Camera Shots

Here are some of the many camera shots explain in screenshots from a presentation I created.

There are still several shots not covered, some of these are:

Zoom

A zoom is a shot where the image is magnified towards or away from a certain object making it appear to change size. This is used to isolate the object and to signify its importance to the audience.

A zoom is also technically not a camera movement because although there is movement within the shot, the camera is not moved to create it as the image is simply being magnified. This also means that the camera can still be moved towards or away from the object to create a "Dolly zoom" which is often used to symbolise an "Oh no" moment.

ZOOM

DOLLY ZOOM

Bilateral Symmetry 

Bilateral symmetry is the term used for when the camera shot within a scene can be split to make two near identical halves. Humans are, in a sense, programmed to recognise symmetry as it's used to determine beauty. This would mean that the audience would be more drawn to the scene as it would appear to be more aesthetically pleasing. Symmetrical camera shot are often used by film director, Wes Anderson.

Also by setting the shot in a symmetrical format the audience would automatically be drawn to the foal point of the shot, this can be anything the director chooses and would help to signify the importance it within the scene.

Arc Shot

An arc shot is where the camera moves around the subject in a semi-circle. This movement is usually used to give the audience a more detailed perspective of the setting and the object being captured.

The arc shot also adds a sense of drama to the scene. An example of this would be its use in The Matrix and The Avengers.

Iconography and Media Texts

Verisimilitude

Mediation Theory

Mediation is a point at which the information collected by a media company (Newspaper, studio etc.) is edited to somewhat change the direction of the information in the piece of media. All types of media have been mediated to get a message across or to represent something or someone.

An example of mediation would be with reality TV. It is quite obvious that the television show has been edited however, it is not so clear that it would be edited specifically to change the public’s perception of the people in the show. In reality the producers would have hours of footage with the participant of the show being civil and kind to each other, this would bore the audience so it is edited out. The final product would make it seem that the people in the show have an new argument by the hour despite the episode taking place over two or three days. As a result the audience would view the people in the show as argumentative or generally a bad person despite them as they have not seen all of the footage.

Mediation is key in creating a person’s viewpoint and can often change people’s perspective of an event, topic or person.