Lesson 2 of 8
Shot Types & Camera Angles
Learn the language of shot sizes and angles, and what each one makes the audience feel.
Learn it
Shot size is how much of the subject fills the frame: wide, medium, close-up, extreme close-up.
Camera angle is where the camera sits: eye level, low angle (subject looks powerful), high angle (subject looks small), Dutch tilt (unsettling).
Every shot is a choice. The size and angle tell the audience how to feel before a single word is spoken.
Key terms
- Establishing Shot
- A very wide shot at the start of a scene showing where the action takes place.
- Close-Up
- A shot filling the frame with the subject's face or a small detail, used for emotion.
- Low Angle
- Camera below the subject looking up, making them seem powerful or threatening.
- Dutch Tilt
- A deliberately tilted horizon used to create unease or disorientation.
- 180-Degree Rule
- Keeping the camera on one side of the line between two subjects so screen direction stays consistent.
Building a Scene Shot by Shot
A single argument in a kitchen, told in five shots.
- 1Establishing wide: The whole kitchen at eye level — the audience learns where we are.
- 2Medium two-shot: Both characters from the waist up, showing the space between them.
- 3Over-the-shoulder: We take one character's point of view as the other speaks.
- 4Close-up: A tight shot on the listener's face catches the reaction, not the line.
- 5Low-angle close: As the argument peaks, tilt up at the winner to hand them the power.
A shot list as data (pseudocode)
pythonshot_list = [
{"n": 1, "size": "extreme wide", "angle": "eye", "purpose": "establish location"},
{"n": 2, "size": "medium", "angle": "eye", "purpose": "show both characters"},
{"n": 3, "size": "over shoulder","angle": "eye", "purpose": "dialogue A"},
{"n": 4, "size": "close up", "angle": "eye", "purpose": "reaction"},
{"n": 5, "size": "close up", "angle": "low", "purpose": "give power"},
]
for shot in shot_list:
print(shot["n"], shot["size"], "/", shot["angle"], "->", shot["purpose"])Professional crews plan every shot before filming. A shot list is literally a table of size, angle and purpose.
Try it
Match each shot choice to the effect it has on the audience.
Challenge
Write a 5-shot shot list for a 20-second scene where a student finds out they failed an exam. For each shot give the size, the angle and one sentence on why you chose it.
Pick whichever way suits you — every mode earns the same bonus XP.
Write at least 40 more characters to submit.
Mark your own work
Guided walkthrough — 0/5 clues revealed
- Clue 1 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
- Clue 2 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
- Clue 3 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
- Clue 4 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
- Clue 5 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
Each clue costs 3 XP (never below 14 XP). You'd earn 28 XP right now.
Extension: Rewrite the same scene using only two shots. What do you lose, and what do you gain?