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SCALES, ANGLES, COMPOSITION

Each shot is the result of a variable relationship between the camera and the subject being filmed and thus characterised by a spatial relationship. To take these spatial variations into account, we distinguish between the different "shot scales" and "shooting angles" that determine the framing.

The composition of the shot results from the encounter between the framing and the way in which the objects filmed are distributed within the visual field.

4.1 – Shot sizes

Depending on the distance between the camera and the subject being filmed, the subject becomes "larger" or "smaller". In other words, it occupies a larger or smaller portion of the frame. From the long shot to the extreme close-up, we define a scale of shot sizes, based on the size of the human figure.

This video has been made by Pôle Image Haute-Normandie

4.2 – Camera angles

Camera angle denotes the inclination of the camera lens in relation to the filmed subject.

If the lens is horizontal, the shot is dubbed "straight-on". If tilted downwards, it produces a high-angle shot and, tilted upwards, a low-angle shot.

Additionally, if the frame is tilted to the right or left of the camera axis, this produces a canted framing (or Dutch angle).

The choice of camera angle creates different effects of meaning.

4.3 – Composition

The composition of a shot results from the encounter between the framing and the way in which the objects are distributed within the field of view.

It is determined by the frame, which fixes the limits and a centre.
It is also determined by perspective, which sets a vanishing point.
To describe a composition, we can identify: the centred or decentred framing of the objects filmed, subdivisions of the field, frames within a frame, leading lines, geometric figures, and the effects of symmetry.