Camera angles / Movement

Camera Angle

Low angle shot - Increase height, gives a sense of speeded motion and confusion to the viewer, makes someone seem more powerfull as you feel like you are looking up at them.

High angle shot - Camera is elevated above the action to get a general overview. Makes actors look vunerable and small. However in a crowded setting it is used to make the actor or object less scary as they get blended into the backgound.

Canted angle - Sometimes camera is tilted to suggest imbalance, transition and instability. Popular in horror movies used to suggest danger and a hand held camera is used for this shot.

Movement

Pan - Movement which scans a scene horrizontally, camera is placed on a tripod and follows the action with the actor in view.

Tilt - Scans vertically, similar to a pan shot, shows actor moving up or down (e.g walking up stairs)

Dolly - Also called tracking or trucking placed on a moving vehicle, moves alongside the action following a certain object or person.

Tracking shot - A camera mounted on a camera dolly a wheeled platform, pushed on rails to move witht the character.

Crane - A camera shot taken from a crane to view the characters from above or to move up and away from them.

Steadicam - Isolates operator's from moving the camera allowing a smooth shot.

Hand-held - This is where the operator is holding the camera and has free range of movement.

Zoom - where the camera zooms into a character or a specific object.