{{Unreferenced|date=June 2007}}
"'''American shot'''" is a translation of a phrase from [[France|French]] [[film criticism]], "''plan américain''" and refers to a medium-long ("knee") [[Shot (filming)|film shot]] of a group of characters, who are arranged so that all are visible to the camera. 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.

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.

[[Category:Film techniques]]

[[de:Einstellungsgröße]]
[[fr:Plan américain]]
[[pl:Plan amerykański]]