Over-the-Shoulder Shot: How to Film an Over-the-Shoulder Shot

An over-the-shoulder shot (OTS shot) is a camera angle that offers a medium close-up on one actor while showing part of another actor's shoulder. This filmmaking technique combines one character's facial expressions with another's point of view (POV) in a single shot. Some OTS shots literally show an actor's shoulder (or the side of their head) in soft focus, with a sharp focus on the character they are talking to. Other OTS shots simply imply the presence of a foreground character, but they do not actually appear in the shot.

Over-the-shoulder camera shots are taught in film schools and appear in many forms of cinematography from TV shows to short films to full-length features. In particular, they feature prominently in the shot lists and storyboards for dialogue scenes. OTS shots have appeared in films ranging from Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) to Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985) to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) to showcase facial expressions in the context of a broader scene.

Directors have three main choices when filming an over-the-shoulder shot.

1. 1. Shot size: Most OTS shots are medium shots, but you can widen the shot in some cases. You can even push in for a close-up in an intimate exchange.
2. 2. Dirty single vs. clean over: In a dirty single shot, the foreground character's shoulder or head appears in soft focus at the front of the image. In a clean over, the foreground character does not actually appear in the shot, but their presence is implied.
3. 3. Camera angle: In standard practice, an OTS shot is filmed at eye level, and both actors' eye lines approximately match up. In real life, however, people are of different heights and may not always be positioned face-to-face. To capture such scenes, or to heighten the emotional level of a moment, consider a low-angle shot or a high-angle shot to create your OTS moment.

An over-the-shoulder shot essentially fuses a single shot (or one-shot) with a two shot. There are a few differences between these three shot types.

• Single shot: Also called a one-shot, this shot type features a single character in the camera frame.
• Two shot: A two shot features two screen actors in a single frame, usually via a medium shot or a wide shot angle. A director will choose how to stage these actors in the shot.
• Over-the-shoulder shot: An OTS shot mimics single framing, but it includes an actor's shoulder (or the side of their head) in the extreme foreground, which effectively places two characters into a single shot.

To successfully film an over-the-shoulder shot, you typically frame two shots—your primary angle and a reverse shot that shows the opposite perspective. There are a few steps for making this happen.

1. 1. Stage your first shot. Build your first shot around the actor whose facial expressions you want to capture. Once you've captured that actor in the best possible way, insert the other actor into the foreground so that you can capture a sliver of their shoulder or head in soft focus. If you are going for a clean-over shot, you do not need to actually position this foreground actor.
2. 2. Set up the reverse shot. Most OTS shots come in pairs. We look at one character's face from over the other character's shoulder. Then we reverse perspectives and focus on the other character's face. Doing this minimizes the need for camera movements; you can simply cut back and forth.
3. 3. Line up the actors’ eye levels. Over-the-shoulder shots truly succeed when the two characters' eyelines match up with one another. Even if you are doing your OTS shot as a low-angle shot or a high-angle shot, you will still want to preserve this eye-level alignment.

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