Establishing Shot - Use of Establishing Shots

Use of Establishing Shots

Indicate location - Establishing shots may use famous landmarks to indicate the city where the action is taking place or has moved to, such as the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty to identify New York, the London Eye or Big Ben to identify London, the Sydney Opera House to identify Sydney, the Eiffel Tower to identify Paris, or the Las Vegas Strip to identify Las Vegas.

Time - Sometimes the viewer is guided in his understanding of the action. For example, an exterior shot of a building at night followed by an interior shot of people talking implies that the conversation is taking place at night inside that building - the conversation may in fact have been filmed on a studio set far from the apparent location, because of budget, permits or time limitations.

Relationship - An establishing shot might be a long shot of a room that shows all the characters from a particular scene. For example, a scene about a murder in a college lecture hall might begin with a shot that shows the entire room, including the lecturing professor and the students taking notes. A close-up shot can also be used at the beginning of a scene to establish the setting (such as, for the lecture hall scene, a shot of a pencil writing notes).

Establish a concept - An establishing shot may also establish a concept, rather than a location. For example, opening with a martial arts drill visually establishes the theme of martial arts. A shot of rain falling could be an establishing shot, followed by more and more detailed look at the rain, culminating with individual raindrops falling. A film maker is colluding with his audience to provide a shorthand learned through a common cinematic cultural background.