Camera shot terminology:
EWS (Extreme Wide Shot)
The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as
an establishing shot.
VWS (Very Wide Shot)
The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in
his environment.
MS (Mid Shot)
Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression
of the whole subject.
CU (Close Up)
A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.
Cut-In
Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.
Two-Shot
A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.
Noddy Shot
Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the
subject.
Weather Shot
The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for
graphics.
Editing terminology
cut
A visual transition created in editing in which one shot is instantaneously
replaced on screen by another.
continuity editing
Editing that creates action that flows smoothly across shots and scenes
without jarring visual inconsistencies. Establishes a sense of story for the
viewer.
cross cutting
Cutting back and forth quickly between two or more lines of action, indicating
they are happening simultaneously.
dissolve
A gradual scene transition. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with
the beginning of the next one.
editing
The work of selecting and joining together shots to create a finished film.
errors of continuity
Disruptions in the flow of a scene, such as a failure to match action or
the placement of props across shots.
establishing shot
A shot, normally taken from a great distance or from a "bird's eye
view," that establishes where the action is about to occur.
eyeline match
The matching of eyelines between two or more characters. For example, if
Sam looks to the right in shot A, Jean will look to the left in shot B. This
establishes a relationship of proximity and continuity.
fade
A visual transition between shots or scenes that appears on screen as a
brief interval with no picture. The editor fades one shot to black and then
fades in the next. Often used to indicate a change in time and place.
final cut
The finished edit of a film, approved by the director and the producer.
This is what the audience sees.
iris
Visible on screen as a circle closing down over or opening up on a shot.
Seldom used in contemporary film, but common during the silent era of Hollywood
films.
jump cut
A cut that creates a lack of continuity by leaving out parts of the action.
matched cut
A cut joining two shots whose compositional elements match, helping to
establish strong continuity of action.
montage
Scenes whose emotional impact and visual design are achieved through the
editing together of many brief shots. The shower scene from
Psycho is an
example of montage editing.
rough cut
The editor's first pass at assembling the shots into a film, before
tightening and polishing occurs.
sequence shot
A long take that extends for an entire scene or sequence. It is composed of
only one shot with no editing.
shot reverse shot cutting
Usually used for conversation scenes, this technique alternates between
over-the-shoulder shots showing each character speaking.
wipe
Visible on screen as a bar travelling across the frame pushing one shot off
and pulling the next shot into place. Rarely used in contemporary film, but
common in films from the 1930s and 1940s.
MISE ON SCENE
REAR PROJECTION
Usually used to combine foreground action, often
actors in conversation, with a background often shot earlier, on location. Rear
projection provides an economical way to set films in exotic or dangerous
locations without having to transport expensive stars or endure demanding
conditions.
THREE-POINT LIGHTING
The standard lighting scheme for classical narrative
cinema. In order to model an actor's face (or another object) with a sense of
depth, light from three directions is used, as in the diagram below. A
backlight picks out the subject from its background, a bright key light
highlights the object and a fill light from the opposite side ensures that the
key light casts only faint shadows.
HIGH-KEY LIGHTING
A lighting scheme in which the fill light is raised to
almost the same level as the key light. This produces images that are usually
very bright and that feature few shadows on the principal subjects
LOW-KEY LIGHTING
A lighting scheme that employs very little fill light,
creating strong contrasts between the brightest and darkest parts of an image
and often creating strong shadows that obscure parts of the principal subjects
DEEP SPACE
A film utilizes deep space when significant elements of an
image are positioned both near to and distant from the camera. For deep space
these objects do not have to be in focus, a defining characteristic of deep
focus
FRONTALITY
Frontality refers to the staging of elements, often human
figures, so that they face the camera square-on. This arrangement is an
alternative to oblique staging.
MATTE SHOT
A process shot in which two photographic images (usually
background and foreground) are combined into a single image using an optical
printer. Matte shots can be used to add elements to a realistic scene or to
create fantasy spaces.
OFFSCREEN SPACE
Space that exists in the diegesis but that is not visible
in the frame. Offscreen space becomes significant when the viewer's attention
is called to an event or presence in the diegesis that is not visible in the
frame
Sound Terminology
Acousmêtre
- akind of invisible voice-character
with mysterious powers
Added
Value
- the
expressive and/or informative value with which a sound enriches a image
Audiovisual
Contract
- an agreement to forget that
sound is coming from loudspeakers and picture from screen
Anempathetic
Sound
- music or sound effects that seems
to exhibit conspicuous indifference to what is goingon in the film's plot
Chronography
-
the stabilisation of projection speed madecinema an art of time
Empathetic
Sound
- music or sound effects whose mood
matches the mood of the action
External logic
- the
logic by which the flow of sound includes effects of discontinuity as
nondiegetic interventions
Internal logic
- the
logic by which the sound flow is apparently born out of the narrative situation
itself
Rendering
- the use of sounds to convey the
feelings or effects associated with the situation on screen
Synchresis
- the mental fusion between a sound
and a visual when these occur at exactly the same time
Temporalization
-
influence of sound on the perception of time in the image
Vococentrism
- the
privilige of the voicein audiovisual media
