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shot reveals the relationship among all the key ele- ments of what the viewers will see in the piece. (See Figure 4-1.)

Within a typical sequence of shots, the wide shot should contain every object or subject that will be re- corded in the remainder of the sequence. If we are going to see a man using a lathe while the reporter talks about him and his current job, then the first shot should show the man, the lathe, and his loca- tion. In the opening shot of the sequence, relate as much information as possible to the viewer. Ques- tions that should be answered in this example’s first shot would include:

• What is the setting of this scene? • How large is the setting or location? • What are the important objects?

• What is the main character doing in relation to the objects in the setting?

• What is the machinery or equipment doing? The shots that follow in the sequence further detail the answers to these questions. Without the wide shot, those details could appear unrelated and therefore seemingly irrelevant or even confusing to the viewer. Ideas that must be expressed in a story can often be

said in a very short time, not leaving enough time for a visual sequence to develop. Most of the time, a wide shot takes care of this problem, because it gives a max- imum amount of information in a short period of time. Again, a wide shot expresses a complete thought or idea.

At other times, a wide shot can simply be used to establish the location for the sequence that follows, such as showing the outside of the school building. In other storylines it might show the skyline of a city to let the viewers know what part of the country they are seeing. In these cases the WS stands alone and simply says, “Here we are in/at. . . .”

Creating the Third Dimension The information in-

cluded in a wide shot is only one of several components required for a good image. If the framing is off, or the shot is too busy or otherwise aesthetically unpleasant, you have not maximized the impact it can have on the viewer. Because the TV is a two-dimensional surface similar to a piece of paper or a canvas, the third dimen- sion must be created. The illusion of depth is what makes a two-dimensional picture come alive. The wide shot is the best place to create the depth of the scene. More on how to do that a little later.

The Medium Shot

Themedium shot orMSis the workhorse of most TV stories. It can be defined as the development shot. It concentrates on the subject with little attention given to anything else. If a wide shot shows someone from head to toe, then a medium shot shows a person from the waist up. A photographer might use two varia- tions: the medium long shot (MLS) shows a subject from just above or below the knees and up; the me- dium close-up (MCU) shows him or her from about the chest up.

In most cases, depth and relationships within the frame are brought out with subtleties of lighting or just a portion of other elements in the medium shot. Lighting can play a major role in bringing out the tex- tures in a medium shot to enhance the feeling of three- dimensionality. Medium shots are usually made with a narrowed field of view or a midrange focal length— not wide, but not telephoto either.

As with all shots, you should maximize informa- tion when using the medium shot. You do not need to

Figure 4-1 This wide shot establishes the setting and what the sculptor is doing; it is clear that he is a sculptor in an older building.

70 Chapter 4: Part One: Framing—The Range of Shots

show a subject’s relationship to the surroundings, but you must show more detail of who or what the subject is, or what the subject is doing. In the technical school story, one medium shot might be a student assembling a circuit board. The important elements of the shot are the subject’s face, arms, hands, and the circuit board. An important difference between the execution of the wide shot and the medium shot is the number of an- gles available for the medium shot that are not always available for the wide shot. By keeping the same focal length and distance from the subject, the shot can be taken from the front, at a 45º angle from the front, at the side, over the shoulder, at low angles, or at high an- gles. (See Figure 4-2.)

Where one wide shot will suffice to start off the story or segment of a story, many medium shots are needed to supply the bulk of the storytelling material. The wide shot can contain many elements or subjects. Our tech school scene has the teacher and maybe a dozen students. Each of them can be used for the de- veloping medium shots. Think of the wide shot as a completed jigsaw puzzle. We are now dividing the puz- zle up into different sections for closer examination. These sections are the medium shots.

The key element in the medium shot is variety. If you can shoot the subject from several different an- gles, you can quickly make quite a few medium shots. The more angles and the greater variety of shots you have when the material gets to the editing stage, the more creative choices you have in assembling the fin- ished story.

The Close-up Shot

Theclose-uporCUshot gives the intimate details of the subject. If the medium shot shows a person from the waist up, the close-up includes just the head and shoulders. In our jigsaw puzzle analogy, the section of the puzzle that made up the medium shot is now going

Figure 4-2 These three angles are some of the possible medium shots of this sculptor at work.

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