Editing American shot

{{Short description|Cinematic technique}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=fr|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2007}}
[[File:Clint Eastwood and Marianne Koch in "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964).jpg|thumb|An example of a "cowboy shot" in ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'']]
An '''American shot''' or '''cowboy shot''' is a medium-long ("knee") [[Shot (filming)|film shot]] of a group of characters, who are arranged so that all are visible to the camera. It is a translation of a phrase from French [[film criticism]], ''{{Lang|fr|plan américain}}.'' The usual arrangement is for the actors to stand in an irregular line from one side of the screen to the other, with the actors at the end coming forward a little and standing more in profile than the others. The purpose of the composition is to allow complex [[dialogue]] scenes to be played out without changes in camera position. In some literature, this is simply referred to as a 3/4 shot.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elements of Cinematography: Camera|url=http://www.utdallas.edu/atec/midori/Handouts/camera.htm#ms|website=utdallas.edu|publisher=[[University of Texas at Dallas]]|access-date=1 December 2015}}</ref>

One of the other main reasons why French critics called it "American shot" was its frequent use in the [[Western (genre)|western genre]]. This was because a shot that started at knee level would reveal the weapon of a cowboy, usually holstered at their waist. It is the closest the camera can get to an actor while keeping both their face and their holstered gun in frame.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hurtrez |first1=Lionel |title=Film analysis in English |date=2013 |publisher=Editions OPHRYS |isbn=978-2-7080-1391-9 |pages=7–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URLQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |access-date=5 March 2020 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

The French critics thought it was characteristic of [[Cinema of the United States|American films]] of the 1930s or 1940s; however, it was mostly characteristic of cheaper American movies, such as [[Charlie Chan]] mysteries where people collected in front of a fireplace or at the foot of the stairs in order to explain what happened a few minutes ago.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

[[Howard Hawks]] legitimized this style in his films, allowing characters to act, even when not talking, when most of the audience would not be paying attention. It became his trademark style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Howard Hawks {{!}} Biography, Movies, Scarface, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Howard-Hawks |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
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{{Cinematic techniques}}

[[Category:Cinematography]]