American shot

Main article: Cinematic techniques

"American shot" is a translation of a phrase from French film criticism, "plan américain" and refers to a medium-long ("knee") film shot of a group of characters, who are arranged so that all are visible to the camera. The usual arrangement is for the actors to stand in an irregular line from one side of the screen to the other, with the actors at the end coming forward a little and standing more in profile than the others. The purpose of the composition is to allow complex dialogue scenes to be played out without changes in camera position. In some literature, this is simply referred to as a 3/4 shot.

The French critics thought it was characteristic of American films of the 1930s or 1940s; however, it was mostly characteristic of cheaper American movies, such as Charlie Chan mysteries where people collected in front of a fireplace or at the foot of the stairs in order to explain what happened a few minutes ago.

Howard Hawks legitimized this style in his films, allowing characters to act, even when not talking, when most of the audience would not be paying attention. It became his trademark style.

In Popular Culture

"The American Shot is a New York-based online magazine of cultural criticism. We publish features, reviews, and essays on diverse media of cultural production. Despite the great and many connotations of our title, we unfortunately do not trade in espresso, alcohol, firearms, or American nationalism. Rather, we take our name from the English translation of the term coined by French film critics to describe a convention in American B movies of the 1930s and ‘40s. The American Shot denotes a medium-long shot framing a group of characters so they are simultaneously visible to the camera. The composition allows for dialogue and discussion to be played out in a single frame. Following this deliberately open and discursive structure, we hope to be a platform for critique that is at once intrepid and irreverent, reflective and playful."

See also

Aerial perspective Aerial shot American shot Angle of view Bird's eye shot Bird's-eye view Boom shot B-roll Camera angle Camera coverage Camera Dolly Camera operator Camera tracking Cinematic techniques Close-up Crane shot Dolly zoom Dutch angle Establishing shot Film frame

Filmmaking Follow shot Forced perspective Freeze frame shot Full frame Full shot Hanging miniature Head shot High-angle shot Long shot Long take Low-angle shot Master shot Medium shot Money shot Multiple-camera setup One shot (music video) Over the shoulder shot Panning (camera) Point of view shot

Rack focus Reaction shot Shot (filmmaking) Shot reverse shot Single-camera setup Tilt (camera) Top-down perspective Tracking shot Trunk shot Two shot Video production Walk and talk Whip pan Worm's-eye view

Footnotes