Film Technique

Ambient sound

Background sound, such as rustling bushes or environmental noise, excluding music.

Animation

Assembling drawings frame-by-frame to create the illusion of movement.

Art director

The designer responsible for sets and costumes in a production.

Aural bridge

Hearing the sound of the next shot before cutting to it.

Auteur

A director with a distinct, recognizable style and worldview.

Backlighting

Light placed behind a subject, often creating a halo effect.

Body language

Expression of feelings and attitudes through physical posture and movement.

Camera angle

The angle at which the camera points at a subject.

Cinematographer

The chief movie cameraman or director of photography.

Close-up (C.U.)

A shot framed tightly on a person or object, like a face.

Continuity

Ensuring details remain consistent across different takes and shots.

Crane shot

An extreme high-angle shot taken from a camera crane.

Credits

The list of cast and crew members involved in a film.

Cross-cutting

Alternating shots between two separate actions occurring simultaneously.

Cut

The transition point where one shot is spliced to another.

Cut-away

A brief shot showing something outside the main action.

Deep focus

A shot where foreground, midground, and background are all in focus.

Dissolve

A transition where one image fades out while another fades in.

Dolly

A wheeled platform used to move the camera smoothly.

Dub

Recording dialogue after filming, often replacing the original language.

Editing

Selecting, arranging, and trimming shots to construct a film.

Establishing shot

An initial long-shot giving an overview of a scene's setting.

Exposition

Background narrative information supplied to the audience at the start.

Fade in / Fade out

A transition from black to a visible image, or vice versa.

Film noir

A thriller genre characterized by a cynical, despairing, and fatalistic tone.

Flashback

A scene breaking the timeline to show events from the past.

Focus

The clarity or sharpness of a filmed image.

Footage

The physical length or amount of film shot.

Frame

A single still image, or the rectangular border of the shot.

Freeze frame

A single frame repeated to give the appearance of a photograph.

Gaffer

The head electrician responsible for lighting on set.

Genre

A category or type of film, such as sci-fi or western.

Grain

The visual texture created by film emulsion particles.

Hand-held camera

Holding the camera directly by hand rather than mounting on a tripod.

High key lighting

Bright, even illumination with minimal shadows.

Inpoint

The opening image or frame selected to start a scene.

Insert shot

A close detail shot inserted to highlight specific narrative information.

Jump cut

An abrupt, jarring edit between shots that disrupts continuity.

Location

A real-world filming site outside of a sound stage or studio.

Long lens

A high-focal-length lens that magnifies distant objects.

Long shot (L.S.)

A shot showing the subject from head to toe within their environment.

Master shot

A continuous long take covering an entire scene from start to finish.

Matte

Combining multiple visual elements into a single composite frame.

In medias res

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action.

Medium shot (M.S.)

A shot framed between a close-up and a long shot.

Mise en scène

The arrangement of everything appearing before the camera in a scene.

Montage

A rapid sequence of short shots edited together to condense time.

Morphing

Seamlessly transforming one image into another using digital effects.

Outpoint

The final frame or visual detail ending a scene.

Off camera (O.C.)

Dialogue spoken by a character who is outside the visible frame.

Over-the-shoulder shot

A frame looking over one character's shoulder toward another character.

Pan

Swiveling the camera horizontally from a fixed position.

Point-of-view shot (POV)

A shot showing what a character sees through their own eyes.

Pull focus

Shifting the focal plane from one subject to another during a shot.

Reaction shot

A shot showing a character's response to an event or speech.

Reverse angle

A shot taken from the opposite perspective of the preceding shot.

Rough cut

The preliminary assembly of edited scenes before final adjustments.

Screenplay

The written script for a film or television show.

Set-up

The specific placement of the camera and lights for a shot.

Shallow focus

A shot where only the foreground is sharp, blurring the background.

Shooting

The phase of filmmaking dedicated to capturing footage on camera.

Shot

A single continuous piece of footage captured without interruption.

Side lighting

Illumination coming from the side to emphasize texture and shape.

Skycam

A cable-suspended, computer-controlled camera system.

Soft focus

A slightly blurred focal effect producing a gentle, romantic glow.

Sound mix

Combining dialogue, music, and sound effects into a final audio track.

Sound effects

Audio element effects recorded to represent specific actions or objects.

Special effects (SFX)

Visual illusions produced via models, camera tricks, or post-production.

Split screen

Dividing the screen into two or more distinct visual frames.

Steadicam

A body-mounted camera stabilizer for smooth handheld shots.

Still

A single static photograph extracted or taken from film.

Storyboard

A series of illustrations mapping out camera shots sequentially.

Sub-text

Unspoken thoughts, motivations, and feelings underlying spoken dialogue.

Synchronisation

Aligning sound precisely with visible visual movements.

Subjective shot

A POV shot altered to reflect a character's internal mental state.

Take

A single continuous recording attempt of a particular shot.

Telephoto lens

A long focal lens that narrows field of view and magnifies distant subjects.

Texture

The surface quality of a film image or its richness of visual detail.

Threnody

An unsettling sound effect signaling an ominous mood shift.

Tighter shot

Framing closer to the subject to reduce empty space.

Tilt shot

Tilting the camera lens vertically up or down from a stationary base.

Tracking shot

Moving the entire camera alongside or behind a moving subject.

Two-shot

A camera shot containing two subjects within the frame.

Video

Electronic image recording on digital media or tape rather than film stock.

Visuals

All the visual elements displayed on screen in a film.

Voice over (VO)

Audio commentary spoken by an unseen off-screen narrator.

Wide-angle lens

A short focal length lens providing a broad field of view.

Wipe

An edit where one shot appears to push the previous shot off screen.

Zoom

Changing focal length continuously to move closer or further from a subject.