Each type of shot serves a purpose.
Over the course of any film or pictorial, you're likely to run into many styles of camera shots that cinematographers and photographers use to display a subject and its context. These different shots, all of which are unique, serve very different purposes throughout the concept of any movie or within a picture.
Wide Shot
The wide shot is one of the more basic types of camera shots. It typically includes the subject, which can be a character, and includes everything around him. Wide shots use deep focus, meaning that everything in the picture is sharp, without anything in particular focus.
Close-up Shot
Close-up shots pay particular attention to the actors' faces, usually with their faces taking up the entire screen with the background blurred, giving it a dreamy quality. Close-ups can also focus on other objects that the director wants the audience to pay particular attention to. A variation of the close-up is the extreme close-up, which can be used to show tiny details.
Over the Shoulder
This is a technique often used in dialogue like interviews. It involves focusing on a subject but from behind another person, giving the impression of the camera being over the person's shoulder, hence the name.
Medium Shot
A medium shot is one of the most common types of shots. It shows most of the subject and a little bit of their surrounding environment.
Establishing Shot
An establishing shot is a single shot of a location or setting to show the audience where the proceeding action takes place. This is further away from the subject than the wide shot--so far that the subject can't be seen.
Point-of-View Shot
A point-of-view shot, or POV shot, is from the point-of-view of the subject, typically as they hold a handheld camera. Though not common, some films, like "Cloverfield" or "The Blair Witch Project" use this shot to great effect.
Tracking Shot
A tracking shot is where the camera literally follows a subject as they move around their setting.
Tags: particular attention