Establishing shot, that's probably the closest one yet. The description from Life on the Mississippi reminds me of the opening--establishing shot--of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

Joe Alvarez
900 Havel Court
Charlotte, NC 28211-4253
Telephone: 704.364.2844
FAX: 704.364.9348

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 25, 2016, at 1:47 AM, Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> What you called the"birds-eye view" might also be called an establishing
> shot
> Not by Twain, though.
> 
> On Aug 25, 2016 1:27 AM, "Joe Alvarez" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> How about "zoom in"? That is what is happening in your description.
> 
> Joe Alvarez
> 900 Havel Court
> Charlotte, NC 28211-4253
> Telephone: 704.364.2844
> FAX: 704.364.9348
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Aug 24, 2016, at 8:33 PM, Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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>> I have a question about one passage in Life on the Mississippi. I suspect
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>> It's the passage where we first get a birds-eye view of a place along the
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>> Back in grad school, a professor used a term to define this technique of
>> moving from the general to the specific, but I can't figure out now what
>> term he meant.
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>> Any ideas?
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>> Dr. Wesley Britton
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>> Author, Beta-Earth Chronicles
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>> www.drwesleybritton.com
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