Low-angle shot

In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up.

Famous examples

• M (1931) (directed by Fritz Lang): Inspector Karl Lohmann is shot in low angle in his office, the camera sitting underneath his office desk. Also, two disputing men, one small and the other tall, are shot in low and high angles, respectively.
• Citizen Kane (directed by Orson Welles): there are many examples such as during the scene where Kane fires Leland. In fact, the scene where Leland confronts Kane after his defeat in the election is entirely shot in a low angle view.
• Psycho (directed by Alfred Hitchcock): the house where Norman Bates lives is usually shot from a low angle.
• Star Wars (directed by George Lucas): Darth Vader is often shot at a low angle, for example, the first time we see his character as he is walking down a hallway.
• Touch of Evil (directed by Orson Welles): In this film noir, Hank Quinlan is often shot in low angle to make him look menacing, large, and in-charge.
• The Lady From Shanghai (directed by Orson Welles): examples of low-angle shot are during the scene where George Grisby is confronted by Broome and he shoots him.
• Used while filming World Wrestling Entertainment interviews with André the Giant.
• The Dark Knight (directed by Christopher Nolan): Nolan uses extremely low angle shots to give the Joker a more powerful image in The Dark Knight, especially during the scene where the truck he was driving is flipped over and he gets out and starts shooting at Batman. In this scene, the angle actually goes from a normal medium close up and slowly moves into a low angle shot.
• Full Metal Jacket (directed by Stanley Kubrick): examples of a low angle shot is during the scene where the boot camp Sgt. is yelling at Joker.

See also