Extreme Long Shot

Definition

An extreme long shot is a camera angle that captures a subject from a great distance, often showcasing a vast landscape or setting. This type of shot emphasizes the surroundings and context, making the subject appear small or insignificant within the frame. It serves to establish a scene, convey scale, and set the tone, creating a visual connection between the character and their environment.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Extreme long shots are often used at the beginning of scenes to set up the location and provide context for the story.
2. These shots can evoke feelings of isolation or vulnerability by emphasizing how small a character is in relation to their environment.
3. In action sequences, extreme long shots can show the scale of events, such as battles or natural disasters, providing a grand view of chaos.
4. They are commonly employed in landscape photography and cinema to highlight natural beauty or dramatic settings.
5. The use of extreme long shots can establish themes of freedom or confinement based on how the subject interacts with their surroundings.

Review Questions

• How does an extreme long shot contribute to storytelling in film?
  • An extreme long shot contributes to storytelling by establishing the setting and context for the audience. By showing characters in relation to their surroundings, it helps convey themes such as isolation or scale. This type of shot can also set the mood for a scene, signaling whether it will be intimate or expansive, and guides the viewer's emotional response to what unfolds.
• In what ways do extreme long shots differ from wide shots, and when might a director choose one over the other?
  • Extreme long shots differ from wide shots primarily in distance; while both show subjects and their environments, extreme long shots capture subjects from much farther away. A director might choose an extreme long shot to emphasize isolation or grandeur when introducing a new location, whereas a wide shot could be preferred for more detailed interactions between characters within their environment. This choice affects how audiences perceive spatial relationships and dynamics within a scene.
• Evaluate the impact of using extreme long shots in conveying themes within a narrative. Provide examples.
  • Using extreme long shots can significantly impact theme delivery by visually reinforcing concepts such as isolation, freedom, or conflict. For example, in a film where a character feels lost in their journey, an extreme long shot of them standing alone in a vast desert can visually express their loneliness. Conversely, during a climactic battle scene depicted through an extreme long shot, it can portray the scale and chaos of conflict, emphasizing the stakes involved. This technique effectively translates emotional undercurrents into visual storytelling.

Related terms

Wide Shot: A wide shot frames a subject in its entirety along with some of its surroundings, but is not as distant as an extreme long shot.

Establishing Shot: An establishing shot is used to introduce a new scene by showing the context, often similar to an extreme long shot but typically focusing more on the location.

Composition: Composition refers to how elements within a frame are arranged, affecting how the audience perceives the image and its storytelling.