PRINCIPAL FILM TERMS
A. SHOTS
Shot: One uninterrupted image taken by a static or mobile camera.
Mise-en-scene: The elements in front of the camera which are recorded on the photographic
image; examples of such elements are lighting, settings, costume, performance, (and
sound).
Close up shot: A shot in which the head of a character fills the image.
Medium close up shot: A shot in which the head and chest of a character fills the image.
Medium shot: A shot of a character (or characters) from the waist up.
Three quarter shot: A shot of a character (or characters) from the shins up.
Full shot: A shot of the whole of a standing character (or characters).
Long shot: A shot of a landscape or setting.
Point-of-view shot: A shot taken on the axis of a character's look. It is usually preceded or
followed by a shot of the character.
Reaction shot: A shot in which a character in a film responds to events presented in another
shot.
Establishing shot: A shot at the beginning of a scene which presents a complete view of the
scene (usually a long shot).
Two shot: A shot containing two characters.
High angle shot: A shot in which the camera looks down on the scene or character from
above.
Low angle shot: A shot in which the camera looks up at a scene or character from below.
Overhead shot: A shot taken from directly above the scene or character.
Off-screen space: The six areas blocked from visibility but part of the space of a scene,
behind the set, behind the camera, above and below the frame; left and right of the frame.
Deep space: Mise-en-scene in which there is a large distance between the foreground plane
and the background plane of a shot.
Deep focus: The use of the camera lens and lighting to keep both the foreground plan and
the background plane of a shot in sharp focus (the opposite is “Shallow focus”).
Depth of field: The distance between the foreground and background of a shot which is in
sharp focus.
Long take: A continuous shot of a scene which takes the place of editing within the scene
(of longer than "normal" duration).
Framing: The organization of the contents of the shot with respect to the edges of the
image.
Canted framing: A slanting of the axis of the camera relative to the horizontal axis of the
mise-en-scene which causes the mise-en-scene itself to appear slanted.
B. CAMERA MOVEMENTS
Tracking shot: A smooth, horizontal movement of the camera on a moving support guided
by rails, forward or back, left or right.
Dolly shot or tracking shot: A smooth, horizontal movement of the camera on a moving
support.
Tilt: A vertical camera movement in which the camera swivels up or down on its axis.
Pan: A horizontal camera movement in which the camera swivels right to left or left to right
on its axis.
Swish pan: A pan in which the camera moves quickly from side to side blurring the image.
Zoom: A gradual change in the size of objects in an image caused by the adjustment of a
lens with variable focal length.
C. EDITING
Editing: The juxtaposition of two or more shots to create a meaningful relationship between
them.
Cut: An instantaneous transition from one shot to another.
Fade out/fade in: A shot transition in which the image gradually disappears from view
(usually to black). / A shot transition in which the image gradually brightens into view.
Dissolve: A shot transition in which a fade out is superimposed on a fade in.
Wipe: A shot transition in which one image gradually takes the place of another through a
horizontal, vertical, or diagonal movement across the screen, while both images remain
discreet.
Continuity editing: A system of editing in which the spatial and temporal relationships
between shots are matched to insure a clear and continuous line of narrative action.
Parallel editing: Editing that alternates two or more lines of action going on in different
places, usually simultaneous.
Graphic match: Two successive shots whose compositional elements are similar.
Jump cut: A cut which produces an ellipsis between shots in one of two ways 1) the
background of the shot stays constant and the position of the foreground changes or 2) the
position of the foreground figure stays constant but the background changes.
Montage: A form of editing developed by Soviet filmmakers in the twenties, often
discontinuous, which emphasizes the graphic, rhythmic, and conceptual relations between
shots.
D. SOUND
Voice-over: narrator we hear speaking but do not see (who often comments upon the
images on the screen).
Off-screen voice: Speaking that appears to emanate from the scene (like a voice on a
telephone).
Diegetic sound: Sound that appears to emanate from within the scene (like a radio playing
on a table).
Exegetic sound: Sound that appears added to the scene (like a film’s theme music).
Sound bridge: Sound derived from one scene which briefly carries over to another scene.
E. LIGHTING
Key light: The main source of lighting within a scene.
Fill light: Illumination used to soften the key lighting in a scene.
Back lighting: Illumination cast from behind a character (or characters) to highlight their
outline in the image.
Three point lighting: An arrangement of key, fill, and back lighting which serves to model a
character while maintaining an even illumination in the shot.
High contrast or hard lighting: Illumination which creates a sharp difference between the
lighted and shadowed areas of a scene.
Low contrast or soft lighting: Illumination which diffuses the boundaries between light and
shadow.
Warm colors: The colors to the left of the visible spectrum: red, orange, and yellow.
Cool colors: The colors to the right of the visible spectrum: blues, indigo, and violet.
Sources:
Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1993.
Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. 1997.
Dick, Bernard F. Anatomy of Film. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2002.
Griffiths, Alison. Wondrous Difference: Cinema, Anthropology, & Turn-of-the-Century Visual
Culture.
New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.
Nichols, Bill. Representing Reality. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press, 1991.
-----. Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press, 2001.