Establishing shot

An aerial shot of The Pentagon can be used to establish a meeting of US military strategists.

An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.

Establishing shots were more common during the classical era of filmmaking than they are now. Today's filmmakers tend to skip the establishing shot in order to move the scene along more quickly, or merely mention the setting in on-screen text (as is done in the Law & Order franchise). In addition, the expositional nature of the shot (as described above) may be unsuitable to scenes in mysteries, where details are intentionally obscured or left out.

Use of establishing shots

Location

Establishing shots may use famous landmarks to indicate the city where the action is taking place or has moved to, such as the following:

• Brandenburg Gate or the Fernsehturm to identify Berlin
• Frauenkirche to identify Munich
• Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the National Carillon or the Black Mountain Tower to identify Canberra
• The White House, The Capitol or Northern Virginia's The Pentagon to identify Washington D.C. or the surrounding region
• Willis Tower, Chicago "L", Cloud Gate or Chicago Picasso to identify Chicago
• Victoria Harbour to identify Hong Kong
• Las Vegas Strip to identify Las Vegas
• London Eye, Big Ben or Tower Bridge to identify London
• Hollywood Sign or U.S. Bank Tower to identify Los Angeles
• Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge or the World Trade Center to identify New York City
• Golden Gate Bridge to identify San Francisco
• Space Needle to identify Seattle
• Milwaukee Art Museum or City Hall to identify Milwaukee
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or Terminal Tower to identify Cleveland
• Gateway Arch to identify St. Louis
• Colorado State Capitol or the Denver City Hall to identify Denver
• Freedom Tower to identify Miami
• Eiffel Tower and/or the Arc de Triomphe to identify Paris
• Tyne Bridge to identify Newcastle upon Tyne
• City Hall or Globen to identify Stockholm
• Saint Basil's Cathedral or the Kremlin to identify Moscow
• Reunion Tower to identify Dallas
• The Alamo to identify San Antonio
• Christ the Redeemer to identify Rio de Janeiro
• Taipei 101 to identify Taipai
• Cataract Gorge, the Post Office or the Kings Bridge to identify Launceston
• Tasman Bridge, Wrest Point Casino or Mount Wellington to identify Hobart
• Monument Hill or the Railway Station to identify Albury
• Story Bridge or Mount Coot-tha to identify Brisbane
• Q1 to identify Surfers Paradise
• Christ Church Cathedral or Queens Wharf to identify Newcastle
• Sydney Opera House or the Harbour Bridge to identify Sydney
• Victorian Arts Centre, the MCG, a Tram or the Flinders Street Station to identify Melbourne
• Lake Wendouree, Sovereign Hill or the Town Hall to identify Ballarat
• Adelaide Town Hall or the State Library to identify Adelaide
• Kings Park or the Swan Bells to identify Perth
• Sky Tower, One Tree Hill or the Harbour Bridge to identify Auckland
• Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree or Shibuya Scramble Crossing to identify Tokyo
• Skysuites Tower or a Jeepney to identify Manila
• CN Tower to identify Toronto
• Hillbrow Tower to identify Johannesburg
• Table Mountain to identify Cape Town
• Burj Al Arab or Burj Khalifa to identify Dubai
• Sheikh Zayed Mosque or the Emirates Palace to identify Abu Dhabi

Time of day

Sometimes the viewer is guided in their understanding of the action. For example, an exterior shot of a building at night followed by an interior shot of people talking implies that the conversation is taking place at night inside that building - the conversation may in fact have been filmed on a studio set far from the apparent location, because of budget, permits, time limitations or convenience. In the series JAG, 24-hour Coordinated Universal Time (known in military nomenclature as "Zulu time") was used for these scenes to reinforce the military setting of the series.

Relationship

An establishing shot might be a long shot of a room that shows all the characters from a particular scene. For example, a scene about a murder in a college lecture hall might begin with a shot that shows the entire room, including the lecturing professor and the students taking notes. A close-up shot can also be used at the beginning of a scene to establish the setting (such as, for the lecture hall scene, a shot of a pencil writing notes).

Concept

An establishing shot may also establish a concept, rather than a location. For example, opening with a martial arts drill visually establishes the theme of martial arts. A shot of rain falling could be an establishing shot, followed by more and more detailed look at the rain, culminating with individual raindrops falling.