Language: English

Dirty Single

A single (a shot of one person) where the shoulder of another person in the foreground just barely enters the edge of the frame. It keeps reminding the viewer that the other person is right there. When no other person enters the frame at all, it is called a clean single. This site counts it as a dirty single when the other person takes up about 15% of the frame’s width or less.

Camera position seen at an angle from the side. Two bunnies face each other about 1 m apart, and the blue camera sits beside the near bunny’s shoulder, looking at the other at eye level.
Camera view. A little of the near bunny’s head and shoulder (about 12%) enters the left edge, and the facing bunny shows from the waist up. In the comparison, the near bunny drops out and it becomes a clean single with one bunny from the chest up.

How it feels

  • Conversation
  • Relationship
  • Presence
  • Tension
  • Isolation (clean single)

When to use it

  • Breaking a conversation scene into several angles
  • Keeping the sense that the other person is right beside them
  • Switching from dirty to clean as conflict grows and two people drift apart

In the movies

The Social Network (2010) · Source: Movieclips (YouTube) · Original video
The Social Network (2010) · Source: Movieclips (YouTube) · Original video

    Not to be confused with

    Over-the-Shoulder
    In an over-the-shoulder, the near person’s shoulder and head take up a large part of the frame (about 20-35%). In a dirty single they barely enter.
    Clean Single
    In a clean single, no part of another person enters the frame, so the character feels alone.
    Two-shot
    In a two-shot, both people are the subject of the frame.

    Prompt

    Keyword

    dirty single

    Descriptive

    Medium shot of the rabbit mascot, with the blurred edge of another character's shoulder just entering the left edge of the frame.

    Try these combinations

    • Dirty single + low-key: a detective interrogating

      Medium shot of a detective across a table, the blurred edge of the suspect's shoulder just entering the left edge of the frame, low-key lighting

    • Clean single: alone in the frame

      Medium close-up of a woman alone in frame, no other person visible, quiet room

    Related terms