Understand the idea
A frame selects what is visible and what remains outside the image. Camera height, distance, movement, and focus organize attention and can align viewers with a character's perspective. These choices work in context rather than forming a fixed dictionary: a low-angle shot need not always mean power. Analyze the relationship between an observable formal choice and a proposed effect on the viewer. [S19]
Worked example
Describe a fictional job interview twice: first as a distant static wide shot showing both people, then as alternating close-ups with shallow focus. Identify which information and reactions each arrangement emphasizes. Do not claim a real audience response without testing it.
Where the idea stops
Formal conventions are not universal emotional laws. Narrative context, culture, performance, and neighboring shots can reverse or complicate an effect. [S19]
Connect it
Literature and psychology: focalization and attention.
Go deeper
Why is identifying a close-up not yet an analysis?
Sources
Yale Film Studies · Research reference · Date: Date not established
Defines framing, camera angle, focus, and camera movement with examples.
Link checked 2026-10-17 · Public webpage accessed; no specialist peer review of this brief.