HORIZONTE MICROCOSMOS

Sometimes, in the opening of a film or of a new sequence, it is necessary to give an exag- gerated sense of scale and proportion in relation to the character. The opening of a west- ern, for example, is more impressive if we see the main character riding through a vast landscape of prairie, forests, and snow-capped mountains as if he or she is barely signifi- cant. In an ultra-wide shot, we experience the character being dwarfed, or dominated, by the setting. The ultra-wide shot is best witnessed in some of the great epic movies of the director David Lean, where his figures were so dominated by their wide, ranging environ- ment that they were sometimes like a speck on the lens. The ultra-wide shot is therefore a relating shot of great scale and dimension (see the top photo on the next page).

Wide Shot

The wide shot is, conventionally, the opening shot of any new sequence, often defined as the establishing shot. The purpose of the wide shot is to set the scene, giving the audience an immediate overview of the location, its content, and its relationship with the main character, or characters, within it. This is the reason why most filmmakers will favor the wide shot as their establishing shot for the opening sequence of their film, or for any new setup within a sequence that requires a new location. For most openings, the wide shot should be the preferred shot, but some openings or transitions work better with mystery and intrigue, which the wide shot does not create.

A wide shot can only be a wide shot if there are full-sized characters within the shot, as the wideness of a shot depends entirely on the relationship it makes with the actor(s). Any shot that is larger than the character(s) in view—we can see the whole charac- ter from head to foot with much of the location they are in around them—should be deemed a wide shot (see the bottom photo).

The ultra-wide shot includes a lot of background and shows the subject (in this case, the stop sign) as a very small part of the whole.

Mid Shot

The mid shot requires that the camera be brought in closer so the character is not en- tirely visible. Usually, the camera frames the character from the waist to the top of their head, although you can have a mid shot of the character from the waist to the bottom of their feet, if it serves a purpose. The mid shot brings the audience in a little closer to the character without the sense of overcrowding him or her.

A mid shot is used if the character is doing something that we need to see more clearly (something that would probably be lost on the audience in a wide shot) or if they are reacting or in some way relating to something around them that we need to see a little more clearly. The character may be noticing something about another character’s ap- pearance or they may see something they need close beside them. It is all a question of what the character is doing and what around them is involved in that particular action. In this way, the wide shot and the mid shot are both shots of “relating”—in the wide shot the character is relating to the wider location around them and in the mid shot the character is relating to something that is closer to them. These are therefore more impersonal shots and will communicate that to the audience, even if this is subliminal.

The mid shot brings us closer to the subject.

Close-Up

The close-up is a shot that we use to get right in on the action to communicate some- thing quite specific to the audience, with no other distractions. Quite often, this is a really close shot of character’s face as they are speaking or reacting in some way. A close-up shot shows us an area that is approximately from a character’s neck to the top of the head. However, a close-up shot can also be one of a hand picking something up, a tossed key landing in an open drawer, a fuse reaching a bomb just before the explo- sion, or anything else that needs to be witnessed closely (see the top photo, next page). The close-up especially enables a character to express themselves facially, rather than with his or her body. It enables the audience to get a clear, unequivocal look at some- thing they must not miss if the drama of a situation is to be fully understood. In the genre

of horror, it can also set up a shock for the audience, with the camera locked onto a close- up of a frightened face, then the film cutting to a wide shot of the same scene where a previously unseen monster is now standing behind the unsuspecting victim. The close- up is considered a very personal shot, in the sense that we only need to see the person, or their reaction to something, or something specific that they are doing.

The close-up shot focuses us on the subject and their reaction or action. The extreme close-up forces the audience in on a particular action, in this case to show the bullet holes!

Extreme Close-Up

The extreme close-up is exactly what it suggests; the camera moves in so close that the screen is filled with the tiniest detail, as in the figure below. It might be an eye blink or stare. It might be the tip of a match lighting the end of a cigarette. Or it could be a rain- drop hitting the ground in extreme slow motion. Whatever the requirement of the shot, the camera takes the audience into its most up-close and intimate detail and makes it im- possible for the audience to ignore it. An extreme close-up is the thing that finishes off an action, or series of actions, a shot that records an un-missable moment in a scene or se- quence. Being an intensely personal shot, far more so than the close-up, it leaves an audi- ence in absolutely no doubt as to what the filmmaker wants them to see at that moment in time.