Low Angle

This shows the subject from below. As such a director may use this shot to give the audience the impression that the subject is being more powerful or dominant.

High Angle Shot

A high angle shows the subject from above, i.e. the camera is angled down towards the subject. A director would use this as this has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful, less significant or even submissive.

Crane Shot

A crane shot is named so after the cantilevered arm device on which the camera sits. The camera is on a platform attached to the mechanical arm which allows the camera to move around in any direction as well as up and down to various heights. There are many reasons why a director would choose to use a crane shot. A crane's fluidity of movement and range of height can give an unusual omniscient perspective that is especially powerful if the audience knows something the character does not.

Aerial Shot

A shot taken from an airborne device, generally while moving. A director may use this shot to establish a new and perhaps exotic location.

Bird's Eye View

A bird's-eye shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. A director may use this as the perspective is very foreshortened, making the subject appear short and squat, this shot can also be used to give an overall establishing shot of a scene, or to emphasise the smallness or insignificance of the subjects. These shots are normally used for battle scenes or establishing where the character is. It is shot by lifting the camera up by hands or by hanging it off something strong enough to support it. When a scene needs a large area shot, it is a crane shot.

Worm's Eye View

A worm's-eye view is a view of an object from below, as though the observer were a worm; the opposite of a bird's eye view. A director may use it as it can be used to look up to something to make an object look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels child-like or powerless.

Point Of View Shot

This shot shows a view from the subject's perspective. It is usually edited in such a way that it is obvious whose POV it is. A director may use this shot in order to figuratively get the audience to walk a mile in the characters shoes, or perhaps to make the audience more empathetic to the character's plight.

Extreme Long Shot

In the Extreme Long Shot, the view is so far from the subject that s/he isn't even visible. The point of this shot is to show the subject's surroundings.

A director may use it as an "establishing shot" - the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is also useful in scenes where the action is very spread out. For example, in a war movie an extreme wide shot can show the scale of the action.

Long Shot

In the long shot, the subject takes up the full frame. In this case, Thor's feet are almost at the bottom of frame and his head is almost at the top. Obviously the subject doesn't take up the whole width and height of the frame, since this is as close as we can get without losing any part of him. The small amount of room above and below the subject can be thought of as safety room — you don't want to be cutting the top of the head off. It would also look uncomfortable if his feet and head were exactly at the top and bottom of frame.

The directors would use this shot to give the audience a full sense of the subject's body language as well as what could be causing their visible emotions.

Mid Long Shot

A Mid Long Shot is also know as a three quarters shot as it frames the whole subject from the knees up. It is a intermediate shot between the long shot and the mid shot which shows the subject in relation to the surroundings. A director might use it when they have 2 or 3 people in the frame so the audience is able to see the actions and some reactions of all characters in the shot.

Mid Shot

The mid shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh" if you were having a casual conversation. Because you wouldn't be paying any attention to their lower body, that part of the picture is unnecessary.

A director may choose to use a mid shot as appropriate when the subject is speaking without too much emotion or intense concentration. It also works well when the intent is to deliver information, which is why it is frequently used by news presenters on TV. You will often see a story begin with a mid shot of the reporter (providing information), followed by closer shots of interview subjects (providing reactions and emotion).

As well as being a comfortable, emotionally neutral shot, the mid shot allows room for hand gestures and a bit of movement.

Close Up

Close up shots normally have just the face and shoulders of a subject, with a small amount of head room above. This prevents 'floating head syndrome' as the shoulders suggest to the brain that there is still a body. These shots are the most common of all as they can convey a strong sense of emotion and help the audience to connect with the character involved.  The background image behind the characters also adds to the atmosphere and is largely there to support the idea that the character is not just in an empty room and is still part of the scene despite the focus on them. Directors will use this shot to convey the character's emotion and to make the audience feel like they are a part of the scene, rather than just observers.

Big Close Up

A big close up (BCU) consists of a person's entire face filling the shot. These shots are very intense. The BCU is too close to show general reactions or emotions which makes it more dramatic. it is used to show the detail and facial expression of the character.

A BCU is used by directors to show a single character's emotional reaction to an event, without any background to distract the viewer from their reaction to the events of the scene.

Extreme Close Up

An Extreme Close up allows the audience to view characteristics and emotions of characters that would otherwise go unnoticed from a further view. Extreme Close ups are commonly of a character's eyes or lips, with close shots of lips often showing a character's nervous feeling via seeing them bite their lip. However extreme close shots of eyes are used to show near any emotion or characteristics from unstoppable determination, like Erik's in the above picture, to the reflection of a shocking moment in either eyes or glasses, such as the image below. A director will choose to use an extreme close up to show to the audience in an unmissable way the effect that the current or previous event is having on the character, or even to show just how set in their path a character is, such as Erik stubbornly going through with his choices despite Charles' insistence.