Filming & Production
Overhead shot
Also called: top-down shot, flat lay, bird's-eye shot
Everything is seen from directly above, so the frame reads as a flat plane and the action inside it is unobstructed. Cooking, crafts, unboxing, keyboard work and anything demonstrated with hands lives here, because no angle hides what the hands are doing. Getting one steady is the hard part. An overhead arm or a C-stand with a boom will hold it; a tripod leaning over the table will not, and the rig needs a counterweight or it will eventually find your subject. Watch your own shadow too, since the light and the camera both want the same space.