Establishing Shot
A wide shot, typically at the beginning of a scene, that establishes the context for the scene.
In depth
It tells the audience where we are and often what time of day it is. It helps spatially orient the viewer before cutting to tighter shots of the action.
Example
“A wide shot of the New York City skyline before cutting to characters talking in an apartment.”
Origin and history
The establishing shot became a default convention of classical Hollywood storytelling in the 1930s and 1940s, codifying the 'long-medium-close' progression that taught generations of audiences how to read screen geography. Television sitcoms inherited the convention wholesale: nearly every scene change in a multi-camera comedy still opens on a stock exterior of the relevant building before cutting back inside.
Why filmmakers use it
The establishing shot does invisible work — it answers the question 'where are we?' so the audience never has to ask. Modern filmmakers sometimes withhold it deliberately to disorient viewers, dropping audiences into a tight close-up first and only later revealing the wider context. Both choices are storytelling tools: the conventional opener is reassuring, while its absence is destabilizing.
More examples in cinema
- Every episode of 'Friends' opens scenes with a stock exterior of the apartment building or Central Perk.
- David Fincher's 'Zodiac' uses sweeping aerial establishing shots of San Francisco to reinforce the procedural, geographic feel of the investigation.