Film Technical Terms

Close-up

A shot where the camera is a very short distance away from the subject, often used to depict detail.

Medium Shot

A shot where the camera is at a middle distance from the subject, focusing on it while showing contextual information.

Long Shot

A shot where the camera is a long distance from the subject, providing an overall view of the setting or scene.

High-Angle Shot

A shot where the camera looks down on the subject, often making them appear powerless or vulnerable.

Low-Angle Shot

A shot where the camera looks up at the subject, often making them appear powerful or threatening.

Reverse Shot

A shot that cuts to show the opposite view of the previous shot, commonly used in dialogue sequences.

Point of View Shot

A shot that represents what a particular character sees.

Static Shot

A shot where the camera is stationary for the entire length of the shot.

Dynamic Shot

A shot where the camera performs movements during the shot.

Zoom

A camera movement that adjusts the lens to move the viewer closer to or farther away from the initial shot.

Pan

A camera move where the camera stays stationary but rotates horizontally.

Tilt

A camera move where the camera stays stationary but rotates vertically.

Dolly Shot

A camera move where the entire camera moves to change the initial shot.

Tracking Shot

A shot where the camera follows a subject as it moves out of the initial shot.

Mise-en-scène

The arrangement of everything that appears in the shot, which can be analyzed for meaning.

Focus

Refers to the depth of field of a shot, or how many layers of a shot the viewer can easily perceive.

Deep focus

Shots that allow the foreground, middle ground, and background to be seen clearly.

Shallow focus

Shots that make only one layer of the shot in focus, leaving other layers blurry.

Linear Composition

Composition of shots primarily using horizontal and vertical lines to convey stability.

Jump Cut

A sudden cut that disrupts the viewer's orientation and violates continuity.

Fade In / Out

A gradual transition where a shot appears from or disappears into a blank screen.

Dissolve Edit

A transition where the old shot fades out while the new shot fades in.

Montage

A series of disparate shots overlapped in editing so they appear on screen at the same time or in sequence.

Pacing

The speed of cuts in a sequence, affecting the perceived action and tension of the scene.