Anna Karenina and The Dark Knight Rises.

Anna Karenina The Dark Knight Rises

How to shoot a conversation

The shot shows the character entering the room, this sets up the scene and lets the audience predict the tone of the conversation based on how he walks. In this shot we can clearly see the use of over the shoulder shots which captures one characters reaction whilst the other is speaking. It uses the occasional pick up where we can see what else is going on in the room and the other characters reactions to this conversation. This scene challenges the factors of filming a conversation by rarely using a master shot. The shots are mainly mid shots/over shoulder shots of each character rather than a master of both people. 

How to shoot a conversation:
When shooting a conversation mid shots and over the shoulder shots are most commonly used. This way the audience can engage themselves with the characters, their dialogue, gestures and facial expressions. When using an over the shoulder shot, the other characters reaction to the characters dialogue can be seen. The 180 degree rule must be abided by otherwise the characters will suddenly swap sides which would be very confusing. Shot/reverse shots are also used. This is when the person is filmed, what the person is looking at, and then back to the person again. This creates dramatic affect and makes the audience feel involved.

When using a single camera the master shot (typically a camera set up in front of the conversation) will film the whole dialogue scene. The characters will then be filmed seperately and lastly the picks up will be shot (e.g. close ups of props or shots of the room). This is a time consuming way to shoot a conversation in the industry and is it is also difficult to avouid incontinuity issue due to the fact the characters are filmed seperately.

When using 2 cameras, the master shot and picks are filmed in one go, then the two characters will be filmed at the same time, usually from opposite sides. This way the reactions, gestures and facial expression will be more consistant as they are filmed at the same time.



Opposed to the other scene from Rush Hour 3 this scene is made up mainly of the master shot, capturing both subjects from a side view which shows a conversation/interview. The scene challenges the conventions of conversation shooting by using no over the shoulder shots. Instead mid shots of each characters are used switching between the two people to capture their reactions or main sections of speech, 

Shot Types + Camera angles

Camera movements and Shot types. 

Different Camera movements and shot types are used to create different emotions and highlight the difference in scene or situation within a film. For example different camera movements/shot types would be used for a horror to a rom-com. Different shot types are used in different circumstances to engage the audience and let them know how they should feel and give an atmosphere.

This video explains different camera movements and what they are typically used for;



This Video briefly explains the basic shot types, including long shots, close ups and mid shots.

shot types.pptx Camera Angles.