Glossary Of Moving Image Terminology
Aerial Shot
A camera shot taken from an overhead position. Often used as an establishing shot.
Close Up
A head and shoulders shot often used to show expressions/emotions of a character. Also can be a shot of an object, filmed from close to the object or zoomed in to it, that reveals detail.
Extreme Close Up
A shot where a part of a face or body of a character fills the whole frame/dominates the frame. Also can be a shot of an object where only a small part of it dominates the frame.
Establishing Shot
A shot that establishes a scene, often giving ther viewer information about where the scene is set. Can be a close up shot (of a sign etc) but is often a wide/long shot and usually appears at the beginning of a scene.
Master Shot
A master shot is the recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the characters in view.
Medium Shot
The framing of a subject from waist up.
Two Shot
A shot of two characters, possible engaging in conversation. Usually to signify/establish some sort of relationship
Point-Of-View Shot (POV)
Shows a view from the subject’s perspective. This shot is usually edited so that the viewer is aware who’s point of view it is.
Over the Shoulder Shot
Looking from behind a character’s shoulder, at a subject. The character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it depends on what meaning the director wants to create (for example, if the subject is an inferior character, the character facing them may take up more of the frame to emphaise this)
Reaction Shot
A shot that shows the reaction of a character either to another character or an event within the sequence.
Camera Angle
The position of the camera in relation to the subject of a shot. The camera might be at a high angle, a low angle or at eye level with what is being filmed.
High Angle
A camera angle that looks down upon a subject or object. Often used to make the subject or object appear small or vulnerable.
Low Angle
A camera angle that looks up at a subject or object. Often used to make the subject/object appear powerful/dominant.
Canted Angle (or oblique)
Camera angle that makes what is shot appear to be skewed or tilted.
Pan
Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from right to left or left to right to reveal a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. Sometimes used to establish a scene.
Track
A shot whjere the camera follows a subject/object. The tracking shot can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve but cannot include complex movement around a subject. ‘Track’ refers to rails in which a wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth movement.
Crane
A crane shot is sometimes used to signify the end of a scene/ programme /film. The effect is achieved by the camera being put onto a crane that can move upward.
Steadicam
A steadicam is a stabilising mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when the operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface. Informally, the word may also be used to refer to the combination of the mount and camera.
Tilt
Where a camera scans a set or setting vertically (otherwise similar to a pan).
Zoom
Using a zoom lens to appear to be moving closer to (zoom in) or further away from (zoom out) a subject/object when in fact the camera may not move (so, strictly not camera movement). Can be used for dramatic effect.
Continuity Editing
The most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
Jump Cut
An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
Cross Cutting
The editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another – usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action (that takes place simultaneously). Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing
Cutaways
A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action. Object, or person (sometimes not part of the principle scene or main action), followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Freeze Frame
The effect of seemingly stopping a film in order to focus in on one event or element.
Eye-line Match
A type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at.
Flashback
A scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film’s narrative.
Graphic Match
An edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved from one into the other.
Linear Narrative
A style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically.
Montage Editing
The juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create meaning.
Parallel Editing
A type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two sets of events.
Visual Effects
Visual effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene. (see Cross Cutting)
Match on Action
A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a door opening after a shot of a close up of a character’s hand turning a door handle)
Diegetic Sound
Sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world.
Non-diegetic Sound
Sound that the characters cannot hear and is not part of the imaginary world of the story. This includes a musical soundtrack or a voiceover (however this excludes a narration by a character within the story – referred to as an internal monologue and is diegetic).
Score
The musical component of a programme’s soundtrack, usually composed specifically for the scene.
Sound Effects
Sounds that are added to a film during the post-production phase
Mise en Scene
Mise-en-scene, a French term meaning “place on stage,” refers to all the visual elements of a theatrical production within the space provided by the stage itself. Film makers have borrowed the term and have extended the meaning to suggest the control the director has over the visual elements within the film image. Four aspects of mise-en-scene which overlap the physical art of the theatre are setting, costume, lighting and movement of figures. Control of these elements provides the director an opportunity to stage events. Using these elements, the film director stages the event for the camera to provide his audience with vivid, sharp memories. Directors and film scholars alike recognize mise-en-scene as an essential part of the director’s creative art.
Costume
Costume, or clothing and its accessories, is also an important visual element in film. Directors concerned with verisimilitude (historical reality) often go to great lengths to research clothing style, textile, and dye likely to be used by folk of a certain era, for costume is an indispensable means of establishing authenticity. Costume as an aspect of mise-en-scene in film, however, gains even more significance when directors manipulate costume so that it functions in special ways in the film as a whole. Costume can serve to enhance the narrative, or story, for instance, by suggesting social position of characters.
Setting
Setting, as an important visual element of film, includes all that the viewer sees which informs time and place apart from costume.
Lighting
To the film director, lighting is more than illumination that enables the viewer to see the action. Lighting, like the other aspects of mise-en-scene, is a tool used by the director to convey special meaning about a character or the narrative to the viewer.
Properties (props)
These have to be sourced and provide another aspect of verisimilitude - creating a sense of reality and believability for the viewer.
