CLASSROOM: How The Best Directors Shoot Wide Angles1 min read
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Are you ready to go wide or go home?
Think of some of the most jaw-dropping scenes and sequences you’ve ever seen. Chances are, a number of them were only made possible by wide shots.
Filmmaking is hard, really hard. At its core, it’s all about creating an emotional experience and capturing the audience’s imagination. You have to create a compelling world, fill it with complex characters, and develop a real sense of atmosphere. Simply put, you need scope.
It doesn’t matter if you’re making a blockbuster or an indie, it doesn’t matter if you’re making content for the big screen or for an iPhone: scope matters. Today we’re going to go over the wide shot (aka “long shot” or “wide angle shot”), and explore how it contributes to the scope of your story.
We’ll also take a look at extreme wide shots and medium wide shots, and talk about how to best use all of these shots to amplify characters’ emotions and accentuate the themes and tone of your story.
Image credit: No Film School
