Everything on set comes down to four decisions: how close the camera is, where it sits relative to the subject, how the frame is arranged, and where the light comes from. Shot vocabulary exists so a crew can agree on all four in a few words.
Shot sizes
| Shot | Abbrev. | Frames | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extreme wide | EWS | The location, subject tiny or absent | Establishing where we are |
| Wide / long | WS | The whole body plus surroundings | Showing a subject in context |
| Medium | MS | Waist up | The workhorse — conversation and action |
| Medium close-up | MCU | Chest up | Interviews — the standard talking-head size |
| Close-up | CU | The face fills the frame | Emotion and reaction |
| Extreme close-up | ECU | Eyes, hands, a detail | Emphasis and tension |
Camera angles
- Eye level — neutral. The default, and what an interview should almost always use.
- High angle — looking down. Tends to make a subject feel smaller or more vulnerable.
- Low angle — looking up. Tends to make a subject feel powerful or imposing.
- Dutch angle — the camera tilted sideways. Signals unease or disorientation. Easy to overuse.
- Over the shoulder (OTS) — framed past one person's shoulder onto another. The standard conversation shot.
- Point of view (POV) — what a character sees.
Angle is never neutral
Shooting an interview subject from below makes them look imposing; from above, diminished. This is a real editorial choice with real consequences, and it is one of the standard things a media-literate viewer is taught to look for. Choose eye level unless you have a reason, and know what your reason implies.
Composition
- Rule of thirds — divide the frame into a 3 × 3 grid and place key elements on the lines or their intersections. For a face, the eyes go on the upper third line.
- Headroom — a little space above the head. Too much makes the subject sink; too little crops them awkwardly.
- Lead room (looking room) — space in front of where a subject looks or moves. Without it they appear pressed against the edge of the frame.
- Leading lines — roads, fences, railings and shadows that draw the eye toward the subject.
- Depth — something in the foreground, middle ground and background turns a flat frame into a space.
| Move | What happens | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pan | Camera rotates horizontally on the spot | Follows action across a space |
| Tilt | Camera rotates vertically on the spot | Reveals height |
| Track / dolly | The whole camera physically moves | Changes perspective — this is what creates depth |
| Crane / jib | Camera rises or falls through space | Dramatic reveals |
| Zoom | The lens changes focal length | The camera does not move, so the perspective does not change |
| Handheld | Camera carried, deliberate instability | Immediacy, documentary feel |
A dolly is not a zoom
Moving the camera changes the relationship between foreground and background — objects shift relative to one another, and the shot gains depth. Zooming just magnifies the same flat image. This is why a two-metre dolly move reads as cinematic and a zoom reads as a home video, and it is the single most useful distinction in this list.
Three-point lighting
| Light | Position | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Key | The main light, roughly 45° to one side and slightly above | Provides the exposure and the shape |
| Fill | Opposite the key, softer and dimmer | Softens the shadows the key creates, without removing them |
| Back / rim | Behind and above the subject | Puts a rim of light on the shoulders and hair, separating them from the background |
The key-to-fill ratio controls the mood. Nearly equal brightness gives flat, even, corporate lighting. A much dimmer fill leaves deep shadows and a dramatic, high-contrast look. The back light is the one beginners omit, and it is what stops a subject from merging into the wall behind them.
Colour temperature must match
Daylight is around 5600 K and reads blue; tungsten bulbs are around 3200 K and read orange. Mixing them in one shot gives a subject one blue cheek and one orange one, which no amount of grading fixes cleanly. Either use lights of one temperature, or gel the ones that differ.
Sound
Audiences forgive bad picture and switch off bad sound
This is the most widely repeated rule in video production and it is true. Viewers will happily watch grainy, poorly exposed footage with clear audio, and will abandon a beautifully shot piece they cannot hear properly. Yet sound is where student productions invest least.
- Get the microphone close. Distance is the single biggest factor in audio quality — far more than the price of the microphone.
- Use the right microphone. A lavalier clips to clothing for interviews; a shotgun on a boom is aimed from just outside frame; a camera's built-in microphone is a last resort.
- Watch the levels. Aim for peaks around −12 dB with headroom to −6 dB. Anything hitting 0 dB is clipped, and clipped audio is permanently destroyed — it cannot be repaired.
- Always wear headphones. It is the only way to hear the hum, the traffic and the handling noise the microphone is picking up.
- Record room tone. Thirty seconds of the room with nobody speaking. The editor uses it to fill gaps so silences match.
Clipping is not recoverable
When a signal exceeds 0 dB the waveform is cut flat at the top, and the information in those peaks is gone. Quiet audio can be turned up in the edit; clipped audio cannot be turned back down into something that was never recorded. Always record with headroom to spare.