Cinematography: Principles, Crew Roles, and Film Formats

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the definition of cinematography, crew roles and responsibilities, shot definitions, and film formats and emulsion characteristics.

Cinematography

The process of capturing moving images on film or a digital storage device, derived from the Greek roots kinesis ("movement"), photo ("light"), and graphia ("writing").

Director of Photography (DP)

The primary person responsible for transforming the other aspects of moviemaking into moving images, who translates the director's vision into specific photographic decisions about lighting, lenses, exposure, camera position, and movements.

Shot (Unedited Film)

An unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of the camera.

Shot (Completed Film)

A discrete unit whose duration, starting point, and ending point are determined by the editor.

Camera Operator

The member of the camera crew who controls the camera during the shot.

First Assistant Cameraperson (First AC)

The crew member who oversees everything having to do with the camera and lenses, including adjusting focus before and during each shot.

Second Assistant Cameraperson (Second AC)

The crew member who prepares the slate, records lens and exposure details for each shot, and is responsible for moving the camera to each new setup.

Slate

A device prepared by the second AC used to identify each shot and take on the camera rolls.

Loader

The crew member who feeds film stock into magazines that are subsequently loaded onto the camera.

Digital Imaging Technician (DIT)

The technical crew member on a digital production responsible for archiving and managing the captured digital data.

Grips

All-around handypersons who collaborate with both the camera crew and the electrical crew to get the camera and lighting ready for shooting.

Cinematographic Properties of the Shot

The fundamental elements of motion-picture photography controlled by the DP that determine how an image appears, consisting of the recording medium, lighting, and lenses.

Film Stock

The traditional physical recording medium coated with microscopic light-reactive crystals, utilized in movie production since the 1890s.

Film Gauge (Format)

The standard physical width of film stock measured in millimeters, including $8\,\text{mm}$, Super $8\,\text{mm}$, $16\,\text{mm}$, Super $16\,\text{mm}$, $35\,\text{mm}$, $65\,\text{mm}$, and $70\,\text{mm}$.

IMAX

A specialized, large-scale film format that is roughly $10$ times bigger than a standard $35\,\text{mm}$ frame.

Silver Halide Crystals

Thousands of microscopic crystals coating film stock that react to light to form individual fragments of the total recorded image on each frame.

Resolution

The degree of fine detail and sharpness in an image, which increases with larger film gauges because their larger surface area accommodates more light-sensitive crystals.