Over-the-Shoulder

A shot taken from behind one person, looking over their shoulder at another person facing them. The near person’s shoulder and the back of their head sit at the edge of the frame, so it naturally shows where the two people stand. It is used most often when cutting back and forth between two people in a conversation.

Camera position seen at an angle from the side. From behind the near bunny’s right shoulder, at eye level, it looks at the facing bunny.

Camera view. The near bunny’s head and shoulder sit on the left of the frame, and the facing bunny shows from the waist up.

How it feels

Conversation
Relationship
Tension
Anticipation
Intimacy

When to use it

Two people talking or negotiating
Shot/reverse shot editing that cuts back and forth in a conversation
Showing what a character is looking at, like a view or an object
Showing the relationship between interviewer and interviewee

In the movies

No Country for Old Men (2007) · Source: Miramax (YouTube) · Original video

12 Angry Men (1957) · Source: Movieclips (YouTube) · Original video

Not to be confused with

POV: A POV looks from where the character’s eyes are, so that character is not in frame. An over-the-shoulder looks from behind the character, so their shoulder is visible.
Two-shot: In a two-shot, both people face forward and stand side by side in one frame.
Dirty Single: When the near person barely enters the edge of the frame, it is called a dirty single.

Prompt

Keyword

over-the-shoulder shot

Descriptive

Over-the-shoulder shot. The camera is placed behind one character, whose shoulder and the back of whose head frame the left edge, looking at a second character facing them in a medium shot.

Try these combinations

Over-the-shoulder + low-key: a tense negotiation
Over-the-shoulder shot during a tense negotiation across a table, dim office, low-key lighting
Over-the-shoulder: the view a character is looking at
Over the shoulder of a woman looking out at stormy waves from a cliffside