film terms

Actual Sound – Sound from an identifiable sound source, either on or off screen

Commentative Sound – Sound from a source outside of the physical setting, such as background music

Shot - What is recorded by a single, uninterrupted run of the camera

Close-Up - Literally, a shot in which the camera is or appears to be close to the subject (e.g., a shot of the human head)

Extreme Close-Up - A shot in which the camera is so close to the subject that only some aspect of it can be recorded, such as an eye or a monogram

Long/Full Shot - A shot in which the camera appears at a distance from the subject (the complete person with some background visible)

Extreme Long Shot - A shot is which the camera is so far away that the results is a broad, panoramic view

Medium Shot - Midway between a close up and a long shot (waist up)

Establishing Shot - Generally a long shot identifying a location, such as a shot of the New York skyline; a long shot (for example, a family gathering) that becomes the basis of closer shots of the various components (individual family members)

Over-the-Shoulder Shot - A shot in which the camera is positioned over a character’s shoulder, usually from behind, revealing what or whom the character sees. Often used in conversations between two characters

High-Angle/Bird’s Eye Shot - A shot in which the camera is positioned above (high shot) the subject

Low-Angle Shot - A shot in which the camera shoots up at the subject from below, making the subject appear larger than it actually is

Subjective/POV Camera - A technique in which the viewer stands in for the character, experiencing what the character would have experienced

Pan Shot - A shot in which the camera rotates horizontally on a fixed axis. Not properly a moving shot because the camera itself does not move, only the camera head

Tilt Shot - A shot in which the camera rotates vertically on a fixed axis

Mobile Camera – a general term for the camera in a moving state

Tracking/Dolly Shot - A moving shot taken on a dolly (a wheeled platform or cart)

Crane Shot - A shot taken when the camera is mounted on a crane (a mechanical arm attached to a trolley, similar to the cherry picker used by utilities crews), enabling the camera to engage in ascending, descending, and lateral movement

Zoom In – the illusion of movement by using a lens that can change the focal length to move into a scene

Zoom Out - the illusion of movement by using a lens that can change the focal length to move out of a scene

Freeze Frame – a form of stop-motion photography, in which the image is reduced to a still photograph

Montage – a sequence in which a series of shots appear in rapid succession

Straight Cut – the immediate transition from one shot to the next

Contrast Cut – a transition from one shot to another that is so radically different from the first that it calls attention to the disparity between them

Parallel/Cross Cutting – switching back and forth between two actions taking place at the same time, but not necessarily (in fact rarely) in the same place

Jump Cut – an abrupt transition from one location or time frame to another, sometimes for effect but often because of mediocre editing

Match Cut – a transition from one shot to another that is related to it contextually but is often spatially and temporally distinct from it, done so smoothly that there is no break in continuity

Form Cut – a cut from one object to a similarly shaped one

Fade-In – the image that materializes out of a dark screen

Fade-out – the image that disappears as the screen goes dark

Dissolve – a transition in which one shot fades out as another fades in, sometimes with the two shots overlapping

Form Dissolve – a dissolve from one object to a similarly shaped one

Wipe – a transition in which a line appears to move vertically, horizontally, or diagonally across the screen, causing one shot to disappear or close down and another to materialize

Iris Shot – a shot in which the image is enclosed within a circle, although rectangular and lozenge-shaped shots also fall under this category

Mise-en-Scene – a French theatrical term meaning the staging of a production; in film, composing a shot or a sequence with the same attention to detail (set, lighting, costumes, makeup, positioning of actors, etc.) that a stage director lavishes on a play

Framing – the act of composing a shot after the filmmaker has decided on its visual form

Iconography – re-creating an image so that it evokes a traditional or familiar pictorial representation, such as a well-known painting or sculpture

Deep Focus – a type of photography in which foreground, middle ground, and background are clearly visible

Shallow Focus – rendering the foreground with greater clarity and sharpness than the background

Rack Focus – the shifting of focus from one character or area with a shot to another by reducing the character or area to a blur, until such time as the indistinct section is restored to focus

High-Key Lighting – lighting that produces uniform brightness resulting from a low contrast of key light to fill light

Low-Key Lighting – the result of a high-contrast ratio of key light to fill light, producing dark, shadowy images 

Top Lighting – lighting from above the subject, capable of producing a glowing effect

Side Lighting – lighting from either side of a subject, leaving it half in light and half in shadow

Bottom Lighting – lighting from below the subject, leaving part of it in shadow