cinematography

Magic Lantern

17th-century invention that used a lens and light source to project an image from a painted glass slide.

Zoetrope

An 1834 optical illusion toy using a revolving disk holding transparencies lit from behind to create the illusion of moving images.

Apparent Motion

The psychological process that explains our perception of movement when watching films, allowing us to process a rapid sequence of still images as continuously moving.

Series Photography

Experiments by Muybridge and Marey in the 1880s to record live action continuously, using either multiple cameras or a single condensed camera (Marey’s chronophotographic gun).

Celluloid

Invented by George Eastman in 1889; a flexible, durable film base that made portable cameras and longer series of frames possible.

Kinetograph

The first motion picture camera, invented by Thomas Edison and W.K.L. Dickson in 1891.

Kinetoscope

A peep-hole-like device invented by Edison and Dickson in 1891 that allowed one to view a film strip.

Cinematographe

An apparatus invented by the Lumière Brothers in 1895 that could be used as a camera, printer, and projector.

Birth of Cinema

Refers to 1895, the year the Lumière Brothers showed a film to a public audience for the first time.

Dream Palace Theatres

Extravagant, newly built movie theaters in the 1920s designed to accommodate feature films and their new audiences.

Studio System

An industry structure (1920s–1950s) where a few major studios (The Big 5

Paramount Decision (1948)

The Supreme Court ruling that declared the studio system a monopoly and mandated its dismantling, leading to the rise of more independent films.

Mise-en-Scène

From the French, meaning “placed in a scene;” the scenic elements of a movie, including actors, lighting, sets, costumes, make-up, and other features that exist independent of the camera.

Scenic Realism

The extent to which a movie creates a truthful picture of society, person, or life; scenic realism (from mise-en-scène) is the most prominent vehicle for cinematic realism.

Instrumental Props

Objects displayed and used according to their common function.

Metaphorical Props

Objects reinvented or deployed for an unexpected or symbolic purpose (e.g., the sled in Citizen Kane).

Blocking

The arrangement of actors in relation to one another within the physical space of the mise-en-scène.

Naturalistic Acting

An acting style that asks an actor to fully and naturally embody the role; very “realistic”.

Stylized Acting

An acting style where the actor employs highly stylized gestures or speaks in pronounced tones; the actor seems fully aware they are acting.

Leading Actors

Central characters in movies, typically the 2–3 that appear most often.

Supporting Actors

Secondary characters who serve as companions or foils to the primary character.

Extras

Actors without speaking parts who appear in the background and in crowd scenes.

Character Type

An actor associated with a conventional type because of physical traits, acting style, or previous roles (e.g., Tom Hanks as an Everyman).

Character Actor

Typically a supporting actor associated with a particular type, such as a comical sidekick or a villain (e.g., Danny Trejo).

Star

Differs from an actor in that they dominate the mise-en-scène and carry their accumulated onscreen and offscreen history (star image) into the role.

High-Key Lighting

Combines key lighting, fill lighting, and backlighting to create a bright, even distribution of light with few contrasts.

Low-Key Lighting

A style that creates a shadowy effect with sharp contrasts between the light and dark.

Shot

The basic unit of cinematography, representing a continuous point of view that cannot change, break, or cut to another image.

Subjective Point of View

Creates the perspective of a character (POV Shot).

Objective Point of View

Represents the more impersonal perspective of the camera.

Framing

The distance, angle, and height of the camera that determine the portion of the filmed subject appearing within the borders of the frame.

Canted Frame (Dutch Angle)

A frame that is unbalanced or askew.

Aspect Ratio

The relationship of the width to height of the film frame as it appears on a screen, which determines the composition.

Masks

Attachments to the camera that cut off portions of the frame so that part of the image is black, reshaping the frame.

Iris Shot

A mask that reshapes the frame so that only a small, circular piece of the image is seen (common in silent film).

Onscreen Space

The space visible within the frame of the image.

Offscreen Space

The implied space of the world that exists outside the film frame.

Close-up (CU)

A shot distance that shows details of a person or object, indicating its importance or revealing a character’s feelings.

Extreme Close-up (ECU)

An even closer shot, singling out an eye, lips, or a small object.

Medium Close-Up (MCU)

A framing showing a person from the shoulders up, typically used during conversation.

Medium Shot (MS)

A framing in which we see the body of a person from approximately the waist up.

Medium Long Shot (MLS)

A framing showing most of a person’s body, from the knees up.

Long Shot (LS)

A framing that places considerable distance between the camera and the scene, person, or object, defining the subject by the large space it is part of.

Extreme Long Shot (ELS)

Even greater distance, where the large space of the image dwarfs the object(s) or human figures.

High Angle Shot

Point of view directed from a downward angle on individuals or a scene.

Low Angle Shot

View from a lower position than its subject.

Crane Shot / Overhead Shot

Camera moves above ground level, rising or descending (crane) or depicting the action from high above (overhead).

Depth of Field

The range or distance before and behind the main focus within which objects remain relatively sharp and clear.

Deep Focus

Multiple planes in the image (foreground, middle ground, background) are in focus (e.g., Citizen Kane, 1941).

Shallow Focus

Only a narrow range of the field is in focus (e.g., background is fuzzy/undefined).

Tilt

An upward or downward rotation of the camera whose tripod or mount remains in a fixed position, producing a vertical movement onscreen.

Tracking Shot (Dolly Shot)

Changes the position of the camera by moving forward or backward or around the subject (often on tracks).

Following Shots

A pan, tilt, or tracking shot that follows an individual or object.

Hand-held Shots

Film image produced by an individual carrying a lightweight camera, creating an unsteady shot.

Steadicam

A stabilization system introduced in the 1970s that allows a camera operator to film a continuous and steady shot without losing the freedom of movement.

Long Take

A shot that lasts a long time before cutting to another shot (relates to duration; often an alternative to editing).

French New Wave

The first and most influential post-WWII film movement (1950s/1960s) known for an experimental, self-reflexive style, portable cameras, jump cuts (disjunctive editing), and location shooting.