Camera structure and language: Everything you need to know

Are you planning to create animated videos for your business? Are you looking forward to the best way that allows you to create and narrate the idea that hits the audience's heart? 

Modern-day business depends on attractive visual communication to grab the attention of their customers. It could be for the purpose of increasing impressions among the target audience, keeping the present customers engaged, or building a strong presence among its competitors.

A few ways a visual artist helps achieve these goals are Explainer Videos, Product Videos, Medical animations, Graphics Design. 

Any language barriers created by jargon or the inability to flesh out your idea in words becomes a major hindrance in bringing an idea into visual form. 

Understanding the basics of visual communication like camera proximities, angels, compositions, etc., can not only save time in explaining an idea but also comes in handy at later stages of a project when the artist requires your perspective to refine the outcome. 

Showing an understanding and appreciation of the craft of visual communication can also make the artist open to your suggestions which is beneficial for the business in the long run.

Here’s a basic guide to equip you with the necessary vocabulary to communicate with a visual artist. 

Understanding a Storyboard

Storyboarding is the foundation of a video project where a thumbnail of each shot is created. As the primary document for planning the project, all the creative decisions are made at this stage. 

After the storyboard is finalized, it is only a matter of technicalities to produce the final video. 

Let’s understand camera language, which is one of the building blocks of a storyboard. there

Camera Proximities

Camera proximity is the distance of the subject from the camera and its proportions in the frame. There are five major types of proximities, which includes- extreme wide shot (EWS), wide shot, mid shot, close-up, extreme close-up. 

Dive deeper to know more about each camera proximity- 

Extreme Wide Shot

It is mostly used as the first shot of the video, which establishes the location of the story. The subject is not necessarily important in this shot. It can be the skyline of a city, a desert, or a street.

Wide Shot

It is the shot that follows the EWS. It shows the subject as a whole, along with the location. It can be a shot showing a person from head to toe, walking through a street. Both the street and the person are important in this shot.

Mid Shot

In mid short, the camera moves closer to the subject and shows it upto the waist if it’s a character. The location is not necessarily important in this shot. It is often used during a dialogue delivery, and it is the most used shot throughout the video. 

Close-up

This shot highlights the subject’s particular areas closely. It shows things that are not visible in EWS and Wide shots. This shot focuses on expressions or the actions and details of the subject.

Extreme Close-up

As its name suggests, it is another variation of the Close-up. It emphasizes the finer details of the subject with even closer proximity. Time on a wristwatch, a falling teardrop on the face are all best shown with an Extreme Close-up.

Camera Angles

Whenever you create a video, you need to surely focus on camera angles. There are mainly three camera angles: Eye-Level, High Angle, and Low Angle. 

Eye-level

It is the most used camera angle. The camera is positioned at the viewer’s eye level instead of tilting it to any degree. 

High Angle

When the subject is shown from a higher point than its eye level with the camera tilted downwards, it is seen as a high angle on the screen. It is used to show that the subject is weak or small. 

Low-Angle

The reverse of the high angle captures the subject from a lower point than eye level, tilting the camera upwards. It shows the subject as powerful and large.

Camera Movements

When all the actions in a scene can not be captured from a single position, moving the camera is required. It can be moved in horizontal, vertical, forward, and backward directions either while staying fixed at a point or moving along a plane. 

Tilt and Pedestal

These are basically the vertical movements. Tilt is basically the movement when the camera is tilted up or down from a fixed point changing its angle. Whereas in a pedestal, the camera is moved up or down, changing its height.

Pan and Truck

These are basically the horizontal Movements. While panning, the camera is rotated from a fixed position changing its angle from right to left or left to right. And when the position of the camera is changed horizontally without affecting the angle is called Truck. 

Zoom and Dolly

When the camera is moved forward, or backward is called Dolly without changing the field of view. In zoom, the camera is not moved physically and is moved closer to the subject optically or digitally. When you zoom in, the field of view decreases and increases when you zoom out.  

The Final say

Understanding the camera language is what makes your video more interesting and professional. If you are also in the field of animation, then you need to work a lot to understand the concept of storytelling and camera movements. 

Say if you are planning to create or give a specific theme to your project, then you need to learn a lot about storytelling. So, what are you looking for? Start capturing stunning footage to create high-quality content and capture quality leads. 

Still need any help in creating or editing awesome videos or know how to shoot videos that convert, feel free to contact us. 

                                                                                                                    Editor; Divya Verma