The Cinematic Postcard
At its core, the establishing shot is exactly what it sounds like: a shot that establishes context. For decades, it was the polite and necessary opening to a scene. Typically a wide or long shot, its primary function was to orient the audience, showing
them the where and when of the story. Think of the helicopter shot soaring over the Alps in The Sound of Music, or the iconic crawl of a Star Destroyer filling the screen against the backdrop of space in Star Wars. These shots give you geography, scale, and mood all at once. Without them, audiences could feel confused or disoriented, pulled out of the narrative. This technique became a fundamental part of classical filmmaking, a simple sequence of wide shot, then medium shot, then close-up that guided the viewer seamlessly into the action.
From Grandeur to Groan
Like any popular technique, the classic establishing shot eventually became a cliché. It was so common, especially on television, that it started to feel like a tedious obligation. Every sitcom scene began with that same two-second shot of the family house; every police procedural opened with a generic aerial of a city skyline. It became predictable, a bit of visual throat-clearing before the “real” scene began. Filmmakers and audiences grew more sophisticated, and the need to have one’s hand held so explicitly began to feel dated. The shot that was once a grand, cinematic gesture—a postcard from a new world—was often reduced to a perfunctory, artless transition that many filmmakers treated as an afterthought.
A Change of Scenery
Several forces conspired to change how filmmakers approached scene-setting. The fast-paced, quick-cut style popularized by music videos in the 80s and 90s made a slow, deliberate establishing shot feel like a drag on a scene's momentum. More recently, the advent of affordable, high-quality drone technology has made sweeping aerial shots easier than ever to capture. What once required a helicopter and a massive budget can now be achieved with a relatively simple drone, leading to their ubiquity. But more importantly, storytellers began to realize that withholding a location could be just as powerful as showing it. Deliberately skipping an establishing shot can create a sense of mystery, confusion, or claustrophobia, forcing the audience to experience the same disorientation as a character. The opening of Saw, which drops us directly into a grimy, unknown room with no context, is a perfect example of how this subversion can be used for powerful effect.
The Modern Makeover
Today, the establishing shot is far from dead—it has just evolved. Instead of merely showing geography, contemporary filmmakers use it to establish a theme, reveal character, or build a specific mood. Stanley Kubrick's hypnotic opening shot in The Shining, following a car through a vast, isolating landscape, doesn't just show us where the Overlook Hotel is; it builds a powerful sense of dread. In the series Succession, the recurring shots of sterile, imposing Manhattan skyscrapers aren't just for location; they reflect the cold, impersonal, and powerful world the characters inhabit. A modern establishing shot can also incorporate the story directly, pushing in from a cityscape to a single window where the action is happening, blending setting with narrative. It’s no longer just about place; it’s about psychology.
