filmterms.html

FILM TERMS

1. shot: is composed of frames photographed during a single, continuous, uninterrupted running of the camera. It can be of any length, from a few seconds to an entire roll of film.
2. persistence of vision: the human retina’s tendency to retain the image for a few seconds after the image is no longer on screen. This after-image creates the illusion of movement.
3. film speed: In sound film there are 24 frames per second (fps), silent cinema has 12-16 fps
4. mise-en-scène (note grave accent on ‘e’): the elements in front of the camera which are recorded on the photographic image (lighting, setting, costume, performance), lit. ‘putting into the scene’ from the French for ‘staging’ in front of the camera
5. photography: literally meaning ‘writing in light’
6. cinematography: literally ‘writing for cinema,’ or ‘writing in movement’ Cinematography is the work of the cinematographer or lighting director
7. close up (CU): a detailed shot of a person or object, usually without much context provided; a cu of a figure generally includes the head alone, An Extreme close up (ECU) is usually only part of the face (e.g. eyes, mouth) or a very small object (e.g. bullet, button) with the camera extremely close. The small object fills the frame.
8. medium close up (MCU): a somewhat close shot, revealing a good amount of detail; a mcu of a figure generally includes the head and chest
9. medium shot (MS): a relatively close shot, revealing a moderate amount of detail; a ms of a figure (or figures) is from the waist up
10. plan américain/aka 3/4 shot (3/4): French term, “American shot,” which corresponds to a medium long shot. Shows the character from the shins up.
11. medium long shot (MLS) aka full shot: a shot at somewhat of a distance providing a fair amount of context; a MLS shot of a standing figure includes the whole body from head to feet
12. long shot (LS): a shot that is a long distance from the subject, usually landscape. Extreme Long Shot (ELS) is even further away (e.g. shot from Godfather II)
*Note a shot which shows two characters at different distances from the camera (e.g. two people as respectively a MS and a MLS) is usually a wide shot and is described using the person furthest away (thus a MLS)

Terms relating to camera movement
13. stationary shot: a shot in which the camera does not move
14. pan: a horizontal camera movement in which the camera swivels right to left or left to right on its axis;
a swish pan is a rapid swivel of the camera, such that the image is blurred
15. tilt: a vertical camera movement in which the camera swivels up or down on its axis
16. dolly shot: a smooth, horizontal movement of the camera on wheels that can move in irregular directions
17. tracking shot: a smooth, horizontal movement of the camera on a moving support guided by rails in which the camera can move forward, back, left, or right. Usually used for straight lines.
18. crane shot: a camera movement in which the camera seems to move freely above the ground. Sometimes called an overhead shot
19. steadicam: a camera device which enables the camera operator to move rapidly with the action, without bumpy camera movement. Invented in 1976 and only used in films since then.
20. reframing/lateral framing: a camera movement to keep the subject centered, usually when moving
21. handheld shot: often used in cinema verité or documentary or television. The image/frame appears bumpy, and often keeps moving. The opposite of the steadicam shot

Terms relating to Framing, and cinematography
22. framing: the organization of the contents of a shot with respect to the edges of the image
23. centered framing: the arrangement of figures or objects in a position equidistant from the edges of the image
24. open framing: large space between the subject and the edges of the frame, which gives an airy feeling
25. closed framing: little space between the subject of the shot and the boundaries of the frame, creates a claustrophobic or cluttered feeling
26. canted framing, aka “Dutch” angle: a slanting of the axis of the camera which causes the mise-en-scène to appear tilted or askew. Often used in horror or expressionist films
27. Frame within a frame: an element of the mise-en-scène that forms a frame within the screen frame (usually square or rectangular); often a window or other architectural feature
28. off-screen space: the area not visible within the frame but part of the space of a scene. There may also be off-screen sound (e.g. a gunshot fired off-screen)
29. eyelevel shot: the camera is at the eye-level of the actor
30. high angle: a shot in which the camera looks down on a figure or object within the mise-en-scène; may make the person seem powerless or isolated (but not in all films)
31. low angle: a shot in which the camera looks up at a figure or object within the mise-en-scène; may make the figure seem powerful (but not in all films)
32 . overhead shot: a shot taken from directly above the mise-en-scène, often from a crane
33. bird-eye or aerial shot: shot taken up in the sky looking directly down. Often taken from a plane or helicopter, it is much higher than the crane shot
34. depth of field: the distance between the foreground and background of a shot which is in sharp focus. There can be wide or shallow depth of field. A close up usually involves shallow depth of field.
35. deep space: an arrangement of the mise-en-scène in which there is a large distance between the foreground plane and the background plane of a shot (i.e., a foreground, a middle ground and a background all in one shot)
36. deep focus: the use of camera lens and lighting to keep both the foreground plane and the background plane of a shot all in sharp focus
37. zoom: a change in the size of the image and the relative distances between its foreground and background planes caused by the adjustment of a lens with variable focal length. Sometimes done with a telephoto lens (see below) to slowly get closer to something far away. NB This is not a camera movement but a lens adjustment.
38. aspect ratio: the ratio of the width of the frame (the first number) to the height of the frame (the second number)
39. Academy Ratio or Old Standard Ratio is 1.33: 1 and is similar to the shape of the television screen (roughly a square). All Classical Hollywood films until the early fifties were shot in Academy Ratio, e.g. Sudden Fear
40. widescreen: an aspect ratio wider than 1.33: 1. The two main widescreen formats are New Standard: 1.85:1; and Cinemascope: 2.35: 1. e.g., Unforgiven, Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur. Most movies today are shot in New Standard.
41. wide angle lens: a lens with a short focal length; its tendency is to exaggerate depth and make faces seem larger/distorted
42. telephoto lens: a lens with a long focal length; its tendency is to flatten depth
43. fish-eye lens: a lens which curves the image, as if we had the POV of a fish. e.g. in Requiem for a Dream.
44. rack focus: a single shot which changes focus from the foreground to the background plane or vice-versa, without a cut.
45. freeze-frame: a single frame of action is printed repeatedly, so that the image seems “frozen” e.g. final image of Elizabeth
46. superimposition or double/triple exposure: two/three or more shots photographed or printed together on one piece of film e.g. shots in Sudden Fear of Myra’s plan to kill Lester Blaine
47. key light: the main source of lighting in a scene in the three-point lighting system. Usually shines on actor’s face/head
48. fill light: illumination from a source less bright than the key light used to soften deep shadows
49. back light: illumination cast from behind a figure to add three-dimensionality to the actor and to separate them from the background
50. three-point lighting: an arrangement of lighting which utilizes a key, fill, and back light to emphasize characters while maintaining an even illumination, without shadows in the shot. Classical Hollywood device.
51. halo lighting/top lighting: illumination (key light) from above which lights an actor’s head, giving a “halo” effect (effect is to glamorize the star)
52 . back lighting: illumination cast from behind a figure (or figures) to highlight their outline in the image, gives a silhouette effect. The actor is usually partly or completely in darkness from the front
53 underlighting: light is thrown beneath an actor’s face, creating a sinister effect (usually in horror/thrillers)
54. high contrast or low key: illumination which creates a sharp difference between lighted and shadowed areas of a scene (Sometimes called chiaroscuro) Used in thrillers, horror, film noir.
55. low contrast or high key: illumination which diffuses the boundaries between light and shadow to create a bright, well-lit effect. Used in musicals, comedies.
56. saturated colors: the degree or purity of a hue
57. warm colors: the colors to the left of the visible spectrum, i.e. red, orange & yellow
58. cool colors: the colors to the right of the visible spectrum, i.e. blue, indigo, violet

Terms relating to editing
59. editing: the juxtaposition of two or more shots. There are 7 main types of shot transition:
i). cut: an instantaneous transition from one shot to another
ii).fade out: a shot transition in which the image gradually disappears from view, usually to black
iii) fade in: a shot transition in which the image gradually brightens into view, usually from black
iv) dissolve: a shot transition combining a fade out combined with a fade-in; *lap dissolve = slow series of dissolves; e.g. credit sequence of Cape Fear (1991)
v) wipe: a shot transition in which one image gradually takes the place of another through a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line across the screen, which ‘pushes’ the old image off the screen; (extensively used in early sound films of thirties)
vi) iris-in: a new image ‘grows’ in a widening circle from the center of the frame; extensively used in silent films.
vii) iris-out: the image fades from the edge of the screen to the center (in a circular or ‘iris’ shape like the shutter of a camera); extensively used in silent films
60. ellipsis: literally a gap or ‘hole’. All editing involves the omission of part of a recorded event
61. continuity editing: a system of editing in which the spatial (space) and temporal (time) relationships between shots are matched to ensure a clear and continuous line of narrative action. Continuity editing uses establishing shots, shot/reverse shots, POV shots, matches on action (see below) It focuses on the action and dialogue and not on abstract or stylistic relationships between shots and is designed to be invisible
62. 180-degree rule: a convention of continuity editing in which a camera shooting a scene remain on the same side of the narrative action (the imaginary 180 degree line) and does not cross the line to shoot the characters from behind them. It has two principal purposes: 1) to preserve consistent screen direction (which ways the characters are looking on screen); and 2) consistent screen background (we see the same sets in the background from shot to shot)
63. establishing shot: usually an extreme long shot occurring at the beginning of a scene, providing the viewer with the context of the subsequent shots.
64. point-of-view (POV) shot: a shot taken from the vantage point of a character (revealing what he or she sees), and usually cut in before or after a shot of the character looking
65. over-the-shoulder shot (O/S): a shot containing two people viewed over the shoulder of one of them, usually using the pattern of shot/reverse shot. The true O/S shot is perched on the shoulder of one character and does not show the person’s whole back. (This latter situation has no specific term)
66. reaction shot: a shot in which a character visibly responds to something (e.g. gasps, looks interested, laughs, etc)
67. shot/reverse shot: the alternation of shots, for instance, of two people in a conversation that conforms to the 180-degree rule
68. match on action: a cut that shifts the framing of action within a scene by picking up the movement in one shot to a second shot to make the action appear continuous (although there is an ellipsis or gap which is not photographed). E.g. opening a door, drinking a glass of water. A match on action does NOT draw attention to itself but makes the editing appear invisible.
69. eyeline match: a cut usually linking shots people looking off-screen at one another in consistent directions. We usually notice their eyes looking to frame left or frame right, followed by a shot of what they are looking at. Sometimes used interchangeably with the POV shot
70. cheat cut or shot: a cut which sustains continuity between shots but mismatches the positions of figures or objects. Part of continuity editing
71 two shot/three shot, etc: a shot containing two/three etc. people
72. cross cutting (parallel editing): editing that alternates between two or more lines of action occurring in different places at the same time
73 discontinuity editing: editing which calls attention to itself and which emphasizes graphic, spatial or conceptual relationships between shots, rather than dialogue and action, and unlike continuity editing, is opaque rather than invisible, e.g. final sequence in Requiem for a Dream, or Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin
74. montage: a form of discontinuity editing primarily developed by Sergei Eisenstein, and other Soviet filmmakers, that emphasizes the graphic, rhythmic, and conceptual relationships between shots.
Sometimes colloquially refers to any rapidly edited sequence in a film, and which reflects the influence of the Soviet montage filmmakers
75. graphic match: two successive shots whose compositional elements or ‘shape’ are similar. Often part of discontinuity editing. Sometimes called a match cut, or a cut between two shots whose shape, movement or other compositional elements are similar, and not to be confused with a match on action
76. jump cut: a cut which produces an ellipsis between shots in one of two ways: 1) the background of a shot stays constant and the position of the figure changes (because time has elapsed) or 2) the position of the figure stays constant but the background changes (because camera has changed position). Form of discontinuity editing, because it is calls attention to itself and is not invisible
77. long take or sequence shot: a single, continuous shot that occurs for an unusually lengthy period of time before a cut. Often occurs with a steadicam in the work of Martin Scorsese.

Terms relating to Sound
78. diegetic sound: sound that comes from within the narrative world of a film (including off-screen sound)
79. nondiegetic sound: sound that comes from outside the narrative world of a film (most often, the ‘soundtrack”)
80. internal diegetic sound: sound that comes from the mind of a character inside the narrative world that cannot be heard by other characters
81. external diegetic sound: sound from inside the narrative world that can be heard by other characters
82. sound bridge: sound from one scene that continues into the beginning of the following scene. E.g. many shots in The Hunger
83. voice over: a voice which comments upon or counterpoints the images on the screen (can be diegetic or nondiegetic) e.g. opening voiceover in The Piano
84. synchronous/simultaneous sound: sound that is matched temporally with its source within the image
85.asynchronous sound/non simultaneous: sound that is not matched temporally with its source within the image; e.g. sequences in The Hunger

General Terms
86. auteur: the perceived author of a film, usually but not always the director (sometimes the writer)
whose work shares certain stylistic, thematic or symbolic attributes across time
87. genre: a ‘family’ of films, that share certain commonalities of setting, themes, characters or audience effects, e.g. comedies, westerns, horror, science-fiction
88. Production code/Breen Code/Hays Code: system of self-censorship in the classical Hollywood system (enforced from 1934 to late sixties. Replaced by the MPAA Ratings system in 1968
89. Vertical Integration: three-part control of production, distribution and exhibition facilities by a film studio; e.g. the Big Five studios were vertically integrated
90. The Big Five: five major studios in classical Hollywood studio era (1930’s-1960’s): Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., Fox, RKO
91. The Little Three: three smallest studios in classical Hollywood studio era (1930’s-1960’s):United Artists, Universal, Columbia (did not control theatrical exhibition facilities)
92: Story: the ‘plot’ as commonly understood; the sum total of events told in narrative
92. Plot: the order (form) of events as depicted in the film; the way in which the story is told, e.g. in chronological order, in flashback, etc
93. flashback: a scene or sequence showing events that have taken place earlier than the diegetic present of the film
94. flash-forward: a scene or sequence that departs from the diegetic present to show events that take place in the future
95. diegesis: the narrative world of a film
96.Verisimilitude: like reality, usually a glamorized version of it (in Hollywood cinema)
97. Self reflexivity: calling attention to itself as a film or cultural product. e.g. the Scream films call attention to themselves as horror films through their spoofing of the conventions of the horror genre
98. Leitmotif: a repeated sound, image or musical element in a film
99. Intertextuality: allusion to another film, TV program or other cultural product. e.g. Bamboozled makes reference to Network, A Face in the Crowd, Tommy Hilfigger, In Living Color, etc