Film Terminology |
| General Terms Shot:
continuous, unedited piece of film of any length
Scene: a series of shots that together form a complete
episode or unit of the narrative
Storyboard: Drawn up when designing a production. Plans
AV text and shows how each shot relates to sound track. (Think comic strip
with directions - like a rough draft or outline for a film.)
Montage: The editing together of a large number of shots
with no intention of creating a continuous reality. A montage is often
used to compress time, and montage shots are linked through a unified
sound - either a voiceover or a piece of music.
Parallel action: narrative strategy that crosscuts between
two or more separate actions to create the illusion that they are occurring
simultaneously
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| Shots Long Shot:
Overall view from a distance of whole scene often used as an establishing
shot - to set scene. Person - will show whole body. Medium or Mid Shot:
Middle distance shot - can give background information while still focusing
on subject. Person - usually shows waist to head.
Close Up: Focuses on detail / expression / reaction.
Person - shows either head or head and shoulders.
Tracking shot: single continuous shot made with a camera
moving along the ground
Reverse shot: shot taken at a 180 degree angle from the
preceding shot (reverse-shot editing is commonly used during dialogue,
angle is often 120 to 160 degrees)
Subjective Shot (P.O.V. Shot): Framed from a particular
character's point of view. Audience sees what character sees.
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| Camera Movement Pan:
Camera moves from side to side from a stationary position
Tilt: Movement up or down from a stationary position
Tracking: The camera moves to follow a moving object
or person
Camera Angles
Low Angle Camera: shoots up at subject. Used to increase
size, power, status of subject
High Angle Camera: shoots down at subject. Used to increase
vulnerability, powerlessness, decrease size |
Editing (the way shots are put together)
Cut: The ending of a shot. If the cut seems inconsistent
with the next shot, it is called a jump cut.
Fade in or out: The image appears or disappears gradually.
Often used as a division between scenes.
Dissolve: One image fades in while another fades out
so that for a few seconds, the two are superimposed. |
| Sound Soundtrack:
Consists of dialogue, sound effects and music. Should reveal
something about the scene that visual images don't.
Score: musical soundtrack
Sound effects: all sounds that are neither dialogue nor
music
Voice-over: spoken words laid over the other tracks in
sound mix to comment upon the narrative or to narrate
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