This  guide  will  show  you:  

 

• How  to  layout  your  subject  • How  you  should  layout  your  background  

• How  to  use  your  camera  equipment  

• How  to  use  the  Rule  of  Thirds  • How  to  use  the  180  degree  • Camera  angles  and  movements  • How  to  use  shot-­‐reverse-­‐shot  

By  Noor  Zakaria  

1

When  filming,  always  

consider  the  

persistence/purpose  of  

why  you  have  chosen  to  

film  in  this  way  before  

you  set  it  up.  

You  have  to  consider  why  

you  have  chosen  to  

choose  this  particular  

way  of  shooting  this  

scene  and  what  you  want  

to  tell  your  audience.    

You  want  to  know  what  

your  characters  would  

want  to  be  wearing,  what  

props  would  they  be  

using.  

Also,  you  have  to  think  

about  what  it  represents  

and  whether  is  this  the  

best  way  to  show  it.  

2

For  every  shot,  you  need  to  consider  your  background,  as  

this  will  present  the  atmosphere  of  your  scene.  

Also  you  have  to  think  about  if  you  have  chosen  the  right  

background  for  the  right  scene.  Consider  what  colors  and  

textures  you  would  use.  

Does  the  background  give  any  additional  information  to  

your  subject  and  why?  

By  choosing  particular  backgrounds,  you  can  make  your  

subject  much  more  powerful  and  prevailing.  

In  a  making  of  a  video,  you  need  to  have  a:  

• Camera  • Tripod  

 

This  is  because  a  tripod  is  used  to  keep  the  camera  in  place  and  to  make  it  stable  to  the  ground,  its  gives  the  scene  a  clear  and  professional  view.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  film  using  your  hands,  this  will  give  the  scene  a  shaky  and  scary  look  to  look  like  something  is  happening.  

If  you  are  using  the  tripod  to  give  your  scene  a  stable  look,  you  can  change  the  height  of  it  by  making  it  higher  or  lower.  This  is  often  used  to  give  the  audience  different  views  of  the  characters  in  your  film.  

* 

* The Rule of thirds means that you should

always try to make sure your main point of

focus and the part you would like to highlight

most is on one of the four intersection lines.

When  you  are  filming,  you  should  always  try  making  sure  your  main  point  focus  is  one  

of  the  four  intersection  lines.  This  is  to  stabilize  the  audiences  view  and  to  make  them  

concentrate  on  a  particular  point  of  the  scene.  

This  makes  your  film  look  more  professional.  E.g.  if  you  were  shooting  the  scene  in  one  

corner  of  the  camera,  then  it  wouldn’t  look  professional  whereas  if  the  eye  level  was  

touching  one  of  the  crosses,  then  it  would  stabilize  the  audiences  view.  

The  guideline  proposes  that  an  image  should  be  imagined  as  divided  into  nine  equal  

parts  by  two  equally-­‐spaced  horizontal  lines  and  two  equally  spaced  vertical  lines  and  

that  important  compositional  elements  should  be  places  along  these  lines  or  their  

intersections.  

In  filmmaking,  the  180-­‐degree  rule  is  a  basic  guideline  regarding  the  on-­‐screen  spatial  

relationship  between  a  character  and  another  character  or  object  within  a  scene.  An  

imaginary  line  called  the  axis  connects  the  characters  and  by  keeping  the  camera  on  one  

side  of  this  axis  for  every  shot  in  the  scene,  the  first  character  will  always  be  frame  right  of  

the  second  character,  who  is  then  always  frame  left  of  the  first.  If  the  camera  passes  over  

the  axis,  it  is  called  crossing  the  line  or  jumping  the  line,  which  is  wrong.  

Camera  angles  and  movements  combine  to  create  a  sequence  of  images,  just  as  words,  

word  order  and  punctuation  combine  to  make  the  meaning  of  a  sentence.  You  need  a  

straightforward  set  of  key  terms  to  describe  them.  

Describing  shots  

When  describing  camera  angles,  or  creating  them  yourself,  you  have  to  think  about  three  

important  factors:  

• The  framing  or  the  length  of  shot  

• The  angle  of  the  shot  

• If  there  is    any  movement  involved  

In  filmmaking,  the  180-­‐degree  rule  is  a  basic  guideline  regarding  the  on-­‐screen  spatial  

relationship  between  a  character  and  another  character  or  object  within  a  scene.  An  

imaginary  line  called  the  axis  connects  the  characters  and  by  keeping  the  camera  on  one  

side  of  this  axis  for  every  shot  in  the  scene,  the  first  character  will  always  be  frame  right  of  

the  second  character,  who  is  then  always  frame  left  of  the  first.  If  the  camera  passes  over  

the  axis,  it  is  called  crossing  the  line  or  jumping  the  line,  which  is  wrong.  

When  describing  different  cinematic  shots,  different  terms  are  used  to  indicate  the  

amount  of  subject  matter  contained  within  a  frame,  how  far  away  the  camera  is  from  the  

subject  and  the  perspective  of  the  viewer.    Each  different  shot  has  a  different  purpose  and  

effect.  A  change  between  two  different  shots  is  called  a  cut.  

Shot  reverse  shot  is  a  film  technique  where  one  character  is  shown  looking  at  another  

character  and  then  the  other  character  is  shown  looking  back  at  the  first  character.  Since  

the  characters  are  shown  facing  in  opposite  directions,  the  viewer  assumes  that  they  are  

looking  at  each  other.  

If  you  were  to  use  shot  reverse  shot  in  your  film,  this  would  make  you’re  film  more  

professional  looking.