Tips for teachers & students: shot sizes and movement

Just as words and punctuation form sentences, sentences form paragraphs and paragraphs form stories in a book. So too do shots sizes and movement form sequences, sequences form scenes, and scenes form stories on film.

When planning your documentary film, it is important to think about what shots you will need to help tell your entire story. What shots will you need to establish your story and each scene? What shots will you need to establish your characters and their journey? What shots will you need to detail, enhance or explain voice-overs, interviews or archival footage?

Below are some examples of shot sizes and movement. We reccommend that teachers look through the clips before sharing with the class to ensure they are appropriate for your students. The clips themselves don’t contain offensive material, however some of the films featured are M-rated and therefore the full trailers may not be appropriate for younger audiences (some contain swearing). The videos only feature a couple of seconds of footage where the exact shot-type is featured. Therefore we encourage you to be ready and keep your eyes peeled so you don’t miss it!

Examples of shot sizes

Close up shots

Close up shots capture a small amount of a scene in great detail. They are often used to show someone’s facial expressions or other important details within your scene. Here are a few examples of close up shots at various distances:

Extreme close up

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 00:25-00:29

Close up

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 01:54-01:57

Medium close up

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 00:37-00:43

Medium shots

Medium or mid shots show your subject(s) within their environment. These are often used for interviews and presenter-led shots. Here are a few examples:

Mid shot

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 01:32-01:34

Long shot

Source: The Will To Fly Trailer 02:16-02:18

Two shot

Source: The Will To Fly Trailer 02:04-02:06

Wide shots

Wide show most or all of your subject and their environment or only the environment. Extremely wide shots are often used as establishing shots to set the scene. Here are a few examples:

Wide shot

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 01:36-01:39

Extreme wide shot

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 00:02-00:16

Other shots

There are heaps of other shot types that are used to help tell your story, set the scene or capture detail. These are often used around your main character shots to help add detail and context to your story. Here are a few examples:

Cut in

Here are three examples of a cut in. These shots are used to show more detail of your frame.

Source: Zach’s Ceremony Trailer 00:23-00:25

Source: The Backtrack Boys Trailer 01:04-01:06

Source: Cast From The Storm Trailer 01:15-01:77

Cut away

Cutaways are generally used to capture detail of what is happening around a subject. You will often see cutaways at the end of a scene or scattered throughout an interview to give a broader context.