Film Studies

Shot/Reverse Shot

all the shots in a sequence give the impression of a continuous space.

when this works you barely notice the shift from shot to shot

camerawork draws attention to itself, foregrounding the staging of events, the majority of films from Hollywood and mainstream narrative cinemas use what is known as continuity editing

In contrast to the jerky, shaky movements of the hand-held camera, the Steadicam offers fluid movement

steady support, but the hand-held camera can be used to draw attention to events

It can help or prevent us identifying with a character.

Such movements direct us to look in particular directions, reveal narrative points or try to generate a particular reaction

bird’s eye view.

The camera can zoom in on an area or zoom out from it