Grammar of the Shot, 2nd Edition

Camera Angle

So now you should feel pretty comfortable composing simple subjects (human faces, etc.) within your frame. The rule of thirds, good headroom, and appropriate look room should already be giving you a well-balanced simple framing of the single human face based on our use of an objective shooting style. Although we have stopped our actor from looking directly into the lens and the head is turned at a slight angle, we are still photographing the talent from a frontal camera placement. This makes sense because you usually wish to place your camera at the most advantageous position to record the important details—in this case, the expression on the actor’s face and the look in both of the eyes. There are times, however, when you need to ...