Types of Shot's

There are six main different types of shot sizes. Each shot size is used by the director to portray a different type of meaning to the audience member, whether it is to describe an emotion on somebody’s face, or whether it do establish an area or the scenery around it. These six main different types of shot sizes are an Extreme close up, a close up, a mid shot, a long shot, an extreme long shot and a wide angle shot.

Extreme close ups are usually used by the director to really put across a characters fear or amazement etc to the audience. They are usually so close to something that you can only see a certain part of the object. For example, if there was an extreme close up on someone’s face it may only be of their eyes, to show their feelings through their eyes.


Close ups are usually used by the director for the same sort of reason that they would use an extreme close up. They would be used to tell the audience what the character was either thinking or feeling. They can be used to introduce a character, so the audience know what he looks like etc. they are also more commonly used that ECU’s are.

Mid shot’s are shots that show a suitable amount of detail of the character to put their emotion across to the audience, yet it is just far away enough to make the audience feel as if they were looking at the whole subject.

Long Shot’s are used to show the entire person and also to relate them to the surroundings around them. In long shots you can see the whole of the person so you can also read the persons body language as the audience member. This can sometimes put across how the audience member is feeling.

In Extreme long shot’s the subject is incredibly small compared to the overall image. They are usually used to show the audience the area, rather to convey some kind of emotion from a character. They can also be used as establishing shots. These are shots that establish something to the audience. For example, they can be used to establish a setting to the audience.

Wide Shot’s are fairly much the same as extreme long shots. They are again used by the director more to show an area rather than putting across the emotion of the subject. And also like ELS’s, wide shots can be used for establishing shots.