Film Terminology

Film Language

	Name	Definitions and related meaning
Camerawork shots, angles, movement and composition	establishing shot	A long shot, often the first in a sequence, which establishes the positions of elements relative to each other and identifies the setting.
	Extreme close-up	From just above the eyebrows to just below the mouth, or even closer: used to emphasise facial expression or to make the subject appear threatening
	Big close-up	Head only, used when expressions are important
	close-up,	Head and shoulders, enabling you to easily see facial expressions, so you can see what characters are thinking and feeling
	Medium close-up:	From chest to head. This is a combination of a MS & CU. It is mostly used when a little more intimacy than the MS is required, but not quite so much intimacy of the CU.
	Medium shot/mid-shot,	: Shows the figure from approximately the waist to the head. In a mid shot, you can easily recognise an individual. Sometimes called the ‘everyman’ shot. Ideal shot for most dialogue scenes
	Medium long	Shows one or more characters in their surroundings focussing on the character and their reactions rather than the scenery
	long shot	A shot in which a figure can be seen from head to toe. A shot in which a large object (e.g. a complete human figure) fits easily within the frame.
	wide shot	This is an establishing frame. It is used so that the audience can get a good idea of the surrounding environment. This shot will establish many things right away i.e. location, time scale.
	Extreme wide shot	A shot in which figures appear small in the landscape. Often used at the beginning of a film or sequence as an ‘establishing shot’ to show where the action is taking place; also used to make a figure appear small or isolated.
	two-shot,	A shot in which two actors appear within the frame.
	aerial shot,	A camera shot filmed from an airplane, helicopter, blimp, balloon, kite or high building (higher than a crane).
	subjective camera	A camera shot or film style that provides the audience with the specific vision or perspective of a character in the film (i.e. the technique of using POV).
	point of view shot,	A shot which is understood to be seen from the point of view of a character within the scene.
	over the shoulder shot	A shot in which we see a character over another’s shoulder, often used in interviews or dialogues
	reaction shot	A close-up in which an actor or group is seen to respond to an event, often accomplished with a cutaway from the primary action to someone viewing the occurrence.
	reverse angle	Two successive shots from equal and opposite angles, typically of characters during conversation.
	bridging shot	A shot that connects one scene to another by showing a change in time or location. A bridging shot can also be used to connect two shots from the same scene by using a close-up, distant pan or different camera angle thus relating the shots via content.
	high angle	The camera looks down, making the subject look vulnerable or insignificant.
	low angle	The camera points upwards, usually making the subject or setting seem grand or threatening
	Bird’s eye shot	Looks vertically down at the subject Omnipresent; all-pervading.
	canted angle	Also know as a Dutch Tilt is a camera shot in which the camera angle is deliberately slanted on one side. This can be used for dramatic effect and helps to portray unease, disorientation, frantic or desparate action, intoxication, madness, etc.
	pan	A movement in which the camera turns to right or left on a horizontal axis.
	Whip pan	A sudden, fast pan
	tilt	A movement by which the camera moves up or down while its support remains fixed.
	track	A shot in which the camera is pushed horizontally along the ground on a dolly.
	Dolly	A trolley on which the camera is pulled along the ground.
	Following shot	A shot with framing that shifts to keep a moving figure onscreen. A following shot combines movement, like panning, tracking, tilting or craning, with the specific function of directing our attention to character or object as he/she/it moves inside the frame.
	Arc shot	A shot in which a moving camera circles round the subject being photographed.
	Racking shot	A shift in focus between planes at different distances from the camera within the same shot.
	crane	A shot in which the camera rises above the ground on a mobile support
	passing shot	A shot producing a projected image that travels quickly across the screen, either by moving the subject past a stationary camera or by panning the camera past a stationary subject.
	steadicam	This involves a cameraman harnessing a camera to their body using a specially engineered mechanical arm. This allows the camera to move at speed but remain smooth and is often used in action sequences to demonstrate velocity.
	hand-held	This used to convey a sense of documentary realism, as in ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999). This can also be used to create immediacy and confusion, as in the opening scenes of ‘Saving Private Ryan’
	zoom	The effect of rapid movement either towards or away from the subject being photographed, either by using a specialized zoom lens or by moving the camera on a boom, crane or dolly. Zoom effects can also be achieved and enhanced by the use of an optical printer.
	Zido/zolly/jaws shot/ vertigo zoom/contra zoom/trombone shot	A technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame. The effect is quite emotional and is often used to convey sudden realisation, reaction to a dramatic event, etc.
	framing	The size and position of objects relative to the edges of the screen; the arrangement of objects so that they fit within the actual boundaries of the film.
	rule of thirds	A technique in camera framing where the frame is divided into imaginary sections to create reference points.
	depth of field	This means how much of the shot seems to be in focus, in front of and behind the subject.
	deep and shallow focus	Deep focus Everything in the shot appears to be in focus, which means that we can be looking at action taking place in the foreground, middle ground and background. Shallow focus Isolates the subject from the background.
	focus pulls	Similar to racking shot. The focus is adjusting and refocuses during a shot.
	Some of the effects of these shots are listed below.
	Enigma	Creates a sense of mystery. For example there may be a delay before the characters identity is revealed as the camera slowly tilts from the feet to the head.
	Intertextuality	Often related to post-modernism and its culture and criticism. The notion being that we now understand texts by their relationship or reference to another text, or that a text is successful principally because of its intertextual references, e.g the Simpsons. One of the effects on the audience of recognising intertextuality is that it flatters their ability to recognise references and feel superior, or to feel part of a group who share the same ‘joke’.
	Post-modernism	A movement or phase in twentieth-century thought. The term is complex and difficult to define in simple terms. It is applied to all arts and at its most basic refers to the way new products can be constructed by making reference to already existing ones.
Editing – transitions of image and sound; continuity and non-continuity systems	Editing	How the individual shots are put together
	Cutting	One image is suddenly replaced by another, without a visible transition.
	sequence	A series of segments of a film narrative edited together and unified by a common setting, time, event or story-line.
	Continuity editing	The majority of film sequences are edited so that time seems to flow, uninterrupted, from shot to shot.. The conventions through which the impression of an unbroken continuum of space and time is suggested, constructing a consistent storyline out of takes made at different times.
	shot/reverse shot	Two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation. Over-the-shoulder framings are common in shot/reverse shot editing. Shot/reverse shots are one of the most firmly established conventions in cinema, and they are usually linked through the equally persuasive eyeline matches.
	eyeline match	The cut in which the first shot shows a person looking off in one direction and the second shows a nearby space containing what he or she sees.
	graphic match	A visual rhyme between two successive shots.
	action match	A cut between two shots of the same action from different positions, giving an impression of seamless simultaneity
	jump cut	A rapid, jerky transition from one frame to the next, either disrupting the flow of time or movement within a scene or making an abrupt transition from one scene to another.
	montage	Style of editing involving rapid cutting so that one image is juxtaposed with another or one scene quickly dissolves into the next. Angles, settings and framing are manipulated in a conspicuous way (violating coherent mise-en-scene) so as to convey a swift passage of time, to create some kind of visual or conceptual continuity, or to generate a distinctive rhythm. (See also dynamic cutting.)
	Crosscutting aka parallel editing	Swiftly cutting backwards and forwards between more than one scene. Aspects of a story happening simultaneously with the primary performer’s situation, edited so that the projected image goes back and forth between the primary and secondary scenes (often leading up to a convergence of the two actions).
	Overlapping edit	Cuts that repeat part or all of an action, thus expanding its viewing time and plot duration. It shows the same scene from different angles.
	Cutaway	A sudden shift to another scene of action or different viewing angle; or a shot inserted between scenes to effect a transition (as a bridging shot).
	Cross-dissolve	One image dissolves into another. This can be used to make a montage sequence - eg the title sequence - flow smoothly; it can also be used in continuity editing to show that we have moved forwards in time and/or space.
	fade-in	An image gradually fades in
	fade-out	An image gradually fades out. Fades to and from black usually mean that time has passed
	Whip pan	An extremely fast movement of the camera from side to side, which briefly causes the image to blur into a set of indistinct horizontal streaks. Often an imperceptible cut will join two whip pans to create a trick transition between scenes.
	Wipe	One image replaces another without dissolving, with the border between the images moving across or around the screen
	Superimposition	The exposure of more than one image on the same film strip. Unlike a dissolve, a superimposition does signify a transition from one scene to another. The technique was often used to allow the same performer to appear simultaneously as two characters on the screen. To express a subjective or intoxicated vision.
	long take	A shot that is allowed to continue for longer than usual without editing
	pace	The tempo at which the storyline of a film unfolds, affected by various elements including action, the length of scenes, camera angles, colour levels, editing, lighting, composition and sound.
	flashback	Narrative device in which the action is interrupted by scenes representing a character’s memory of events experienced before the time of the action.
	flashforward	The opposite of flashback: future events (or events imagined by a character) are shown.
Sound	Diegetic sound	Sound within the world of the film. Sound that we think is part of what’s going on the screen ­ horse’s hooves, the sound of thunder, and so on ­ even though many of these will have been added later by a ‘Foley artist’.
	non-diegetic sound	Sound that we know is not part of what’s on screen, such as music (unless there's an orchestra in shot!) and voiceover.
	synchronous sound	Sound that is matched temporally with the movements oc synchronization A precise match between film image and sound. Also called sync.curring in the images
	asynchronous sound	Film sound which is not synchronized with the screen image. See also nonsynchronous sound and synchronous sound.
	sound effects	Any sound in a film other than dialogue, narration, or music.
	sound motif	A recurrent thematic element in a film that is repeated in a significant way
	sound bridge	This uses sound to link two scenes, by having the picture and the diegetic sound change at different points. Usually the sound from the second scene is heard before we start to see the picture from that scene.
	Dialogue	Lip-synchronous speech between two or more characters in a film with the speaker usually, but not always, visible.
	Voiceover	When a voice, often that of a character in the film, is heard while we see an image of a space and time in which that character is not actually speaking
	mode of address/direct address	Where the character is speaking to the audience and looking straight into the camera.
	sound mixing	sound mixing is a process during the post-production stage of a film or a television program by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels
	sound perspective	Sounds demonstrating through the quality and intensity of coming from different places
	Soundtrack	The optical or magnetic strip at the edge of the film which carries the sound. Also, any length of film carrying only sound.
	Score	Film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film, which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film the term film score is frequently synonymous with film soundtrack,
	incidental music	Incidental music is often "background" music, and adds atmosphere to the action
	ambient sound	Here the sound is more important than notes. It is generally identifiable as being broadly atmospheric and environmental in nature.
		the process through which the plot conveys or withholds story information. It can be more or less restricted to character knowledge and more or less deep in presenting chracters' mental perceptions and thoughts.
	Dubbing	Adding an alternative sound track often foreign languages for world marketing
Mise-en-Scène	Production design
	Location
	Studio
	set design
	costume and make-up
	Properties
	Lighting
	colour design