Camera Angles

Extreme Long Shot--An extreme long shot can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away and is commonly used as a scene-setting establishing shot

 

Long Shot--Generally a shot that shoes the image as approximately life size.
 

Full Shot--typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings


Mid-Shot--contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action

Close-Up--Shows very little background, and concentrated either on a face of a specific detail of a scene


Extreme Close-Up--magnifies beyond what the human eye would see in reality, with no background detail whatsoever

Bird's-Eye--shows a scene from directly overhead, very unnatural and strange


High Angle--camera is elevated above the action to give a general overview



Eye Level--fairly neutral spot; the camera is positioned as though a human is actually observing a scene


Low Angle--These increase height and give a sense of speeded motion and give the viewer a sense of confusion or powerlessness


I like the extreme long shot (obviously not for all purposes), the mid shot, and the close up shot (also not for all purposes).