Mid shots (or medium shots) show people from their hips to head. They’re sometimes called three-quarter shots because that’s how much of the body they include. Long shots show people from head to toe. These are good for showing people together, and for showing action. To show people in the setting, you need to get closer. (Some people use the term very long shot to refer to a wide shot where you can see people). Showing people in an extreme long shot can make them look lost, lonely or insignificant. You can use these kinds of shot as establishing shots at the beginning of a film or a sequence to show where the scene is set.

Showing the settingĮxtreme long shots or wide shots mainly show the setting: if they include people, they’ll be very small. Most filmmakers use standard names for shot sizes. If you shoot everything in long shot (head to foot) people will probably miss details and expressions which would help them understand the story. It’s a way of spelling things out, to make sure that people see exactly the things you want them to see.

It’s important to use different shot sizes in your movie. Shot size means how much of the scene is included in the picture, and whether it mainly shows the setting, people in the setting, or details of faces and things. Right-click on the image to download a printable PDF version for personal/nonprofit use.

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