Techniques
Camera angles are some of the ways that USA Networks makes Psych look more interesting to the general public's eyes. We are going to name some of the general camera angles that you could use to make the show more interesting.
Eye-level Angle: The camera is placed at the person's height, so if the actor is looking at the lens of the camera, they do not have to look up or down in order to keep eye contact with the camera lens.
Low Angle: When the camera is placed below the subject's eyes, looking up at them. This causes the characters to look aggressive, dominant, or angry.
Dutch Tilt: It has the camera leaning sideways, setting the camera horizon on a slope. Though these are rare, a tilted camera angle can cause the watcher to become confused and disoriented, making the the viewer slightly disturbed.
Point of View: These shots incorporate the character's eyes. These are usually followed by a close-up shot of the actor's eyes.
Aerial Shot: A shot filmed from the air, these are often used to establish and show a location to the watcher.
Bridging Shot: A shot that shows a difference in time or place from the shot before. Commonly used as a line moving across an animated map, or a clock moving faster to show the time that has elapsed.
Handheld Shot: Used while the camera is in motion to create a jerky hand-held feel. Used in one of the Psych episodes when they are supposed to be using a phone camera and a hand-held video camera.
Pan: A shot where the camera continuously moves from left to right, or vice-versa. Shows the location, and/or following the action happening on-screen.
Camera angles are some of the ways that USA Networks makes Psych look more interesting to the general public's eyes. We are going to name some of the general camera angles that you could use to make the show more interesting.
Eye-level Angle: The camera is placed at the person's height, so if the actor is looking at the lens of the camera, they do not have to look up or down in order to keep eye contact with the camera lens.
Low Angle: When the camera is placed below the subject's eyes, looking up at them. This causes the characters to look aggressive, dominant, or angry.
Dutch Tilt: It has the camera leaning sideways, setting the camera horizon on a slope. Though these are rare, a tilted camera angle can cause the watcher to become confused and disoriented, making the the viewer slightly disturbed.
Point of View: These shots incorporate the character's eyes. These are usually followed by a close-up shot of the actor's eyes.
Aerial Shot: A shot filmed from the air, these are often used to establish and show a location to the watcher.
Bridging Shot: A shot that shows a difference in time or place from the shot before. Commonly used as a line moving across an animated map, or a clock moving faster to show the time that has elapsed.
Handheld Shot: Used while the camera is in motion to create a jerky hand-held feel. Used in one of the Psych episodes when they are supposed to be using a phone camera and a hand-held video camera.
Pan: A shot where the camera continuously moves from left to right, or vice-versa. Shows the location, and/or following the action happening on-screen.
For the first few seconds we see Eye-Level shots, focusing on all of the characters. Then wee see the camera pull back, and at the end we see an Aerial shot on Lassiter and Shawn. While eye-level shots make you focus on one or two characters at a time, aerial shots let you focus on the entire screen at once, showing oyu more of what is happening in the background as well as the main focus of the scene.
Above we can see Handheld Shot. The handheld shot screams at you that this is real life. Instead of giving you the feeling of professionally filmed and edited, the vlog-type footage makes you think of the scene as something that really happened to your characters.