Lesson Plan

Camera Shots
Overview
In this lesson, students examine the visual codes used on
television and in movies through an exploration of various
camera techniques. Students begin with a discussion about
camera-subject distance, and review various film techniques
that are used to create visual meaning. Using photos from
magazines and newspapers, students select examples for the
camera techniques they have discussed and present their
findings to class. Optional activities include deconstructing the
Level: Grades 9 -12
way "long shots, medium shots, and close-ups" are used in
About the Author comics, television shows, movies and music videos. When
With permission, this their activities are completed, students will answer short
lesson is based on a vocabulary quiz.
series of activities by
Wayne McNanney in Outcomes
Mediacy, Vol. 20, No. Students will:
3, Fall 1998, and from • identify important visual codes (such as long-shot,
TVOntario's Behind The
close-up, camera angle) that are used on television
Scenes, Resource
Guide For Television and in movies and begin to recognize that these codes
Literacy. 1990. affect meaning.

Preparation and Materials

• Have students collect and bring to class a wide selection of magazines and
newspapers that contain a variety of photos.
• Photocopy the Camera Shot Quiz (educational handout) and Quiz Answer
Sheet (educational handout)

Procedure

Introduction
Why is it important for students to be aware of camera-subject distance, perhaps
before addressing any other aspect of movies and television?

Television is made up of hundreds and thousands of pictures, called shots, each of

which must be carefully planned. The long shot, medium shot, and close-up (and
many other camera-subject distances such as the medium long shot and extreme
close-up) are the basis of editing in movies and on television.

Without these shots, the person who edits the movie, TV show, or commercial would
have nothing to work with. Editing, in nearly all cases, is the combining of long shots,
medium shots, and close-ups to create an effective visual presentation. Camera-
subject distance is the basis for visual editing.

It is essential for students to have a clear understanding of camera-subject distance

before they begin to analyze television programs and movies and before they begin
to create their own productions on video.

© 2002 Media Awareness Network. For individual class use only. Republishing in any other format requires the permission of the Media Awareness Network.

Camera Shots / Grades 9 - 12 / Lesson Plan / Page 1

Explain to students that they should be recording the terms and definitions that are
discussed in class, as there will be a vocabulary quiz at the end of the lesson. During
the course of this lesson, you may want to confirm that students are recording
correct definitions for the terms that are included on the quiz.

Ask students:
• What terms are used to identify the three main types of shots that describe
how near or far the camera is from the subject? (Close-up, medium shot, long
shot.)

• What are some examples for each of these shots? (A close-up shows only one
part of the subject, usually in great detail. Close-ups would include shots of a
person's face, or the paws of a dog walking down a path, of a hand on a
doorbell, or of a tree branch. A picture showing half of the subject, such as a
character from the waist up or the back end of a car, is a medium shot, while
a long shot shows the whole subject: a person from head to foot or the entire
car. Any of these shots can show one subject or more at the same time.)

• How might these shots be used in a movie or television show? (These three
shots are used for specific reasons. An establishing shot at the beginning of a
scene tells viewers where they are; for example, a long shot of a car driving
up to a hotel, or a close-up of a restaurant sign. To show the effect of one
person's words or actions on the other people in the scene, a reaction shot is
used.)

• What types of camera shots are you most likely to see in movies? In
television? In music videos? In commercials? (In general, television is a close-
up medium: things look better in close-up because the screen is small.
However, mixing the shots provides variety and gives information needed to
keep the story moving.)

In addition to camera shots, camera angle is also important. The angle from which a
shot is taken is another way to give variety as well as information. (Think Blair Witch
Project!)
• What is a high-angle shot? Can you think of an example from a film you’ve
seen? (A high angle shot positions the camera above eye-level, looking down
on the subject, which consequently appears insignificant, weak, helpless, or
small according to how extreme the angle is.)

• What about a shot at eye-level? (At eye-level, the impression is neutral.)

• A low-angle shot has the camera looking up at the subject, who then appears
important, powerful, or domineering, again depending on how exaggerated
the angle is.

• What is a reverse-angle shot? (Usually the camera looks at the subject, but
occasionally the camera shows what the subject is seeing. This is a reverse-
angle shot.)

Another way to give television programs variety is for the camera to move. When the
camera changes its position by moving left or right, this is called tracking or trucking.
Changing the camera's position by moving it forward or backward is known as
dollying. When the camera stays in the same position but turns left or right, this is

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Camera Shots / Grades 9 - 12 / Lesson Plan / Page 2

panning, and when it turns up or down, this is known as tilting. Even when the
camera is stationary and not turning it can appear to move closer to or further from
its subject; by using a special ring or lever on the lens, the camera person can zoom
in or out.

Although these moves are useful, they should not be overused or they will lose their
effect. In fact, any camera movement must be planned and rehearsed so that it will
be smooth and in tune with the action.
• The Camera Shot Quiz may be administered before, or after, the activities.

Activities

Group Work Activity

It may be useful, before the group activity, to do a short lesson on determining the
subject of photograph through using photographs shown to the class on an overhead
projector. For each of the three photographs, the camera should be at a different
distance from the subject. For one photograph, the camera should be far away from
the subject; for another, the camera should be close to the subject; and for the
other, the camera should not be too far from or too close to the subject. Ask the
groups to talk about the effect of these three different camera-subject distances and
to try to determine why they might have been used.
• Ask each group to select three photographs from the magazines and
newspapers they have collected.
• For each of the photographs, have the group identify the subject (that is, the
main focus of the photograph).
• Give the groups a fair amount of time to select the photographs and to talk
about their effects. After the group work the students should share their
findings with the rest of the class.

Possible Responses
Using an example of a rider on a horse, here is how students might interpret various
shots.
• A long shot shows the subject in relation to its overall surroundings. The
photograph may include a rider on a horse in the distance with mountains in
the background. Students may say that it is difficult to determine what the
subject is because all the details are at a distance; however, the subject
appears to be the rider. Details of the rider are not evident (Is the rider a man
or woman? What kind of expression is on the rider's face? What is the rider
wearing?)

• A medium shot shows the subject in relation to its immediate surroundings.

The rider and horse appear to take up most of the photograph. It is now
evident that the rider is the subject of the photograph. We now see some
details in the subject's immediate surroundings (small bushes, boulders on the
ground, desolation). The overall surroundings are not as evident (a few
mountains, slightly out of focus, in the background). We also see the subject
more clearly (a palomino horse, blue jeans and red shirt on a male rider with
blond hair). However, we still are unable to determine the expression on the
rider's face.

• A close-up shows detail but little or no surroundings. We see only the rider's
face (except for a blur behind his face). It is now clear that the subject is the
rider and not the horse. We see physical details (unshaven, scar on cheek,

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Camera Shots / Grades 9 - 12 / Lesson Plan / Page 3

 blue eyes, young, handsome, looking down at his watch) and we begin to
understand how he feels (perspiration and fatigue, worried expression). The
close-up helps the viewer to get "into the head" of a character. Also, close-ups
of "things" may help to clarify action (close-up of the rider's watch indicating
that the rider has to be somewhere shortly).

Other Activities
• Use comic strips to look at the way "long shots, medium shots, and close-ups"
are used in a variety of ways. Many comic strips are similar to storyboard
illustrations prepared for movies. Because of a wide variety of shots,
Spiderman is a particularly effective comic strip. You may wish to conduct a
short whole-class lesson on "camera-subject distance" in comic strips after the
previous group work activity has been completed.

• Show a short excerpt from a movie or television show and conduct a whole-
class lesson on camera-subject distance.

• View a music video and examine how camera techniques and music are
combined for total effect.

Evaluation
• Group assignment
• Camera Shot Quiz

© 2002 Media Awareness Network. For individual class use only. Republishing in any other format requires the permission of the Media Awareness Network.

Camera Shots / Grades 9 - 12 / Lesson Plan / Page 4

Student Handout #1

Camera Shots Quiz

Connect each of the following terms to the visual description that best describes it:

Close-up
The condemned man looks squarely at the
camera and declares his innocence.

Medium Shot An interior of a car where a couple are

having an argument.

A teacher and principal are having a

Long Shot discussion. The camera doesn’t move, but
the shot moves from the principal, on the
left to the teacher, on the right, each time
they speak.
High Angle Shot
The camera moves from an interior shot of
a couple arguing in their car, to an exterior
shot of their car stuck in a traffic jam.
Low Angle Shot
With the camera remaining in one place,
the shot follows Spiderman as he climbs up
the side of a building, and then down
Eye-level Shot again.

You have a bird-eye view of a group of

children playing in a schoolyard.
Reverse Angle Shot All you see on the screen is a well-
manicured hand, nervously tapping a
countertop.

Tracking As the heroes escape, it’s as if we are in

their shoes, looking ahead at the dark alley
as we try to get away.

Panning A villain laughs cruelly – it’s as if he is

standing on top of you as he does this.
A car is driving on a deserted road. The
outline of a city can be seen in the
Dollying distance.

The camera moves from left to right,

following the hero as she runs on top of a
Tilting moving train.

Camera Shots / Student Handout #1 /© 2002 Media Awareness Network

Student Handout # 2

Camera Shots Quiz: Answer Sheet

Close-up
All you see on the screen is a well-manicured hand, nervously tapping a countertop.

Medium Shot
An interior of a car where a couple are having an argument.

Long Shot
A car is driving on a deserted road. The outline of a city can be seen in the distance.

High Angle Shot

You have a bird-eye view of a group of children playing in a schoolyard.

Low Angle Shot

A villain laughs cruelly – it’s as if he is standing on top of you as he does this.

Eye-level Shot
The condemned man looks squarely at the camera and declares his innocence.

Reverse Angle Shot

As the heroes escape, it’s as if we are in their shoes, looking ahead at the dark alley
as we try to get away.

Tracking
The camera moves from left to right, following the hero as she runs on top of a
moving train.

Panning
A teacher and principal are having a discussion. The camera doesn’t move, but the
shot moves from the principal, on the left to the teacher, on the right, each time
they speak.

Dollying
The camera moves backwards from an interior shot of a couple arguing in their car,
to an exterior shot of their car stuck in a traffic jam.

Tilting
With the camera remaining in one place, the shot follows Spiderman as he climbs up
the side of a building, and then down again.

Camera Shots / Student Handout #2 /© 2002 Media Awareness Network