establishing shot

[ ih-stab-li-shing shot ]

noun

1. (in film and TV production) a scene-opening shot, usually very wide, that sets up the context for the scene:

   Opening a movie with an establishing shot of a city skyline was especially common in the sixties and seventies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of establishing shot¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

After the meeting, it’s Takahashi and Mayuzumi we follow back to nearby Tokyo, first seen in an establishing shot almost exaggeratedly unappealing after the crisp countryside beauty in cinematographer Yoshio Kitagawa’s camerawork.

From Los Angeles Times

I'm not trying to write a movie, but sometimes I'll think, “Well, maybe I need an establishing shot here. Maybe I need to back up and get high and look down at the city of Las Vegas or give a background on a character.”

From Salon

Betts’ original cut opened on an establishing shot of a tree in a grassy field, which is later revealed to be an unmarked burial ground for America’s enslaved Africans.

From Los Angeles Times

Where other films might just throw in a stock establishing shot of the Space Needle, in these moments, “Fantasy A” cuts deeper, memorializing places that were integral parts of the fabric of life in Seattle, such as the old Midtown Center shopping strip at 23rd Avenue and East Union Street that has since been torn down.

From Seattle Times

Momentary glimpses of the Chrysler Building or the New York Public Library work almost as an establishing shot: This is New York City, baby.

From New York Times