Overhead Shots

Overhead shots are used sparingly during story sequences, usually as POV or establishing shots, but they’re all over the place in fight scenes. They’re used for effect rather than complimenting a narrative, sometimes just because the second unit was excited that they could get the camera up that high. You can argue that an overhead shot advances a narrative during a fight, but usually that’s not the case. So when the movie kicks into “action scene” mode, the focus shifts from story narrative to effect, and audiences disassociate the story from the fighting. That’s a bigger topic, but overhead shots stick out as prime examples of how neat “cinematic” things can take your audience out of a scene.