Final Exam Film 100

Medium Long Shot

Medium Long Shot

Interviewee looks into space in the frame

Big Close Up

Long Shot

Moving Subject walks into space

Close up

Very Long Shot

High Angle Shot (looking down)

Medium Close-up

Two Shot

Low angle shot (looking up)

Medium Shot

Over the Shoulder Shot

Tilted Frame

Action

In a screenplay, the description of narrative events in a scene, excluding dialog.

AD

Assistant director. Crew member responsible for the logistical planning of a production.

ADR

Automated Dialog Replacement: dialog re-recorded in post production using an audio loop in which actors match their lines on screen.

Aperture

The hole at the center of the lens, which lets in light. The f-stop ring on a lens adjusts the size of the aperture.

Art Director

The artist on a production crew responsible for the design of everything in a film's environment.

Aspect Ratio

The size of a screen format expressed as the ratio of the width in relation to the height.

Assembly cut

Technically the first cut of the film, including the best shots in the correct order to create scenes and a sense of narrative direction.

Atmospheric/Ambient/Walla track

A sound track providing a particular atmosphere.

Attack

The beginning portion of any sound.

Axis of action/ Line of action/ 180 degree line

The invisible line in a scene representing the scene's dramatic polarization.

Baby Legs

A miniature tripod often used for low angle shots.

Back lighting

Lighting from behind the featured character in a shot.

Backstory

The events stated or implied to have happened prior to the period covered in the screenplay or the film.

BCU

Big close-up. A close-up that cuts off the very top and bottom of someone's head, leaving just the face.

Beat

The point in a narrative in which a significant change occurs for the story or for one or more characters' consciousness.

BG

Background.

Blocking

Arrangements and positioning of the actors with regards to the camera and the set/location.

Boom

A support pole suspending the microphone close to the speaking actors, but just outside the frame.

Bounced light

Light that is reflected off of a white or metallic surface to avoid direct lighting.

Callback

Second round of auditioning for actors who have successfully passed the first round.

Call Sheet

A document detailing what is being shot on a certain day, and who and what are required at the shoot.

Camera operator

Crew member who handles the camera, framing the shot as directed by the Director of Photography.

Camera motivation

The narrative reason for the movement or position of a camera in a specific shot or scene.

Camera to subject axis

The invisible line drawn between the subject and the camera in the composition.

Casting Breakdown

An advertisement calling for actors, describing the specific role in question, as well as the film itself.

Cinema Vérité

A documentary shooting method in which the camera is subservient to an actuality sometimes instigated by the director.

Clean entrance / exit

An object or subject entirely entering or clearing the frame.

Climax

The dramatic apex of a story, or sometimes of a scene.

Close-up

A tight single shot of a character, usually including the head and neck and little to no background.

Color temperature

The prevailing color, measured in degrees Kelvin, of a white object hit by light in the frame.

Complementary shots

Shots that are designed to intercut with each other.

Contingency plan / percentage

A percentage added to a budget to provide for the unforeseen.

Continuity

The smooth flow from shot to shot and scene to scene, temporally and/or spatially.

Coverage

The variety of shots a director chooses to shoot for a particular scene.

Crane

To move the camera vertically through space, particularly using a crane.

Crib notes

A director's notes listing intentions and 'don't forgets' for a scene.

Cutaway

A shot, sometimes from a character's POV, which allows us to 'cut away' from the main action of a scene.

Dailies / Rushes

A production's daily output of motion picture, exported/processed and ready to view with the team.

Depth of field

The distance of acceptably sharp focus in front and behind the plane of primary focus.

Dénouement

The ending or final outcome of the main dramatic conflict in a film or any narrative.

Diegetic Sound

Sounds that characters can hear and which belong naturally in the environment of a scene.

Diffused light

Light that casts indistinct shadows because it is composed of disorganized rays.

Direct Cinema

A low profile documentary style of shooting that supposedly disallows any directorial intrusion.

Director

Artist and member of the film's production team responsible for directing the actors.

Director of photography / DP / Cinematographer

The artist and crew member responsible for a production's camera work and lighting.

Dramatic tension

The unresolved knowledge, hopes, fears, and expectations that keep us wanting to know 'and what happens next?'

DP

Head of the camera department

Dolly shot

Shot on wheeled camera support

Dutch angle

Camera deliberately tilted off horizontal plane

Edit Decision List

List of editorial decisions at end of editing process

ECU

Extreme close-up shot cutting off part of subject's face

Ellipsis

Condensing real time into narrative time by cutting out events

Equalizing/EQ

Using sound filters to match sound tracks seamlessly

Establishing Shot

Indicates scene's setting, new time or place in story

Exposition

Relaying necessary narrative and character info to audience

Exposure

Amount of light hitting film or sensor chip

EXT.

Abbreviation for 'exterior' in screenplay scene heading

Eyeline

Visual trajectory and gaze of character on camera

Fade in / Fade out

Increasing or lowering image level on screen

Fade up / Fade down

Increasing or lowering sound level on soundtrack

Falling Action / Resolution

Wind down events after film's climax

FG

Foreground

Fill light

Diffused secondary light to soften shadows

Final cut / delivery cut

Last edit of film for distribution

Fine cut / locked cut

Final edit before adding audio and visual effects

Flashback

Moving temporarily backwards in time

Floor Plan

Diagram showing placements/movements from bird's eye view

Focus

Sharpness and clarity of objects seen through camera lens

Focal distance

Distance between camera and subject

Foley

Stage where sounds are recreated to picture

Frontal lighting

Lighting from direction of camera, minimizing shadows

Audio channels

Different streams of audio, such as dialog, sound effects, and music, in a film.

Montage

A sequence of shots without continuity that shows the process or passage of time.

Motivated lighting

Lighting a scene based on the reality of the environment.

Motivated performance / motivated directing

Acting or directing based on a character's goal or motivation, not just for effect.

Narrative

An account of events or a story; the storytelling nature of a film.

Noise

The unwanted portion of a sound in film, as opposed to the signal.

Normal Lens

A lens that reproduces objects with similar perspective, size, and distance as the human eye.

Omniscient POV

A storytelling mode where the audience sees everything in the story, as if the author knows all.

On the nose

Storytelling that is literal or overly explicit.

Over the shoulder

A shot that includes one character prominently and the other from over their shoulder.

Pacing

The rate of movement or flow of events in a film's story, affecting the narrative tempo.

Pan

Rotating the camera horizontally from a central pivot point.

Participant/subject

Someone who takes part in a documentary.

Pitching

Oral presentation of a film proposal to attract support for the project.

Plot

The arrangement of incidents and causality logic in a story.