Close-up shot

This type of shot concentrates on only one subject for example an actors face or a part of the mise en scene in the scene. It can be used to indicate a lead actors importance or to show an important detail, for example some text or an activity using their hands, or to emphasise and concentrate on someones emotions. It makes the audience empathise with the character because the closeness is very intimate creating trust for the particular character, but too many close-ups can confuse the audience; the characters actions are not put into perspective. A director may not use close ups for a character to create distance between the audience and the character; for instance in a horror film a killer may only be shown through extreme longshots and in the background of other shot tocreate unease. The caption above is a good example of a close up shot. You can clearly see the tears and her eyes and smile show these tears are from happiness.