7th Grade Film Terminology
Students should understand and be able to analyze the use of these film techniques.
Look for examples of these terms in the film. Please refer to these terms in discussion.
LIGHTING
Backlighting: When the lights for a shot derive from the rear of a set, thus throwing the
foreground figures into semidarkness or silhouette.
High Contrast Lighting: A style of lighting emphasizing harsh shaft and dramatic
streaks of lights and darks.
High-key Lighting: Lighting that results in more light areas than shadows; subjects are
seen in middle grays and highlights, with little contrast.
Low-key Lighting: Lighting that puts most of the set in shadow and uses just a few
highlights to define the subject.
SOUND
Ambient sound: sounds natural to any film scene’s environment
COLOR
Color Palette: A limited number of specific colors used or emphasized throughout the
film to subtly communicate various aspects of character and story to the viewer
CAMERA FOCUS
Deep Focus: The effect created when all planes of a shot, anywhere from two feet to
several hundred feet away, are in focus simultaneously with equal clarity.
ANGLES
Birds-eye View: A shot in which the camera photographs a scene from directly
overhead.
Close-up: A detailed view of a person or object. A close-up of an actor usually includes
only his or her head.
Extreme Close-up: A minutely detailed view of an object or person.
Extreme Long Shot: A panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a
great distance.
High-angle Shot: A shot made with the camera above eye level, thereby dwarfing the
subject and diminishing its importance.
Low-angle Shot: A shot made with the camera below eye level, thereby exaggerating
the size and importance of the subject.
Medium Shot: A relatively close shot, revealing the human figure from the knees or
waist up.
Oblique Angle: A shot photographed by a tilted camera. when the image is projected on
the screen, the subject itself seems to be tilted on a diagonal.
Point of View Shot: Any shot that is taken from the vantage point of a character in the
film, showing what the character sees.
Shot: A segment of film produced by a single uninterrupted running of the camera.