Camera Height_High Angle

A high angle shot is any shot in which the camera is tilted downward to view the subject. Any downward angling of the camera should be considered a high angle shot, regardless of whether the camera is angled slightly to photograph the top of a package, or almost vertically downward to depict a mountain climber's point of view!

The picture is from The Incredibles made by Pixar in 2004.

A high angle shot may be chosen for esthetic, technical or psychological reasons. Placing the camera higher than the subject and looking down may result in a more artistic picture; make it easier to keep action occurring in depth in sharp focus; or influence audience reaction.

Subject matter laid out in a pattern upon the ground may look better from a high angle. High angle shots help acquaint the audience with the geography of the setting. Looking down provides a map like layout. For instance, looking at the picture below which is from Fallen Art made by Tomek Baginski in 2003.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QaOikFYhM. This is a high angle shot, which could help us understand their position relationship.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QaOikFYhM

Action occurring in depth, such as a football game, a military formation, a producion line or an animal migration, may be viewed in its entirety from a high angle. Raising the camera and shooting downward is also useful whenever reducing the lens depth of field aids in keeping sharp focus across the entire picture area. A high angle may cover the same front-to-back area with difference between near-and-far focus. Looking at another picture from Fallen Art, we can focus on the frame picture easily and understand the structure of the machine, as well as how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QaOikFYhM

However high angle shots reduce the height of a player or object. A tall player would lookdown at a shorter person or a child in a point-of-view shot. The subjective camera may also place the audience higher, so that it may look down on a player to feel superior to him.

High angle shots are a welcome departure from eye-level shots and provide contrast, variety and dramatic impact even to commonplace scenes. High angles should be considered to establish the story, supply pictorial beauty, or influence audience reaction to the screen players.

Reference:

Mascelli, J. V. (1965). The Five C's of  Cinematography. The United States: radstone publications.

The first picture is from The.Incredibles made by Pixar in 2004.

The second and the third pictures are from Fallen Art made by Tomek Baginski in 2003.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QaOikFYhM