VOCABULARY
Aerial Shot
Ana aerial shot is a broad geographic, maplike shot usually taken from a crane, plane or
helicopter. Not necessarily a moving shot,
but sometimes used an extreme long shot
and/or establishing shot to establish a city
or region where content will emerge.
Birds Eye View
A scene shot from a bird’s perspective.
Similar to an aerial shot or a “god’s eye”
view, insinuating a point of view (see
extreme long shot).
Bridging Shot
A shot used to cover a jump in time or place
or other discontinuity.
Camera Angle
The angle at which the camera is pointed at
the subject: low, high or tilt (Dutch Angle),
or birds eye (aerial view).
Close-Up/Extreme Close-Up (CU/ECU)
The subject framed by the camera fills the
screen. Connotation can be of intimacy, or
of having access to the mind or thought
processes (including the subconscious) of
the character.
Dolly Shot
A dolly shot is taken from a moving dolly (a
set of wheels and a platform upon which the
camera can be mounted). A dolly shot is
nearly synonymous with a tracking shot or
follow shot.
Dutch Angle Shot
Dutch Angle is an extremely low angle with
a tilt, creating a series of diagonals within
the grid of a shot. Often associated with film
noir in combination with high contrast
scenes that create tension.
Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
The subject or characters are very much in
the background of the shot. It may be a
panoramic view of an exterior location
photographed from a considerable distance,
often as far as a quarter-mile away.
Surroundings now have perhaps more
importance, especially if the shot is from a
high angle. As the camera moves further
away from the main subject, the visual field
lends itself to an increasingly more complex
reading. An ELS that is shot at a high angle
suggests the presence of someone looking,
thus the shot is implicitly a point of view
shot. It may also serve as the establishing
shot.
Eyeline Matching
A term used to point to the continuity
editing practice ensuring the logic of the
look or gaze. In other words, eyeline
matching is when a character looks into offscreen space the spectator expects to see
what he or she is looking at. Thus there will
be a cut to show what is being looked at:
object, view or another character
Focus
Focus refers to the sharpness of an image.
Generally, if a shot, or a portion of a shot is
not in focus, it needs to be discarded.
Follow Shot
A tracking shot or zoom shot which follows
the subject as it moves.
Framing
The way in which subjects and objects are
framed within a shot produces specific
readings. Camera angles, size and volume
within the frame speak as much as dialogue.
A high-angle extreme long shot (god-like
view) may point to characters vulnerability.
Low angle shots in medium close-up on a
person can point to their power or their
ridicule (because of the distortion).
Long Shot (LS)
Subject or characters are at some distance
from the camera; they are seen in full within
their surrounding environment.
Match on Action
A term used to point to the continuity of a
gesture or action. It is when a logical
moment when a point of action is seen from
two or more distinct camera angles.
Master Shot
A long take of an entire scene, generally a
relatively long shot that facilitates the
assembly of parallel closer shots and details.
The editor can always fall back on the
master shot: consequently, it is also called a
cover shot.
Medium Shot (MS)
A medium shot is a shot intermediate
between a close-up and a full shot.
Generally, this frames a character from the
waist, hips or knees up. The camera is
sufficiently distanced from the body for the
character to be seen in relation to her or his
surroundings.
Medium Close-Up (MCU)
A Medium Close-Up is a close-up of one or
two (sometimes three) characters, generally
framing the shoulders or chest and the
head. The term can also be used when the
camera frames the character(s) from the
waist.
Medium Long Shot (MLS)
Halfway between a long and a medium shot.
If this shot frames a character then the
whole body will be in view towards the
middle ground of the shot. Showing
considerably more of the surroundings in
the relation to the character/s.
Multiple Focal Lengths
One shot where the focus is manually
altered in order to create a focal point from
subject-to-subject at two different
distances.
Pan
VOCABULARY
Pan stands for panorama and is the
movement of the camera from left to right
or right to left. A Pan Shot is sometimes
confused with a tracking shot but a pan
doesn’t necessarily following an object or
character within the frame.
Point of View (POV)
A POV is the point of view of a character,
but may also be the filmmaker.
Reverse angle shot
A reverse angle is a shot from the opposite
side of a subject. In a dialogue scene, it is a
shot of the second participant.
Shot
In terms of the camera’s distance to the
subject, there are 7 basic types of static
shots: extreme close-up; close-up; medium
close-up; medium shot; medium long shot;
long shot; extreme long shot (or distance
shot). More complex types of shots used in
combination with these 7 include a variety
of angles, motion and continuity.
Steadicam
A consumer camera system permits handheld shooting with an image steadiness
somewhat comparable to tracking shots.
Take
A take is one of potential several versions of
the same shot.
Tilt Shot
The camera tilts up or down, rotating
around the axis that runs from left to right
through the camera head.
Tracking Shot, Traveling Shot or Dollying
These are terms used for a shot when the
camera is being moved by any means of
wheels such as: a dolly, car, train or bicycle.
Tracking shots often follow a character/s or
an object. The fastness or slowness of this
shot will offer different connotations. A slow
tracking shot may connote a dream or
trance if excessively slow; a faster shot may
connote bewildering and frightening if
excessively frenetic.
Voice-Over
The narrator’s voice when the narrator is not
seen. A voiceover is sometimes an
empathetic voice, but more often a voice of
authority, or objectivity, especially in news
or a documentary.
Zoom Shot
A zoom shot uses a lens where the focal
length is adjusted during the shot. A zoom
shot generally picks out and isolates an
object or person, a zoom out places that
object or person in a wider context. This
differs perceptually from a tracking shot
that follows a subject or object.