Medium Shot: Don’t Chop Me Off There!!!

Here we are, back with the different types of camera distances (sorry for the delay...vacation time and all that).  If you’re just joining us, feel free to see the previous post about wide shots and full shots.  Today we are on the every exciting medium shot. Ohhhhh Ahhhhh.  Wow.

Medium Shot: We have now moved close enough to the character so that part of him/her has been chopped off.  But don’t worry, it was a clean chop; no blood.  And to keep there from being no blood, you must never chop them off at a major joint.  If you do, it will look like you just amputated your characters and that’s not fun for anyone.

How close you are in medium shots can vary.  It’s usually far away enough that you see at least half of the character’s body if not more.  You use a medium shot when you need a good mix of background and characters.  We are now close enough that we can really see the character’s face, but we still get a good look at the background.  It’s your Swiss Army Knife of shots; has a bit of everything. While, like your knife, you might want to use this shot all the time, don’t.  Variety in shots will keep the audience interested.  Medium shot after medium shot will get old fast.

Next: Medium Close Up!