Appendix A: Glossary of Film Terminology
Framing/Shots
- Long shot (LS): a shot taken from some distance; shows the full subject and perhaps the surrounding scene as well.
- Establishing shot (ES): sets the scene or shows the space of a scene; often a long shot or series of shots.
- Close-up (CS): the image being shot takes up at least 80 percent of the frame. There is also the extreme close-up that would show one part of the body or a portion of an object.
- Medium shot (MS): in-between LS and CS; people are seen from the waist up.
Focus
- Soft focus: when a director intentionally puts his or her object slightly out of focus to make the image look softer or unclear.
- Rack focus: when a director shifts the focus from one object to another in the same shot in order to direct the audience's attention.
- Deep focus: when the foreground and background are equally in focus.
Camera Angles
- Low angle (LA): camera shoots subject from below; has the effect of making the subject look larger than normal — strong, powerful, and threatening.
- High angle (HA): camera is above the subject; usually has the effect of making the subject look smaller than normal — weak, powerless, trapped.
- Eye level (EL): accounts for 90 to 95 percent of the shots seen because it is most natural; camera is even with the key character's eyes.
- Dutch angle: shot that is tilted sideways on the horizontal line (also called "canted" angle); used to add tension to a static frame, it creates a sinister or distorted view of a character.
Sound
- Diegetic: sound that could be heard logically by the characters within the film; sound that can also be internal diegetic, meaning that the sound can be heard only with in the mind of one character.
- Nondiegetic: sound that could not be heard by characters; sound given directly to the audience by the director.
Lighting
- Low-key: scene is flooded with shadows and darkness; creates suspense/suspicion.
- High-key; scene is flooded with light; creates bright and open-looking scene.
- Neutral: neither bright nor dark — even lighting throughout the shot.
- Bottom/side: direct lighting from below or from one side; often dangerous or evil-looking, may convey split personality or moral ambiguity.
- Front/rear: soft, direct lighting on face or back of subject — may suggest innocence; create a "halo" effect.
Camera Movement
- Pan: stationary camera moves left or right.
- Tilt: stationary camera moves up or down.
- Zoom: the camera is stationary but the lens moves, making the objects appear to grow larger or smaller.
- Dolly: the camera itself is moving with the action — on a track, on wheels, or held by hand.
Editing Techniques
- The most common is a "cut" to another image. Others are:
- Fade: scene fades to black or white; often implies that time has passed.
- Dissolve: an image fades into another; can create a connection between images.
- Crosscutting: cut to action that is happening simultaneously; also called parallel editing.
- Flashback: movement into action that has happened previously, often signified by a change in music, voice-over narration, or a dissolve; a "flash-forward" leads us ahead in time.
- Eye-line-match: a shot of a person looking, then a cut to what he or she saw, followed by a cut back for a reaction.
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