Close upTightly frames the focus in the scene. For example, a close up of an actor will allow the audience to read their facial expression and gain an understanding of how they are feeling.

Mid shota mid shot is a camera angle shot from a medium distance. The dividing line between "long shot" and "medium shot" is fuzzy, as is the line between "medium shot" and "close-up".

Establishing ShotSets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where and sometimes when, the scene is.

Long Shotshows the image as approximately "life" size and is corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema. This category includes the showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges.

Wide ShotIn photography, filmmaking and video production, a long shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or a wide shot) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings.

Two Shot a shot of two people, with similar framing to a mid shot. This displays to the audience the two people that they should be focusing on, for example if they are having a conversation or an argument, these would be the two subjects that were the main focus.

Point of view shotthe view from the subjects perspective. This enables the audience to see what the subject is seeing, which helps them to relate to the situation and they feel included.

Over the shoulder shotLooking from behind a person's shoulder at the subject. This can be used when the two people in the frame are having a conversation and the focus is on the subject.

Ariel ShotAn exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement.

High angle shotThe camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

Low Angle Shot - These increase height and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

Cranted AngleSometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots (ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character, seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this.

Movement

Pan - A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

Tilt - A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.

Dolly Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

Steadicam - Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

Handheld - Hand held shots serve to create a more “home made” or dramatic feel to a shot.

Zoom - Zooming is one camera move that most people are probably familiar with. It involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. Most video cameras today have built-in zoom features. Some have manual zooms as well, and many have several zoom speeds.

Reverse Zoom - A single shot which moves away from a particular subject.

CompositionFraming - a technique used to focus the viewer's attention upon the subject

Rule of thirds - that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections

Depth of field - The depth of field that you select when taking an image will drastically impact the composition of an image. It can isolate a subject from its background and foreground (when using a shallow depth of field) or it can put the same subject in context by revealing it’s surrounds with a larger depth of field

Deep focus - a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image — that is, how much of it appears sharp and clear. Consequently, in deep focus the foreground, middle-ground and background are all in focus.

Shallow focus - In shallow focus one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is typically used to emphasize one part of the image over another

Focus Pulls - refers to the act of changing the lens’s focus distance setting in correspondence to a moving subject’s physical distance from the focal plane.