LONG SHOT

Usually (but not necessarily) the opening establishing shot of the movie is a long shot. It may be a building where the story begins, a field, a church, a familiar locale of a city, a night club, a sewer (if that's where your movie takes place -- I know someone who talked about making a movie called TUNNEL RATS, and he wasn't talking about rodents) -- whatever the location, a long shot is the best way of establishing it. It is usually photographed with a wide angle lens (approximately a 25mm lens in 35mm photography and a 10mm lens in 16mm photography.) The main thing is what the shot encompasses. If it encompasses a general setting that gives the opening shot of the film as much information as can be clearly presented with one angle, then it's an establishing shot and can be shot with any lens.

It is called a long shot because the camera is placed far away to capture a large area of view. The long shot should be a locked shot (no camera movement of any sort -- rock steady.) There are many exceptions; but a moving long shot draws the attention of the audience to the fact that they're watching a movie, and what you're usually concerned with, especially in the establishing shots, is in creating the basis for believability, the illusion of reality. The long shot usually introduces the beginning of every scene. It sets in motion the audiences perception of time, place and logical action of the scene that is about to transpire.

For example, the first shot of the sequence of the stagecoach coming into town will normally be shot as a long shot. If the story is revolving more around the Marshall, who's waiting for the outlaw and ends up falling in love with the lady who's also arriving in the same stagecoach unexpectedly, then you might open the sequence with a medium shot of the Marshall sitting by the window in his office, and allow the stagecoach to appear through the window behind him, approaching from a distance and framed in the background to one side or over his head.

In the other example, you may start with a long shot of the field where the helicopter might land, angling the lens so that it picks up a lot of sky. Then with the locked camera, allow the copter to land in the frame, where it's designated to land, without having to follow it at all. The discipline required to shoot this scene well has to do with planning the whole action so that you'll capture everything: the copter landing, the dust cloud (if any,) all the principal actors who are on land and the area where the action takes place centrally located or imposingly framed.

Also, when shooting a musical number, a battle or the deck of an aircraft carrier, it doesn't really matter what it is, try to plan so that the whole action takes place within one immobile frame. The musical number will suck you into its magic, the scene of the battle will engage your curiosity and the deck of the aircraft carrier will appear steady even as the ocean horizon moves violently -- with the long shot and the locked camera you'll create the best illusion of reality.

There are some special exceptions that have to be mentioned. You can shoot effectively in long shot when using a moving crane, a tracking shot, a moving car shot, a moving aerial shot and, of course, all kinds of dolly shots. All these shots work, because they are assumed to be POVs (Point of Views) of some character or people. And it is technically necessary to use the wide lens so that one does not "lose" the action (the subject matter) by framing too tightly and not being able to follow a wildly or erratically moving subject. If it weren't for this reason it wouldn't be necessary or advisable to use a wide lens or the long shot in these sorts of scenes.

Part V.
Distribution. 
Finding a Distributor. 
Majors' Distribution. 
Mini-Majors. 
Independent Distributors. 
Distributing Your Own Film. 
The Foreign Market. 
Domestic Distribution. 
Festivals. 
Four-Walling. 
Video, TV & Ancillary Markets. 
Building Your Library of Films. 
Business Options. 
Corporations. 
Limited Partnerships. 
Public Offerings. 
Conclusions.