. This I feel works well as a demonstration although it would work better if the clip ran a little bit smoother in-between shots of the scene.

Temporal Overlap- Family Guy  Ah the heart of any good action film multiple shots of the same explosion, also called temporal overlap. Now this is where there are multiple almost quick shots of the same explosion some even going back before and then replaying but with how quick the edits are within this and how the sequence is put together it almost doesn't matter because it all looks as though its at the same time. Now could this be confused with the Crosscutting shot? Possibly as both follow a similar format to one another but thing is the crosscutting is of different things happening at once whereas this is more like multiple cuts of one sequence.

Kuleshov Effect- The Dark Knight Rises  Now this one is interesting because it's one that we see but never really pay attention to as it just fits in all the right ways. This rule (or effect) is from two shots like crosscutting but is more to do with emotions than the actual sequence itself, it's where we derive meaning from two shots that work in sequence with each other and then the audience gains meaning from that. So in this example between the fight with Bane and Batman we see cuts back to Catwoman who's emotions are on full display for us to see about the choice that she made. This then connects with the audience and makes them emotional too as it's almost like its a comment on how helpless they are for the situation at hand like she feels.

Montage- Hot Fuzz  Here we are the final technique or rule, The Montage. Now this came from the Soviets who seemingly managed to bend the laws of time and space to get a sequence of shots from point A to point B while creating meaning and giving the audience the needed information on what was happening. Hence why Hot Fuzz is a good example of this as it has this sequence of shots for the first five minutes with the protagonist narration to guide the audience through what's being played to make sure that they don't get lost in what's happening in between.

Hopefully this has given you an insight into what some of the rules are and how they can impact what you're creating if used right.