Shot Sizes and Framing Techniques

Shot size cinematography is how much body and world stay in the rectangle, from Extreme Close-Up to Extreme Long Shot. Size is a sentence. Change it only when the new scale reveals a fact the previous frame could not.

A Wide Shot maps who can reach the door. A Medium Shot lets people talk with geography still readable. A Close-Up is a new fact on a face, not a beauty setting. Two-Shot and Over-the-Shoulder Coverage keep a relation in one picture instead of ping-pong singles. Coverage that never changes size feels like a slideshow. Match reverse size, or the cut will feel like a different scene.

See also Camera Angles Composition Camera Movement