General Glossary of Terms
This is a general list of terms in the worlds of film, photography and video production. Individual courses may introduce additional terms or go into much more detail on many of these.
180° Line (Axis of Action) – An imaginary line passing through the two primary actors in a scene. The camera should maintain its perspective from one side of this line, either to the right or the left; otherwise, in can distort visual continuity.
Above the Line Expenses – Expenses committed prior to the start of production (including salaries and travel).
Action – On set, “Action” is called to indicate the start of a take.
Aperture (F-Stop) – Opening in a camera lens that allows light to enter. The larger the opening, the more light that is allowed in to expose the sensor. Common f-stops are 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 11, 16 and 22. The smaller the number, the larger the opening.
Aspect Ratio – The horizontal and vertical sizes of an image. The aspect ratio of standard (old) television is 4:3 (almost square, but slightly rectangular). High definition is 16:9, which creates the common, high definition, widescreen look. Most modern high definition cameras shoot in 16:9 natively. Older cameras crop a 4:3 image to appear 16:9, which actually creates a lesser quality image.
Auteur – A French word for author, referring to the director, who, in essence, is the author of the film.
Blocking – Similar to a play, a movie must be blocked! Blocking is the action and placement of the on camera elements.
Boom – A pole used to hold a mic or camera.
Camera Shots and Angles:
- Close Up – A shot where the distance is magnified – a tight shot such as a person’s head and shoulders. Close ups are meant to show detail and/or emotion.
- Dirty/Clean Shot – A dirty shot, usually an over the shoulder, has the subject in focus with a person or object out of focus at the edge of the frame. A clean shot has the subject in focus without anything else in frame.
- Dolly – a moving shot in which the camera moves “tracking” from side to side or pulls in/out with a dolly in or dolly out.
- Establishing Shot – An extreme wide shot to set the scene and give the viewer a sense of setting and location.
- Extreme Close Up – Tighter than a close up on a part of the face (such as the eyes) or on an object.
- High Angle – A shot from above, a higher angle, looking down.
- Low Angle – A shot from below, a lower angle, looking up.
- Medium Shot – From a medium distance such as waste or knees up on a person.
- Over the Shoulder (OTS) – Usually in a dialogue scene when the camera records over the shoulder of one person, focusing on the face/head of another.
- Pan – Horizontal camera movement.
- Tilt – A shot angling the camera up or down (tilting up or tilting down).
- Tracking Shot – A shot “tracking” or moving along with something else capturing the movement at equal speed. A tracking shot may move with, away or toward its subject.
- Two Shot – A shot with two people in the scene.
- Wide Angle – A shot that is wide enough to get the complete subject and a sense of setting but not as wide as an establishing shot.
- Zoom – A shot taken with a lens that has a variable focal length and can move from close to far (or vice versa) in a continuous motion.
Cinema Verite – Filmmaking that gives a non-rehearsed, unedited or limited editing, style of filmmaking. Common with mockumentaries and found footage films.
Cinematographer / Director of Photography – See Production Roles Below
Clip – A “clip” of the film after the fact, might be a short scene. A “clip” during editing, would be a single, recorded element.
Continuity – Insures that the necessary elements are in place for things to flow together and make sense. There should be script, visual, story and character continuity.
Cross Cutting – The switching of points of view within the same scene.
Cut – This term has multiple meanings. On set, “cut” means to stop the action and end the take. In the editing room, a “cut” is going from one shot to another – cutting the pieces together. This is why an editor can also be called a “cutter.” Also referred to as splicing.
Denouement – The final scene or resolution of a movie.
Depth of Field – Refers what would be in or out of focus on camera. With a “large depth of field,” more elements are in focus. A “shallow depth of field” means that the area of focus is limited.
Director – See Production Roles Below
Dissolve – A transition from one image to another where the moments are momentarily superimposed over one another.
Editing – The process of cutting the film together.
Editor – See Production Roles Below
Exposition – Background or important story elements provided, usually though dialogue.
Fade – Typically, images fade-in or fade-out, dissolving to black.
Fast Motion – Something that appears faster than real life. Achieved by shooting at a slower frame rate and playing the images back at a standard rate (e.g. film shoots at 24 frames per second. Footage shot at 12 frames per second and played back at 24 frames per second creates the fast motion effect).
Fill Light – A light used to diminish shadows a “fill” dark areas.
Filters / Gels – Can be used over camera lenses or on lights to impact the appearance (often the color) of the recorded image.
Flashback – A break in chronological order in which the narrative storytelling switches to events occurring in the past.
Flash Forward – A break in chronological order in which the narrative storytelling switches to events occurring in the future.
Focal Length – Most simply, this is the area a camera lens actually captures from a specific distance.
Foley Artist – A person who creates or adds sound and sound effects in post-production.
Fourth Wall – A reference to the audience, the screen. If a movie breaks the fourth wall they are directly addressing the audience.
Frame – A single, recorded image. A series of frames create motion – a motion picture.
Gaffer – Electrician and/or lighting technician.
Genre – A class or type of film (action, drama, comedy, etc).
Grip – Assists with camera equipment setup such as a crane or dolly.
Iris – Opening that allows light to pass through controlled by the aperture (f-stop).
Jump Cut – An abrupt cut that seems out of place. If intentionally, jump cuts can create a disorienting effect. If unintentional, they look very amateur.
Key Light – Primary source of lighting. High key lighting creates a bright set. Low Key lighting makes for a dimly lit set.
Lens – The glass apparatus connected to a camera to capture the image.
- Telephoto Lens – A lens that makes objects appear nearer and larger.
- Fixed Lens – A prime lens; or a primary lens on a camera that does not have an interchangeable lens system.
- Zoom Lens – Has a variety of focal lengths and can go from wide to close (or vice versa) in a continuous movement.
- Prime Lens – A lens with fixed focal distance; does not zoom.
- Wide Angle Lens – Typically considered to be 35mm in size or less to capture a wide perspective.
- Fisheye Lens – Extreme, wide-angle. Typically distorts the edges of the frame.
- Long Lens – Extreme, wide-angle shot. Typically distorts the edges of the frame.
Letterboxing — Adds black areas above and below a frame to allow the complete aspect ratio of a movie to be seen on a television.
Location – A production shot outside of the studio.
Locked Shot – A camera is mounted and immobile and does not move.
Looping – The re-recording of dialogue in post-production, commonly called ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement).
Mask – Reduces the frame size. Can be done directly on the lens or in the editing process.
Master Shot – A long take, usually a wide shot that serves as the reference for a scene.
Matte – Combining visual elements. Often used to create a visual effect. (e.g. a shot of a man running could be combined with a lion running in such a way that it looks like the lion is chasing the man).
Mise En Scène – A French term for staging. It is the film theory that everything is placed in a scene for a visual reason.
Mix – Refers to the combining (mixing) of audio elements.
Montage – A mix of seemingly unrelated shots juxtaposed together to create an impact or make a statement.
Negative Image – Reversed color values (e.g. black becomes white).
Omniscient Point of View – When the narrator knows and sees all.
Outtake – a shot, scene, sequence not used in the final production.
Pan and Scan – A method of zooming and moving to adjust a movie to fit to and completely fill a TV screen with a different aspect ratio. Usually done on older 4×3 televisions.
Picture Lock – This is the final cut of an edited production.
Point of View –The perspective in which the story is told.
Premise – The main idea of a movie.
Pre-Production – The planning of a movie including casting, budgeting, writing, locations scouting, etc.
Principal Photography – The major portion of shooting with the key actors/actresses.
Production Roles – This is a list of some of the more common roles in production, but by no means is it a complete list.
- Art Director – Oversees artisans, craftsman, artists.
- Assistant Director – Assists in the managing of the production.
- Cinematographer / Director of Photography – The cinematographer oversees all aspects of camera operation and is usually responsible for the overall “look” of the movie. This person should have an in-depth knowledge of lighting and photography.
- Director – The “auteur” or author. The person responsible for the action of making the film.
- Editor – The person responsible for editing. There are often distinctions between film editing, audio editing, special effects editing and so on.
- Executive Producer – Responsible for the financing of the film.
- Line Producer – May manage the budget as well as the day to day events.
- Producer – The person responsible for running the business of film. Co-producers and associate producers will have functions delegated by the producer.
- Production Manager – Oversees how the production budget is spent.
- Screenwriter – This is the person responsible for writing the movie/video.
- Script Supervisor – Oversees the continuity of a production.
- Unit Director – Produces sequences of a project that are not part of principal photography.
Rack Focus – A change in focus from an in-focus element to an out of focus element.
Reaction Shot – On camera reactions from other characters, actors or participants.
Reverse Angle – A camera shot that is directly opposite of the previous shot.
Rough Cut – The initial assembly of the film without completed sound, music, or color.
Score – The musical soundtrack composed for the film.
Slow Motion – Something that appears slower than real life. Achieved by shooting at a higher frame rate and playing the images back at a standard rate (e.g. film shoots at 24 frames per second. Footage shot at 120 frames per second and played back at 24 frames per second creates the slow motion effect).
Soft Focus – An image that is intentionally shot slightly blurred or out of focus. This can be done with filters, manually or in post-production.
Take – An uninterrupted, unedited shot from the camera.
Trailer – A preview.
Treatment – A detailed summary form start to finish of the storyline of a movie.
Voice Over – Spoken word not coming from an on-screen source.
Wipe – A common transition where one image is “pushed” away by another image.