The Establishing Shot
Film directors use different types of camera shots for specific purposes. An establishing shot is an image shown briefly at the beginning of a scene, usually taken from far away, that is used to provide context for the rest of the scene. One purpose of the establishing shot is to communicate background information to the viewer, such as the setting where and when the rest of the scene will occur. It also establishes the mood or feeling of the scene. Due to the context that the establishing shot provide, the characters and events that are shown next are better understood by the viewer.
托福TPO9口语task4题目 Listening Part:
Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a film class.
(male) The other day I went to this great new movie. And one of the scenes in particular I thought was really set up nicely. At the start of the scene, before the action and talking things started, you saw on the movie screen an image of a city. You could tell it was a big city. There were lots of buildings, tall ones, skyscrapers, and the cars and signs on the city streets looked old fashioned, like they were from the past, like the 1940s.
The other thing I noticed right away from this first image, just when the scene started, was that the city seemed gloomy. You couldn’t see much because it was, well, it was mostly darkness rather than sunlight. And there was only just little bit of light from street lamps. On top of that, it was raining and kind of foggy.
All of these details were together to create a dark, gloomy, mysterious feeling. So then, when the action started and it showed detectives talking to each other in the office, I already knew that the office was located in a tall building, in a big city, sometime in the 1940s. And I had a good idea that the events that’d be taking place would be pretty dark and mysterious because of the shot, the image I saw at the beginning of the scene.
托福TPO9口语task4题目 Question:
Using the professor ’s example, explain what an establishing shot is and how it is used.
托福TPO9口语task4答案解析：
1. Reading key
(1.1) Term: Establishing Shot
(1.2) Definition: An establishing shot is an image shown briefly at the beginning of a scene that is used to provide context for the rest of the scene.
2. Listening key
(2.1) Describing the shot
(2.1.1) City; tall buildings; old fashioned cars and signs on the street; raining; gloomy; only a bit of light from street lamps; everything’s dark and mysterious
(2.2) How does the shot reflect on the audience
(2.2.1) The story happens in a big city during the 1940’s; what’s about to happen is moody and mysterious
托福TPO9口语task4范文：
The professor talks about establishing shot in the lecture which is a shot used to provide context for the rest of the scene. And he uses a new movie as an example. In one scene, before the action and talking started, an image of a city is shown to the audience to provide context. Things in the city looked old fashioned, and the city itself was gloomy and dark. And it was raining too, and kind of foggy, all these elements worked together to create a mysterious feeling. So when the action started, the audience would get the idea that the story of the movie takes place in a big city during the 1940s, and the rest of the movie will be very mysterious and dark.