How to Use Extreme Close-Ups: 4 Extreme Close-up Examples

An extreme close-up (ECU) shot is a more intense version of a close-up shot, sometimes showing only the subject’s eyes. Close-up shots frame the subject tightly, filling the screen with a particular detail. Sometimes, the close-up camera shot is modified, as in a medium close-up shot (MCU). A medium close-up will focus on the character’s face and perhaps include their upper body or additional background information.

An extreme close-up can have different effects, depending on how the director chooses to use it. The shot can serve to underscore a particular emotion, such as fear or desire, or create heightened feelings in the audience, making them feel sorrow, amusement, disgust, or suspense.

Extreme close-ups are often used in concert with regular close-ups to show greater detail. For example, a zoom shot might progress past the zone of a regular close-up and into an extreme close-up, bringing the audience deeper into the depicted action and emotion.

An extreme close-up shot can help display emotions and reveal crucial information to the audience. Consider how the following films utilize the extreme close-up shot:

1. 1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967): Three characters engage in a standoff in Sergio Leone’s film. As the scene progresses, the camera ratchets up the tension by zooming ever closer on the characters’ faces and guns.
2. 2. Blue Velvet (1986): In David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Isabella Rossellini’s character, the troubled and tragic Dorothy Vallens, is shown in extreme close-up, with only her eyes, nose, and mouth visible.
3. 3. Minority Report (2002): Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report features an ECU that focuses on the eyes of a character who can see into the future. The extreme close-up shot is a crucial plot device and serves as a thematic element.
4. 4. Se7en (1995): In Se7en, directed by David Fincher, there’s a moment when the camera focuses on a gun while the person wielding it becomes a shadowy, menacing, out-of-focus figure.

In filmmaking, the proper use of the camera is one of the most fundamental skills to develop. The director works in close collaboration with the cinematographer and camera crew to guide the look of a film. This means careful consideration of camera angles, camera shot sizes, camera movements, and so forth.

Camera shots refer to what is in the frame. Types of shots include extreme wide shots, wide shots, medium shots, close-ups, medium close-ups, establishing shots, full shots, long shots, low angle shots, high angle shots, insert shots, point of view (POV) shots, and over the shoulder shots (OTS).

Become a better filmmaker with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including James Cameron, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Shonda Rhimes, Jodie Foster, Martin Scorsese, and more.