Shots used in our Documentary

Shots used in our Documentary

Medium close-up shotThe medium close-up is half way between a mid shot and a close up. This shot shows the face more clearly, without getting uncomfortably close.The shot also shows a lot of the lower body so in terms of a documentary it is good because it shows what the actor is wearing and this reinforces the stereotype of the role he is playing, and in this case he is a private investigator police officer.

Long shotA long shot is essentially the same as a wide shot, but it shows the entire body of the person being filmed. When referring to a person, a long shot means they take up almost the full frame height.In other situations it means a wide shot of the whole scene, placing the subjects in their environment.In this particular case, this is when the criminal is following the victim. The long shot shows off his entire stereotypical black outfit, with his hood up.

High shot

A high shot is similar to a crane shot but not as extreme.It is a shot taken from a camera which is higher then the action, so there is a birds eye view shot/recording of what is being recorded.I used this shot for the CCTV section of my documentary because it is realistic that the evidence which the police got their hands on wont be completley perfect, as it never is in real life. Also CCTV cameras are usually high up on buildings to record what is going on below then and the openings of doors for example, like the one shown adjacent.

Establishing ShotThis is an establishing shot.An establishing shot shows what is happening in the entire shot. It hones in on separate bits on action taking place in just one simple shot.In the photo adjacent you can see the criminal waiting for his victim to finish work, and in the shot adjacent which is a screenshot of the re-enactment, where Maisy walks out of work and to her car with Toby following closely behind.This shot shows exactly what is going on and all of the action can be seen in one shot.It sets the scene.

Over the shoulder shotThis shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. The person facing the subject should usually occupy about 1/3 of the frame.This shot shows the audience what is going on and it sets the scene.The shot is used to make the audience tense about what is going to happen next.

Pan outA pan is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right about a central axis. This is a swivelling movement, i.e. mounted in a fixed location on a tripod or shoulder, rather than a dolly-like movement in which the entire mounting system moves.We used this pan out video in our documentary to show the audience exactly the state the victim was in and how she had been left in a bad way.It gets in her whole body and really creates a realistic image for the audience of what really happened.