View source for Point-of-view shot

{{Short description|Type of photography or film making shot}}
{{For|the video game perspective|First-person (video games)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2006}}

[[File:The Driller Killer Pinball Scene Shot to Shot.png|thumb|right|300px|An example of an explicit POV shot from the [[public domain]] [[horror film]] ''[[The Driller Killer]]'', putting the audience into the perspective of the protagonist playing [[pinball]] with the top shot coming five seconds before the below shot]]

A '''point-of-view shot''' (also known as '''POV shot''', '''first-person shot''' or '''subjective camera''') is a film technique where the camera is positioned to show what a certain character is seeing from their perspective. While traditional [[establishing shot]]s, [[wide shot]]s, [[medium shot]]s, and [[close-up]]s offer an objective perspective of the scene, a POV shot offers a subjective point of view.

==Methods==
A POV shot need not be the strict point-of-view of an actual single character in a film. Sometimes the point-of-view shot is taken over the shoulder of the character (third person), who remains visible on the screen. Sometimes a POV shot is "shared" ("dual" or "triple"), i.e. it represents the joint POV of two (or more) characters.

<blockquote>'''Point-of-view''', or simply '''p.o.v'''., [[camera angle]]s record the scene from a particular player's viewpoint. The point-of-view is an '''objective angle''', but since it falls between the objective and subjective angle, it should be placed in a separate category and given special consideration. A point-of-view shot is as close as an objective shot can approach a subjective shot—and still remain objective. The camera is positioned at the side of a subjective player—whose viewpoint is being depicted—so that the audience is given the impression they are standing cheek-to-cheek with the off-screen player. The viewer does not see the event through the player's eyes, as in a subjective shot in which the camera trades places with the screen player. He sees the event from the player's viewpoint, as if standing alongside him. Thus, the camera angle remains objective, since it is an unseen observer not involved in the action." 
:—[[Joseph V. Mascelli]], ''The Five C's of Cinematography''<ref>{{cite book |title=The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques Simplified |first1=Joseph V. |last1=Mascelli |year=1965 |location=Hollywood, Calif. |publisher=Cine/Grafic Publications |isbn=9780960024001 |oclc=566601 |page=22}}</ref></blockquote>

Supporting narrative elements are required to indicate the shot to the viewer as a POV shot. These may include shot sequencing (e.g. [[shot/reverse shot]]), [[sound effects]], [[visual effects]] and acting. The next sequential shot often showcases the character's reaction to the event, which helps convey the feelings and emotional state.<ref>{{cite web|title= Point Of View Shot – Everything You Need To Know|date=29 December 2021 |url=https://www.nfi.edu/point-of-view-shot/|accessdate=31 July 2025}}</ref>

Some films are partially or totally shot using this technique, for example the 1947 [[film noir]] ''[[Lady in the Lake]]'', which is shot entirely through the subjective POV of its central character in an attempt to replicate the first-person narrative style of the [[The Lady in the Lake|Raymond Chandler novel upon which the film is based.]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Lady in the Lake|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04E3DE123EEE3BBC4C51DFB766838C659EDE|access-date=16 July 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 24, 1947}}</ref>

==Technology==
{{Update|section|date=March 2016}}
POV footage has existed since the first cameras were mounted in early airplanes<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematography.com/articles/aerial_history.asp |title=History of Hollywood's Aerial Cinematography |first=Stan |last=McClain |publisher=cinematography.com |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020614195440/http://www.cinematography.com/articles/aerial_history.asp |archive-date=14 June 2002}}</ref> and cars, anywhere a film's creator intended to take viewers inside the action with the psychological purpose of giving viewers a feel of "What he or she is going through", he or she being a participant in the subject matter. Cameras were increasingly introduced into more difficult experiences.

[[Dick Barrymore]], an early action filmmaker akin to [[Warren Miller (director)|Warren Miller]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ski.mountainzone.com/interviews/2000/barrymore/html/ |title=Doing It All and Breaking Even |first1=Michelle  |last1=Quigley |year=2000 |publisher=MountainZone.com |access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref> experimented with film cameras and counter weights mounted to a helmet.{{page needed|date=September 2013}}<!-- Possibly from here: {{cite book |title=Breaking Even |first1=Dick |last1=Barrymore |year=1997 |location=Missoula, Mont. |publisher=Pictorial Histories |isbn=9781575100371 |oclc=39924562 |url=http://www.dickbarrymore.com/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211044231/http://www.dickbarrymore.com/book1.asp |archivedate=11 December 2002 |url-status=usurped |accessdate=2 September 2013}} --> Barrymore could ski unencumbered while capturing footage of scenery and other skiers. Though the unit was heavy relative to its manner of use, it was considered hands-free, and worked.

[[File:Tilta-hermit-helmet-sony-fx3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=carbon fiber helmet system with camera mount for shooting point-of-view video footage|[[Tilta]] POV helmet for capturing point-of-view footage]]

Numerous companies have developed successful POV designs, from [[Laparoscopy|laparoscopic]] video equipment used inside the body during medical procedures, to high tech film and digital cameras mounted to jets and employed during flight, or on helmet based systems used by cinematographers. These designs are expensive, and mostly bespoke or DIY solutions. There are systems made by camera equipment manufacturers, but they require professional filmmaking experience and training.<ref name="tilta">[https://www.newsshooter.com/2021/07/30/tilta-hermit-pov-support-system/ "Tilta Hermit POV Support System"] News Shooter.</ref>

Up until the 2010's, the race for hands-free POV cameras for use on a consumer level has faced problems. The technology has had issues with usability, combining lenses with microphones with batteries with recording units; all connected using spidery cables, which proved cumbersome in use when compared to the quality of the end content. Since then, improvements in [[Camera phone|mobile phone camera systems]] and the introduction of [[action camera]]s from companies like [[GoPro]], [[DJI]], and [[Insta360]] have risen to the occasion and offer sophisticated camera stabilization with video quality that is impressive for their small camera sensor size.<ref name="insta360">[https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/insta360-one-rs-camera-review/ "The Insta360 One RS Takes the Frustration out of Shooting POV"] Singletracks.</ref><ref name="popmechcameras">[https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/g36607102/action-cameras/ "The 7 Best Action Cameras for Incredibly Sharp POV Video"] Popular Mechanics.</ref><ref name="iphone-pov">[https://fstoppers.com/diy/how-get-great-looking-first-person-pov-footage-your-iphone-631430" How to Get Great-Looking First-Person PoV Footage With Your iPhone"] Fstoppers.</ref>

==Notable examples==
1927's ''[[Napoléon (1927 film)|Napoléon]]'', directed by [[Abel Gance]], is considered the first example of the POV technique in film. The camera was wrapped in sponge padding and mounted on a breastplate worn by main cameraman [[Jules Krugerg]]. Gance wrote in the technical scenario that the camera "defends itself as if it were Bonaparte himself... as if it were human. A punch in the lens. Arms at the side of the camera as if the camera itself had arms. [Krugerg] falls on the ground, struggles, gets up."<ref>{{cite book |last=Brownlow |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Brownlow |title=Napoleon: Abel Gance's Classic Film |edition=1st |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |year=1983 |isbn=9780394533940 |pages=56–57, 76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HeGAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Camera+K%22 |access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref>

[[Alfred Hitchcock]] used POV shots extensively in his films, often to explore the subjective psychology of the characters. His film ''[[Rear Window]]'' (1954) famously employs this technique to position the audience in the voyeuristic role of the main character witnessing a crime from his window. 
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panix.com/~sallitt/intrarealism.html|title=Point of View and "Intrarealism" in Hitchcock|access-date=12 March 2014|first=Daniel|last= Sallitt}}</ref>

In ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' (1931), director [[Rouben Mamoulian]] uses a beginning point-of-view shot.
 
The long running British sitcom ''[[Peep Show (British TV series)|Peep Show]]'' is filmed entirely in POV shots. At a 2015 preview screening of the final series, David Mitchell half-jokingly said: "Filming things POV is a ''stupid'' way to film things. It's much harder to do than the normal way of filming. It could not be clearer to me after all these years why no other programme is filmed that way."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-06 |title=David Mitchell on Peep Show: 'POV is a stupid way to film' – video |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/nov/06/david-mitchell-on-peep-show-pov-is-a-stupid-way-to-film-video |access-date=2025-06-29 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

The film [[Friday the 13th (1980 film)|''Friday the 13th'']] often portrays the killer's perspective, and the killer is not revealed until the end. Introducing the killer through their point-of-view is a common trope in horror and thriller movies.<ref>Clover, Carol J. "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film." Representations, no. 20, Fall 1987, pp. 187–228, DOI:10.2307/2928507.</ref>

The film ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)]]'' (1991) utilizes the killer POV trope, and contains a large number of shots shown from protagonist Clarice Starling's ([[Jodie Foster]]) POV, adding suspense.

''[[The Plainclothesman]]'', an early US television series, assumed the title character's POV.

''[[Enter the Void]]'' (2009) by [[Gaspar Noé]] is shot from the first-person viewpoint, although in an unusual way, since most of the movie involves an [[out-of-body experience]].

The action film ''[[Hardcore Henry]]'' (2015) consists entirely of POV shots, presenting events from the perspective of the title character, in the style of a [[first-person shooter]] video game.

Nearly the entire film ''[[Maniac (2012 film)|Maniac]]'' is shot from the murderer's point of view, with his face being shown only in reflections and occasionally in the third person.

The season 5 premiere of ''[[Broad City]]'', titled "Stories", is almost entirely filmed in a point-of-view (POV) style, specifically resembling a social media story captured on iPhones.

The documentary ''[[I Didn't See You There]]'' (2022) is shot from the physical perspective of director Reid Davenport, largely from his electric wheelchair. The film expands the scope of point-of-view cinema towards a disabled aesthetic generated by Davenport's embodiment.

The Australian films ''[[Australian Rules (film)|Australian Rules]]'' (2002), ''[[Romulus, My Father (film)|Romulus, My Father]]'' (2007), and ''[[True History of the Kelly Gang (film)|True History of the Kelly Gang]]'' (2019) each use a point-of-view shot to illustrate the perspective of a young boy protagonist.<ref>{{Citation | title= The Boy Who Looks: Previewing Masculinities and Violence Through Boyhoods on Screen|first=Timothy|last=Laurie| journal= Australian Feminist Studies | year= 2025 |volume=39|issue=119–120|url=https://www.academia.edu/127471912}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Camera angle]]
* [[Camera operator]]
* [[Dutch angle]]
* [[Kuleshov effect]]
* [[Point-of-view pornography]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cinematic techniques}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Film editing]]
[[Category:Cinematic techniques]]
[[Category:Point of view]]