Tools of the Trade 1: Film Language, Part 1 : Shot Sizes

Explain and compare different shot sizes:

Close-Up Shot

Close-ups are used mostly for lead characters or figures central to the narrative.

Close Ups show the character's head and shoulders. They bring us emotionally closer to the character, as attention is drawn to the emotion in the eyes.

Extreme Close-Up Shot

Backgrounds are usually unrecognizable, you can only see the character or object as they cover most (if not all) the frame. It keeps the audience informed about the story, the characters and the situation, up close, in detail, clear information-giver.

Medium Shot

Medium Shots are widely used, they are a reliable standard to show you the character nice and close, but not too close, usually cutoff at the waist, plenty of empty space is left around the character, giving him room to act out, gesture, and still see the character in relation to the environment he's in. It's not too intimate, but it's showing you something specific.

Medium Full Shot

There a slight variations like the Medium-Full shot, where the characters are cut off around the knees. 

Madeleine is walking towards Scottie. How she is walking, is what makes her seem mysterious in the scene, as well as the softness (the focus is on the background and not on her), the color, and the music.

The "Cowboy" or "Western" Shot

Named for American cowboy pictures,  a modified Medium Shot that allowed the frame to include a gun holster

Full Shot .... is all about the "who".

This is a full body shot of the character. There is some space above and below them inside the frame. No part of them is cropped off unless they are behind an object. The environment the character is in becomes less important. This shot is all about the "who." This shot wants us to look at our characters, see them move about , full body gestures, interacting.

Long Shot .... is about the "who", and the "where".

A long shot not only allows the audience to see your full character and their actions, but also their surroundings, vital to creating the world and how they move through it such as The Magnificent Seven, and Vertigo.

Extreme Long Shot .... is about the "where".

An extreme long shot places more emphasis on the surroundings than the subject, and is

often used to contextualize characters by showing the relationship to their environment,

and thus individual details are not as important. It can be used to make a character, or

likewise the viewer, feel small or insignificant, or conversely make the subject stand out

as something stark and individual.