Technical terms PDF

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Shot : a single piece of film, long or short, exposed continuously, without cuts (see: scene, sequence, take, close-up, camera angle, pan, zoom, detail, full, long, medium, extreme long, establishing, two, aerial, point of view, master, follow, stock, dolly, tracking shots).

Camera angle: the angle at which the camera is pointed at the subject, low, high or tilt.

Movements

Mise en scene or directing: describes everything in the image that has been put in front of the camera for filming: set design, location, costume, makeup, props, actors, acting style and lighting effects.

Aerial Shot: a shot taken from a crane, a plane or helicopter. Close-up: denoting a short distance between the camera and the subject/object filmed A shot of the subject’s face only, a close shot. Crane shot: a shot taken from a crane. Deep focus: a technique in which objects very near the camera as well as those far away are in focus at the same time. Dolly shot An establishing shot: a continuity editing technique that requires each scene of a film to start with a long shot that shows the audience the general location of the scene that follows, providing essential information and orientations. Extreme close-up: detail shot: a shot of a hand, eye, mouth or any other similar small detail. Extreme long shot: a panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a considerable distance. Focus: the sharpness of the image (deep, shallow). Frame: Any single image on the film Full shot: a shot of a subject that includes the entire body and not much else. Long shot: a long shot includes at least the full figures of the subjects, usually more (full shot, extreme long shot). Medium shot: a shot intermediate between a close-up and a full shot. E.g. the body from waist up. Over- the- shoulder shot: a shot used in dialogue scenes in which the speaker is seen from the perspective of a person standing just behind and a little to one side of the listener; head and shoulders of the listener are in the frame plus head of the speaker. Point of view shot: a shot which shows the scene from the point of view of a character. Reverse Angle: a shot from the opposite side of a subject; in a dialogue scene, a shot of the second participant. Scene: a complete unit of film narration. A series of shots or a single one that take place in a single location with a single action. Sequence: a basic unit of film construction (one or two scenes) that form a natural unit. Sequence shot: a long, complex shot including complicated camera movements and action. Plan sequence. Take: a version of a shot. Tracking shot: any shot in which the camera moves from one point to another either sideways, in or out. High angle: a term used to describe a shot taken from high up, looking down. Low angle: a shot taken from low down, looking up. Dolly: a set of wheels and a platform upon which the camera can be mounted to give it mobility Follow shot, tracking shot or zoom: the camera follows the subject as it moves. Pan: movement of the camera from the left to right or right to left around an imaginary vertical axis that runs through the camera. A panning shot is different from a tracking shot. Track: the rails on which a camera moves. Auteur: a term describing a film-maker who is considered to be an artist or the author of his films. Cinematography: a term that describes everything related to the camera in filming: film stock, film speed, framing, distance, level, angle of the camera, the movement of camera. Set: the location of a scene.

Montage: editing.

Sound:

Special effects Other

Cross-cutting: intermingling the shots of two or more scenes to suggest parallel action. Cut: a switch from one image to another. An edit that simply splices two shots together. Dissolve: the superimposition of a fade out over a fade in (lap dissolve). Fade in: a punctuation device. The screen is black at the beginning, gradually the image appears. This edit signals the beginning or end of a scene. Fade out: the opposite. Flashback: a scene or sequence inserted into a scene and that deals with the past. Flashcutting: editing the film into short shots that succeed each other rapidly. Flashforward: scenes or shots of future times. Pace: the rhythm of the film. Parallel editing: a style of editing developed in the early days of cinema, whereby a film cuts between two different pieces of action taking place simultaneously. It is usually used to create suspense. Split screen: two or more separate images within the frame not overlapping. Commentative Sound: sound whose source is outside the scene being shot (musical score). Mix: sound effects, the work of the sound editor. Score: the music of a film. Sound effect: all these sounds that are not dialogue or music. Voice-over: the narrator’s voice when the narrator is not seen, especially in T.V. commercials. Special effects: wide range of devices and processes and stunt men. Credits: the list of technical personnel, cast and crew of a film. Screenplay: the scenario, the script of a film, shooting script. It is produced from the script and includes instructions for the camera and the actors. Storyboards: drawings and caption showing the planned shot divisions and camera moves.

adapted from Annie Bourgois, A glossary of terms used in criticism of films (technical terms), http://angellier.biblio.univ-lille3.fr/etudes_recherches/cinema/glossaireanglaiscine.html...