Master Shots Vol 1, 2nd Edition: 100 Advanced Camera Techniques to Get an Expensive Look on Your Low-Budget Movie

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While wide and establishing shots are often “purely for a geographical setting and an architectural statement of some kind,” master shots have “an intended purpose to drive the story,” says Dennis. The only downside is black and white screencaps from movies, it is not clear why they were not published in color.

Not everything has to be in the frame at all times: You don’t necessarily have to keep every character, extra, and prop in your shot, either. In the simplest of terms, a master shot is the one take of a film scene that covers all the subjects, objects, and pieces of the set relevant to the overall scene.While this is the most common way to capture a master shot, there is no rule that these two requirements are necessary as long as most of the action in the scene is captured.

For me, that’s the key benefit of masters: getting everyone on the same page so that the coverage goes faster. Get that shot after you’re all done getting EVERYTHING else in your scene, and pepper that reaction shot in during your edit. An often cited example of a long take is the three-minute opening shot of Orson Welles’ “Touch of Evil” (1958), which introduces the location and the main characters, and presents the inciting incident, urging the audience to keep watching and learn how the story ends. I’m talking about the master shot, which is still your best option to make sure you have full coverage of every shot and scene. That being said, by its nature a wide and long take master shot can often make recording quality audio tricky.

I have rued and cried in my reviews of Volume 2 and 3 about this unfair policy of not crediting cinematographer. In contrast to locked-off shots, some filmmakers and cinematographers weave different angles together—such as going from a wide shot to a medium or close-up—to make their master shots more dynamic. In this second edition, every image has been digitally remastered for clarity and additional text has been written as a direct response to feedback from readers of the first edition.

Be aware of blocking: The way actors are placed in a scene and how they move around will affect the pacing and tone, so it should be a key concern as you plan your shots. Master shots have the power to immerse an audience into the cinematic experience like no other shot because of their realism and action. Although this seems limiting at first, there are tons of possibilities to get creative with your framing and composition. It depends on the actors too; some are more able to break things down into small pieces without getting lost, while others always like to have the run-up of “going from the top”. Doug shuts the door, and argues with Tom, who only turns around once he has finally confronted Doug with the big issue of the scene.You can pull virtually any scene from this movie as an excellent example of a master shot since it’s designed to look like an uncut take. It serves both to help you judge and manage the actors’ performances and as a “safety net” that will help you avoid costly reshoots. Every filmmaker should work through these to understand how they really work so you can then bend or break the rules. A complex master shot is not required for every scene, but it can transform a commonly dull setup into your main option in the edit. Doug’s defeat in the argument plays out visually, and we literally see the motivation of the scene play out in front of us.