A wide shot shows the entire scene, the close-up concentrates on a small detail and a medium shot is somewhere in between. Sometimes the precise definition depends on who is doing the defining.
All three are important but the close-up is by far the MOST important. It is also the type of shot most ignored by novices.
Most new video producers overuse wide shots and completely ignore the close-up. This mistake leads to boring videos that don't draw in the viewer. Adding close-ups will greatly enhance the watchability of your video.
Especially with internet video, close-ups need to be frequent. That's because someone watching video on the internet is probably staring at a tiny viewing area, not a wide-screen TV that fills the living room.
Watching internet video means that if you really want the viewer to SEE something, you must fill the entire frame with it. If you expect viewers to get a decent look at those earrings you are selling, you cannot just show a wide shot of two people on a couch wearing the earrings. The earrings would look like nothing more than a stray pixel!
Instead, zoom in there and get a tight shot that fills the frame with the earrings. Then the viewer can see the detail and beauty. Next time you are watching QVC or looking through a catalog, notice that almost ALL the product shots are close-ups.
There are two ways to get a close-up. One is to have the camera a distance away and zoom all the way in. The other is to place the camera very close to the object and use the wide angle setting. (Zoomed all the way out.) On most video cameras, this will kick in the macro-lens feature. Macro is what enables you to focus on something that is very close to the lens. Without macro, an object has to be quite a distance from the camera to be focusable.
Believe it or not, the second way will probably work better. Now this depends a bit on what kind of video camera and lens you have but in the majority of cases it is true.
Macro is very common on video cameras and it is a FANTASTIC feature. It lets you get extreme close ups, with the cameras as close as one inch. If you are that close, even an tiny object the size of a postage stamp will fill the frame. Now THAT'S a close-up!
Next time you are watching TV, notice what effect close-ups have on the storytelling. Chances are, the details and emotions of the story are told using close-ups. If you really want to see the anguish on someone's face, you need a close-up, not a wide shot from across the street!
Close-ups also tend to be more interesting shots because they often give the viewer a perspective they don't normally see. Anytime you give the viewer an unusual perspective, you have added to the visual interest and entertainment value of your video.
Bottom line is, make sure and use lots of close-ups in your next video!
