FILM 111 glossary

180° system

The continuity approach to editing dictates that the camera should stay on one side of the action to ensure consistent left–right spatial relations between elements from shot to shot. The 180° line is the same as the axis of action. See also continuity editing, screen direction.

2D computer animation

Digitally generated series of images that give the appearance of flat drawings or paintings.

3D computer animation

Digitally generated series of images that imitate the rounded look of people, puppets, or models (not to be confused with stereoscopic 3D images viewed through glasses).

abstract form

A type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to one another through repetition and variation of such visual qualities as shape, color, rhythm, and direction of movement.

Academy ratio

The standardized shape of the film frame established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the original ratio, the frame was 1⅓ times as wide as it was high (1.33

aerial perspective

A cue for suggesting depth in the image by presenting objects in the distance less distinctly than those in the foreground.

anamorphic lens

A lens for making widescreen films using regular Academy ratio frame size. The camera lens takes in a wide field of view and squeezes it onto the frame, and a similar projector lens unsqueezes the image onto a wide theater screen.

aspect ratio

The relationship of the frame’s width to its height. The standard Academy ratio is currently 1.85

associational form

A type of organization in which the film’s parts are juxtaposed to suggest similarities, contrasts, concepts, emotions, and expressive qualities.

asynchronous sound

Sound that is not matched temporally with the movements occurring in the image, as when dialogue is out of synchronization with lip movements.

auteur

The presumed or actual author of a film, usually identified as the director; also sometimes used in an evaluative sense to distinguish good filmmakers (auteurs) from bad ones.

axis of action

In the continuity editing system, the imaginary line that passes through the main actors or the principal movement. The axis of action defines the spatial relations of all the elements of the scene as being to the right or left. The camera is not supposed to cross the axis at a cut and thus reverse those spatial relations. The axis of action is also called the 180° line. See also 180° system, screen direction.

backlighting

Illumination cast onto the figures in the scene from the side opposite the camera, usually creating a thin outline of highlighting on those figures.

canted framing

A view in which the frame is not level; either the right or the left side is lower than the other, causing objects in the scene to appear slanted out of an upright position.

categorical form

A type of filmic organization in which the parts treat distinct subsets of a topic. For example, a film about the United States might be organized into 50 parts, each devoted to a state.

cel animation

Animation that uses a series of drawings on pieces of celluloid, called cels for short. Slight changes between the drawings combine to create an illusion of movement.

CGI (Computer-generated imagery)

Using digital software systems to create figures, settings, or other material in the frame.

cheat cut

In the continuity editing system, a cut that presents continuous time from shot to shot but that mismatches the positions of figures or objects.

cinematography

A general term for all the manipulations of the film strip by the camera in the shooting phase and by the laboratory in the developing phase.

close-up

A framing in which the scale of the object shown is relatively large; most commonly, a person’s head seen from the neck up, or an object of a comparable size that fills most of the screen.

constructive editing

Editing that suggests a scene’s space by providing only portions of it, without an establishing shot.

continuity editing

A system of cutting to maintain continuous and clear narrative action. Continuity editing relies on matching screen direction, position, and temporal relations from shot to shot. For specific techniques of continuity editing, see axis of action, crosscutting, cut-in, establishing shot, eyeline match, match on action, reestablishing shot, screen direction, shot/reverse shot.

contrast

In cinematography, the difference between the brightest and the darkest areas within the frame.

crane shot

A shot with a change in framing accomplished by placing the camera above the subject and moving through the air in any direction.

crosscutting

Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously.

cut

(1) In filmmaking, the joining of two strips of film together with a splice. (2) In the finished film, an instantaneous change from one framing to another. See also jump cut.

cutscenes

Parts of a video game over which the player has no control. They appear at the start of a game to help prepare the player for the next turn and as transitional material that links one level of the game to the next. Cutscenes are also known as “in-game cinematics” or “in-game movies,” terms that hint at their underlying similarities with film.

deep focus

A use of the camera lens and lighting that keeps objects in both close and distant planes in sharp focus.

deep space

An arrangement of mise-en-scène elements so that there is a considerable distance between the plane closest to the camera and the one farthest away. Any or all of these planes may be in focus. See also shallow space.

depth of field

The measurements of the closest and farthest planes in front of the camera lens between which everything will be in sharp focus. A depth of field from 5 to 16 feet, for example, would mean everything closer than 5 feet and farther than 16 feet would be out of focus.

dialogue overlap

In editing a scene, arranging the cut so that a bit of dialogue coming from shot A is heard under a shot that shows another character or another element in the scene.

diegetic sound

Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a source within the film’s world. See also nondiegetic sound.

digital intermediate

A strip of film is developed and scanned, frame by frame, to create a digital copy of a sequence or a whole movie. The digital copy is manipulated with software. When finished, it is scanned frame by frame onto a strip of negative film, which will be used to make prints to send to theaters.

dissolve

A transition between two shots during which the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; for a moment, the two images blend in superimposition.

dolly

A camera support with wheels, used in making tracking shots.

duration

In a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the time span presented in the plot and assumed to operate in the story. See also frequency, order.

editing

(1) In filmmaking, the task of selecting and joining camera takes. (2) In the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relations among shots.

elliptical editing

Shot transitions that omit parts of an event, causing an ellipsis in plot duration.

establishing shot

A shot, usually involving a distant framing, that shows the spatial relations among the important figures, objects, and setting in a scene.

exposure

The adjustment of the camera mechanism in order to control how much light strikes each frame of film passing through the aperture.

extreme close-up

A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very large; most commonly, a small object or a part of the body.

fade-in / fade-out

A dark screen that gradually brightens as a shot appears (fade-in), or a shot that gradually disappears as the screen darkens (fade-out). Occasionally, fade-outs brighten to pure white or to a color.

film noir

“Dark film,” a term applied by French critics to a type of American film, usually in the detective or thriller genres, with low-key lighting and a somber mood.

focal length

The distance from the center of the lens to the point at which the light rays meet in sharp focus. The focal length determines the perspective relations of the space represented on the flat screen.

focus

The degree to which light rays coming from the same part of an object through different parts of the lens reconverge at the same point on the film frame, creating sharp outlines and distinct textures.

form

The overall system of relationships among the parts of a film.

framing

The use of the edges of the film frame to select and compose what will be visible onscreen.

frequency

In a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the number of times any story event is shown in the plot.

ideology

A relatively coherent system of values, beliefs, or ideas shared by some social group and often taken for granted as natural or inherently true.

iris

A round, moving mask that can close down to end a scene (iris-out) or emphasize a detail, or that can open to begin a scene (iris-in) or to reveal more space around a detail.

jump cut

An elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a single shot. Either the figures seem to change instantly against a constant background, or the background changes instantly while the figures remain constant.

key light

In the three-point lighting system, the brightest illumination coming into the scene.

lens

A shaped piece of transparent material (usually glass) with either or both sides curved to gather and focus light rays.

long shot

A framing in which the scale of the object shown is small; a standing human figure would appear nearly the height of the screen.

long take

A shot that continues for an unusually lengthy time before the transition to the next shot.

low-key lighting

Illumination that creates strong contrast between light and dark areas of the shot, with deep shadows and little fill light.

match-on action

A continuity cut that splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted.

medium shot

A framing in which the scale of the object shown is of moderate size; a human figure seen from the waist up would fill most of the screen.

mise-en-scène

All of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed

montage sequence

A segment of a film that summarizes a topic or compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images.

motif

An element in a film that is repeated in a significant way.

narration

The process through which the plot conveys or withholds story information.

nondiegetic sound

Sound, such as mood music or a narrator’s commentary, represented as coming from a source outside the space of the narrative.

pan

A camera movement with the camera body turning to the right or left. On the screen, it produces a mobile framing that scans the space horizontally.

point-of-view shot (POV shot)

A shot taken with the camera placed approximately where the character’s eyes would be, showing what the character would see.

racking focus

Shifting the area of sharp focus from one plane to another during a shot.

rear projection

A technique for combining a foreground action with a background action filmed earlier.

screen direction

The right–left relationships in a scene, set up in an establishing shot and determined by the position of characters and objects in the frame.

shot/reverse shot

Two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation.

storyboard

A tool used in planning film production, consisting of comic-strip-like drawings of individual shots or phases of shots with descriptions written below each drawing.

style

The repeated and salient uses of film techniques characteristic of a single film or a group of films.

three-point lighting

A common arrangement using three directions of light on a scene

tilt

A camera movement with the camera body swiveling upward or downward on a stationary support.

tracking shot

A mobile framing that travels through space forward, backward, or laterally.

wipe

A transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating one shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one.

zoom lens

A lens with a focal length that can be changed during a shot.