Shows very little background and concentrates on either a face, other body part or a specific detail of mise-en-scene. This angle magnifies the shot and emphasises the importance of the subject within the shot; the subject can be emotion or feelings shown through facial expression or body language, words written on paper or a specific object. The angle has the power to take the audience into the mind of the character on screen and can be a very intimate shot. This shot type can also be used to make the audience feel something towards a character, an action or an object, and can range from extremely comfortable to extremely uncomfortable.
Examples:
Dear John: A film that uses close up shots widely through out the film is Dear John. Dear John is a 2010 American romantic drama-war film based on the novel written by Nicholas Sparks and stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. The story follows the life of a soldier, Tatum, after he falls in love with a young woman, Seyfried, whilst on a break from his war career. When he is set to return they agree to send letters to one another and the film follows the emotional roller coaster that is their on-off relationship. The screenshots below show the two different emotions that the audience see from both of the main characters throughout the film: sadness and happiness:
My Sister's Keeper: A second film that uses close up shots throughout it is My Sister's Keeper. My Sister's Keeper is a 2009 drama that shows the story of a family as they face the battle of leukaemia within one of the children, Kate. Her younger sister Anna was conceived by means of IVF in order to be the dependency that her older sister needs. Anna is unable to continue her childhood life as she wanted to as she is not able to join in with certain activities i.e. cheer leading, and sues her parents when asked to donate one of her kidneys. It is revealed during the film that Kate believed she would not survive surgery and wanted to die and asks Anna to refuse to donate her kidney to her. Kate later dies in hospital. The screenshots below show the emotion that is most dominant through the film, sadness. The use of the close ups in each screenshot show the deep emotion of the characters and make the audience feel pathos towards them:
Safe Haven: A final film that uses close up camera shots regularly throughout is Safe Haven. Safe Haven is a 2013 American romance film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, that stars Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel. Mysterious woman, Katie, appears in a small town and her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draw her into two relationships: one with a man named Alex who has two young children and a neighbour, Jo. The more time Katie spends in the town, her guard lowers and she appears to become increasingly attached to Alex and his children. All peace is broken when disaster strikes and her past comes back to haunt her with catastrophic consequences. The screenshots below show the emotion in the faces of Katie and Alex as they come to terms with their emotions and feelings and allow the audience to understand the emotions that the characters are currently going through:
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