38 Grammar of the Shot

FIGURE 2.19 Talent in prole.

What kind of information can you get from the prole shot? You see if it is a man or a
woman. You see the hair. If the person speaks, you will see the mouth open and close
from the side. But unless your talent can migrate both eyes to one side of his head, like
a ounder, the audience will not be privileged enough to see what the character might
really be thinking or feeling. Since the eyes are the windows to the soul, not showing
your audience the eyes (and full facial expressions) of an actor can generate feelings
of duplicity, distrust, emotional disconnect, or secrecy. If this is the desired result you
seek, then by all means use the prole shot, but otherwise, keep it reserved for these
special occasions (Figure 2.19).

Now the 3/4 back shot should seem familiar to most of you. When used in tighter shots
like we have here, it is getting to look more like what is called an over-the-shoulder
shot (OTS). The camera gets to peek over the shoulder of our main talent and assumes a
point of view like that of our talent (Figure 2.20). The camera (and therefore the viewing
audience) sees directly what the main talent sees. Granted, the face of the actor is hidden
from view, so we do not know what he or she may be thinking or feeling from this angle,
but since the audience is placed into the shot from the characters point-of-view (POV),
the audience is encouraged to do the thinking and feeling for the character or as the char-
acter more directly. This is sort of an objectivesubjective shot type where you get a privi-
leged point of view from what is usually a more neutral camera angle.

You may rarely have a need to frame a shot of an individual from fully behind them, but
if you do, remember that the usual rules applyheadroom, look room, rule of thirds, etc.