Why Some Shots In Movies Feel Different

INTRODUCTION

Ever notice how some movies totally wrap you up in the world of a character to the point of it being claustrophobic and uncomfortable, while other movies make you feel more like you’re just observing events in their lives unfold in a more detached way?

Much of this tone and feeling is a result of the filmmaker’s choice of shot sizes. 

To better understand the impact that different shots have on an audience I’ll first go over the basic shot sizes that are used by filmmakers and then dive into the effect that different types of shots, and how they are edited together, have on an audience.   

SHOT SIZES

Before we get into their psychology we need to understand the basics. Shot size refers to the camera’s field of view and the width of the frame relative to how a character is placed in it and how much space they occupy. 

Different shot sizes can be achieved by physically moving the camera closer or further away from the subject, or by using different focal lengths. The lower the focal length number the wider the field of view is.

 So, let’s familiarise ourselves with the vocabulary that filmmakers use to refer to the width of a frame. This vocabulary helps crew members to quickly communicate their vision and is based on conventions which have been established over many years. 

Starting on the widest end of the spectrum we have an extreme long shot or extreme wide shot. This is where the subject or character is totally visible and only takes up a tiny fraction of the total frame. They are used to provide a vastness and scope to the location or landscape of the story.

Due to this they are often used as establishing shots - the first shot that begins a scene and sets the context and broader space that the scene takes place in.

Moving in a bit we come to the long shot or wide shot. Like in an extreme wide the subject is shown from head to toe, however unlike an extreme wide the character now occupies more space in the frame. They are the main focus of the shot now rather than the landscape.

Wides are also commonly used as establishing shots and to show the full body actions of a character.

Next up, we push in further on the character into what is called a medium shot. This is where the bottom of the frame starts from above the waist and the top of the frame includes their head. Because we are closer to the subject we can now read their facial expression and performance more clearly, yet we are also wide enough to capture some of their upper body language and actions.    

There are also a few variations of this shot that have some different names. A medium long, three quarter or cowboy shot is slightly wider than a medium shot, usually starting from the knee or thigh region. The cowboy derived its name from its regular use in western films. The slightly wider frame allowed the audience to see both the actors face and their guns that were slung around their waist.   

The close up tightly frames the face of the character so that they take up almost all the space in the shot. 

The bottom of the frame usually sits just below the chin at around the shoulder level and the top of the head is either included, or framed out - which is sometimes called giving the actor a haircut. There are many different degrees of width that a close up can be shot in, depending on how intimate the filmmaker needs the shot to feel.

Finally we can push in even closer to an extreme close up. This is a shot that is so tight that all we see is a detail or single feature of the face, such as the eyes. Extreme close ups can also be used to photograph objects that hold value to the story, such as text. 

An extreme close up also goes by the name an Italian shot, due to its regular use by Sergio Leone in many of his Italian Western films. 

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SHOTS

When you pick up a camera and decide to shoot something, the shot size that you choose will first and foremost be determined by what you choose to include in the frame and what you choose to leave out.

When someone asks you to take a photo of them on a phone, do you get right up in their face and take a close up, or back far away to an extreme wide shot? You probably wouldn’t do either. Because the information that you need to include is them and perhaps some of the background. Most people would take a photo with a frame somewhere in between those two extremes.

Whereas for action scenes, we tend to stick to wider shot sizes for the simple reason that we need to be able to see the overall action in order to know what is going on. And if we cut to a close up of a specific detail, chances are the filmmaker wants you to notice that piece of information. 

So, information is the one key effect that choosing a shot has. The other important consideration is the emotion or feeling that comes from framing a shot in a different way.

While there aren’t any definitive rules set in stone that apply to every single film ever made when it comes to interpreting emotion from a shot size, I think a broad rule can be generally applied.   

In life, our proximity to a person defines our emotional relationship to them. The closer we are to someone the more intimate our connection to them is, and the further apart we are the more observational and emotionally distant we are to them.      

Being face to face with a partner has a different emotional feeling than watching the actions of someone you don’t know from across the room. The same principle can be applied to shot sizes. 

The more of the frame a character takes up, the more intimate and personal our connection to them feels. So having a close up of a character means the audience will unconsciously feel a greater sense of connection towards the character in that moment. It’s as if the filmmaker is saying, ‘Make sure you notice this detail or emotion. It’s very important.’ 

While viewing an entire movie shot in wide shots will distance the audience emotionally from the character and their actions, making it feel like we are passively watching them, rather than being transported directly into their head and thoughts.

Now the reality is that most films are shot with, and include, a variety of shot sizes. This is so that different pieces of performances can be chopped together continuously and without jump cuts. Having different shot sizes to work with also allows the editor to control the pacing and emotional arc of the cut by cutting to different shot sizes that come with different emotional connotations.

For example, a textbook scene will start with a wide establishing shot of the location. then cut to a wide of the characters in a scene. As we get to know those characters we’ll cut in closer to a medium and go back and forth on mediums as the characters exchange general dialogue. Then as what the characters are saying, and how they are saying it becomes more important and intimate the editor will start to cut to close ups.

By cutting from wider shots to progressively tighter shots, the scene is able to begin by establishing the information and space of the location, and then slowly shift the audience’s perception from a more general observation of characters to building up a more personal connection with them as we get to know them.

While this is the general rule, shot sizes can be manipulated in other ways for effect. For example, Son of Saul uses close ups of the lead character for almost the entire film. This emotionally puts you in the shoes of that character and makes the space of the film more claustrophobic and confusing as we never cut wide enough to establish the space.

An opposite approach can be found in a film like Memoria, where we stay wide for most of the film. This presents the actions to us as something to be observed from afar in a more objective way.

Editors can also play against convention by flipping the idea of starting wide and cutting in closer. 

The opening to The Deathly Hallows does this by starting on a bold opening statement. We cut from an extreme close up, to a close up, to a medium shot to an extreme wide. This creates an emotional arc that moves from extremely intimate to more detached, and controls the flow of information, providing context and establishing more of the world each time we cut wider.    

CONCLUSION

In shot sizes, filmmakers hold a very valuable tool in their hands.

Like a puppet master they can use the size of a shot to manipulate what the audience does or doesn’t know and, perhaps more importantly, to manipulate the very emotions of the audience and the relationship they have with the characters on screen.