A master shot is a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

recording of an entire dramatized scene, start to finish, from a

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

that keeps all the players in view. It is often a long shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an

establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...

. Usually, the master shot is the first shot checked off during the shooting of a scene. It is the foundation of what is called camera coverage, other shots that reveal different aspects of the action, groupings of two or three of the actors at crucial moments, close-ups of individuals, insert shots of various props, and so on. Historically, the master shot was the most important shot of any given scene. All shots in a given scene were somehow related to what was happening in the master shot. This is one reason that some of the films from the 1930s and the 1940s are considered "stagey" by today's standards. By the 1960s and the 1970s, the style of

film shooting In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and mo ...

and

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

shifted to include radical angles that conveyed more subjectivity and intimacy within the scenes.Ascher (1999), p. 227 Today, the master shot is still a key element of film production, but scenes are not built around the master shot in the same way that they were when professional filmmaking was in its infancy.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *Ascher, Steven, and Edward Pincus. ''The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age''. New York: Plume, 1999. Cinematic techniques Film editing {{film-term-stub