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Film
terms
Using these terms
will help you to analyse and explain moving image sequences in film, television
or advertising.
Framing
What’s included
and excluded in an individual shot.
Very long shot/wide
shot
A shot in which
figures appear small in the landscape. Often used at the beginning of a
film or sequence as an ‘establishing shot’ to show where the action is
taking place; also used to make a figure appear small or isolated.
Long shot
A shot in which
a figure can be seen from head to toe.
Mid shot
Shows the figure
from approximately the waist to the head. In a mid shot, you can easily
recognise an individual but you can also see what they are doing with their
hands.
Medium close
up
From chest to head
Close-up
Head and shoulders,
enabling you to easily see facial expressions, so you can see what characters
are thinking and feeling
Big close up
Head only, used
when expressions are important
Extreme close-up
From just above
the eyebrows to just below the mouth, or even closer: used to emphasise
facial expression or to make the subject appear threatening.
Other useful terms
for shots are:
Two shot
Any shot with two
people in it
Point of view
shot
A shot from a character’s
point of view
Reaction shot
A shot showing a
character’s expression as they react to something
Noddy
A type of reaction
shot used in interviews, where we see the interviewer apparently reacting
to the interviewee
Over-the-shoulder
shot
A shot in which
we see a character over another’s shoulder, often used in interviews or
dialogues
Lens
The type of lens,
and how it’s used, can make a big difference to the meaning of a shot.
Wide-angle shot
(taken with a wide-angle lens)
This has the effect
of seeming to exaggerate perspective. It's often used to make the viewer
feel that they are close to the action. If it's used for closeups, it makes
the nose look bigger and the ears smaller an effect usually used
for comedy.
Telephoto shot
Like using a telescope,
a telephoto lens appears to bring the subject closer and flatten out perspective.
It also usually reduces depth of field.
Zoom lenses
These can vary the
angle of view, from wideangle to telephoto, so that the subject appears
to move closer (or further away) without the camera itself moving.
Depth of field
This means how much
of the shot seems to be in focus, in front of and behind the subject.
Deep focus
Everything in the
shot appears to be in focus, which means that we can be looking at action
taking place in the foreground, middle ground and background.
Shallow focus
Isolates the subject
from the background.
Camera
position
Where the camera
is in relation to the subject.
Low angle shot
The camera points
upwards, usually making the subject or setting seem grand or threatening.
High angle shot
The camera looks
down, making the subject look vulnerable or insignificant.
Bird’s eye shot
Looks vertically
down at the subject.
Camera
movements
Track
Moving the camera
itself towards or away from the subject, or to follow a moving subject.
(Not to be confused with a zoom, where the camera’s lens is varied to give
the impression of moving closer to, or away from the subject.)
Pan
Pivoting the camera
to the side to scan a scene or to follow a moving subject.
Whip pan
A sudden, fast pan.
Tilt
Pivoting the camera
vertically up or down.
Arc
Moving the camera
in an arc around the subject.
Crane shot
A shot where the
camera itself moves up or down.
Hand-held shot
This is used to
convey a sense of immediacy.
Lighting
Lighting can
be high or low contrast and can vary in colour and direction.
High-key
The lighting is
bright and relatively low in contrast often used for Hollywood musical
comedies.
Low-key
Much more pronounced
shadows and dramatic contrasts.
Lighting from
below
This can be used
to make a subject appear threatening or horrific.
Backlighting
Produces a ‘halo’
effect around the edges of the subject.
Colour
Cold or blueish
lighting can convey a sense of cold, alienation or technology, while warm
or yellowish lighting can be used to convey comfort, sunset and so on.
If colours are very rich and intense they are described as saturated.
Black-and-white
or sepia can be used to show that a scene is set in the past, or to suggest
sophistication.
Mise-en-scène
This means the way
in which objects, scenery and the location are shown by using light and
dark, pattern, colour, camera position and angle, and movement within the
frame. Mise-en-scene establishes mood and atmosphere, and can express the
inner life of characters through the way in which their settings are depicted
on screen.
Editing
How the individual
shots are put together.
There are two main
types of editing which you will encounter in mainstream films and TV programmes:
Continuity editing
The majority of
film sequences are edited so that time seems to flow, uninterrupted, from
shot to shot. Within a ‘continuity editing’ sequence, only cuts will be
used. Continuity editing can also involve ‘cross-cutting’, where a sequence
cuts between two different settings where action is taking place at the
same time.
Montage
In montage, different
images are assembled to build up an impression. This is often used in title
sequences. The most famous example of this technique is the Odessa Steps
sequence from Battleship Potemkin.
Editing can vary both in pace (how long individual shots stay on the screen for) and in the transitions between shots.
Transitions
describe the way in which one shot replaces the previous one:
Cut
One image is suddenly
replaced by another, without a visible transition.
Cross-dissolve
One image dissolves
into another. This can be used to make a montage sequence - eg the title
sequence - flow smoothly; it can also be used in continuity editing to
show that we have moved forwards in time and/or space.
Fade up
An image gradually
fades in
Fade out
An image gradually
fades out.
Fades to and
from black usually mean that time has passed
Wipe
One image replaces
another without dissolving, with the border between the images moving across
or around the screen.
Sound
Diegetic sound
Sound that we think
is part of what’s going on on the screen horse’s hooves, the sound
of thunder, and so on even though many of these will have been added
later by a ‘Foley artist’.
Non-diegetic
sound
Sound that we know
is not part of what’s on screen, such as music (unless there's an orchestra
in shot!) and voiceover.
Sound bridge
This uses sound
to link two scenes, by having the picture and the diegetic sound change
at different points. Usually the sound from the second scene is heard before
we start to see the picture from that scene.
since October 2007