
Exploring shot types
Suitable for year levels: 5-VCE
Learning areas: Drama, English, Media & Media Arts, Technologies
Capabilities: Creative and critical thinking, Personal and social capabilities
Every film and television show you've ever seen is made up of a lot of what we call camera shots.
There are different ways of framing what the camera sees, and that's why we have lots of different shot types. A shot type is defined by how close the camera is to the subject that's being filmed. Sometimes these shots are also referred to as camera size. The subject of a camera shot is usually a character, but settings and objects can be as well.
Check out the shot types and examples listed below, then tackle one or more of the activities at the end of the page to create your own shots. The shot types are listed roughly in order of distance from the subject.