The Filmmaker's Eye

group shot

Group shots include three or more characters in the frame (with less than three characters you would have a two shot or a single); because of this, group shots are usually medium shots, medium long shots, or long shots, since these shot sizes are wide enough to contain multiple characters. Like other shots that include individuals and a sizable portion of their surrounding area, group shots can convey information about the dynamics of a relationship between characters or between characters and their immediate environment. For instance, the arrangement of characters in a group shot could be made to suggest disharmony and conflict between them by placing them so that no two characters face the same direction, or have the same size in ...