Camera angles

Nineteen places to put the camera, and the wording that gets each one.

A camera angle is where the camera sits and what that does to the subject. Look down and the subject shrinks. Look up and it grows. Name the angle in the prompt, or the model puts the camera at eye level every time.

The height ladder

9

Where the camera sits against the subject, highest first. Height alone decides who holds the power in the frame.

Bird's-Eye View: The camera looks straight down from high above, and the scene reads as a map.

Bird's-Eye View

The camera looks straight down from high above, and the scene reads as a map.

Overhead Top-Down: The camera looks straight down from close range onto a surface.

Overhead Top-Down

The camera looks straight down from close range onto a surface.

High Angle: The camera looks down at the subject and makes them smaller.

The camera looks down at the subject and makes them smaller.

Eye Level: The camera sits at the subject's eye height and judges nothing.

The camera sits at the subject's eye height and judges nothing.

Shoulder Level: The camera sits at shoulder height, a little below the eyes.

The camera sits at shoulder height, a little below the eyes.

Hip Level: The camera sits at hip height, between a low angle and eye level.

The camera sits at hip height, between a low angle and eye level.

Low Angle: The camera looks up at the subject and makes them large.

The camera looks up at the subject and makes them large.

Ground Level: The camera sits on the ground, and the floor runs across the bottom of the frame.

The camera sits on the ground, and the floor runs across the bottom of the frame.

Worm's-Eye View: The camera sits on the ground and looks steeply upward.

Worm's-Eye View

The camera sits on the ground and looks steeply upward.

Which way the subject faces

3

The height stays put. What turns is the subject, or the side of the scene the camera covers.

The subject faces fully sideways, and you see one flat side.

Three-Quarter Angle

The subject turns about halfway between front and profile.

Reverse Angle: The camera turns around and covers the scene from the opposite side.

The camera turns around and covers the scene from the opposite side.

Angles that lean

2

The horizon comes off level and stays there. Both of these read as unease before anything in the scene happens.

Dutch Angle: The camera holds a fixed cant, so the horizon sits off level for the whole shot.

The camera holds a fixed cant, so the horizon sits off level for the whole shot.

Incline: The camera sits on a slope, so the ground runs diagonally through the frame.

The camera sits on a slope, so the ground runs diagonally through the frame.

Whose eyes you are behind

5

The angle stands in for somebody, or for something. The camera stops watching the scene and joins it.

Point of View: The camera shows what a character sees.

The camera shows what a character sees.

First-Person: The camera stands in for the subject's own eyes.

The camera stands in for the subject's own eyes.

Object POV: The camera takes the position of a thing, not a person.

The camera takes the position of a thing, not a person.

Trunk Shot: The camera looks up from inside a low container at people above.

The camera looks up from inside a low container at people above.

Fourth Wall: The subject looks into the lens and speaks to the audience.

The subject looks into the lens and speaks to the audience.

Run one of them

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Other techniques

Shot typesTwenty-five ways to frame a shot, and the wording that gets each one.25 shot types Camera movementEighty-six ways to move the camera, and the wording that gets each one.86 camera moves CompositionThirty-two ways to arrange a frame, and the wording that gets each one.32 composition rules LightingForty-one lighting setups, and the wording that gets each one.41 lighting setups Lenses and opticsSeventeen lenses, and the wording that gets the look of each one.17 lenses Colour and film lookNineteen colour looks, and the wording that gets each one.19 colour looks Time and motionTwenty-one ways to bend time in a shot, and the wording for each one.21 time effects Cuts and transitionsTwenty-three ways to get from one shot to the next.23 transitions In-camera and optical effectsFifty-seven effects a camera can make on its own, and how to ask.57 effects Atmosphere and weatherThirteen ways to fill the air, and the wording that gets each one.13 atmosphere effects Genre looksTwenty-seven genres, and the wording that gets the look of each one.27 genre looks Viral looksForty-four looks that travel on short-form video, and how to ask.44 viral looks

Five carry most of the work: eye level, high angle, low angle, bird's-eye and worm's-eye. The rest move the camera by a few inches, turn the subject, or hand the camera to a character.