Film Techniques Vocabulary and Descriptions

Instructions:
1. Research to find the various techniques used in film making.
2. You should NOT copy/paste, but include information in your own words to show comprehension.
3. Visit several websites and documents to collect comprehensive information.

Category

Technique and Description

1. Diegetic sound- sounds heard by the characters

Sound

2. Effects- artificial sounds used to enhance a scene

3. Extra Diegetic- extra sounds that are not created
4. Non-Diegetic- sounds only heard by the audience
1. Auto-focus- keeps only the center of the picture

Focus

2. Manual Focus- adjusting the focus manually

3. Continuous Autofocus- automatically refocuses no matter what happens
1. Long-Shot The object seems small or is seen from a distance. If a person is in the
shot, it is the entire body and a great deal of background visible.
2. Extreme Long Shot- includes a persons entire body from head to toe

Framing
(Shots)

3. Establishing Shot- very specific long shot

4. Mid Shot- captures the tom of the head to the waistline
5. Narrow Angle Shot/Close Up- captures the top of the head to just below the
shoulders
6. Two Shot- includes two items of primary focus

Camera
Angles

1. High- view from the top of the forehead, above the subject
2. Low- view from the bottom of the chin, below the object
3. Dutch Angle- camera is slightly tilted

What is the purpose of the technique? Why is it useful?

How does it enhance the viewers perception of a scene
or character?
Enlace the excitement of a fighting scene: hand-to-hand
combat, gun fighting, sword fighting, etc.
Can create an over the top experience and produce actual
and fake sounds.
These sounds provide a sense of realism, the door closing
on a car or a doorbell.
Can act as the narrators voice for a film.
Its used to create tenseness in a scene or capture a big
event with multiple things happening.
Changing the focus on the camera will enhance the picture
of the scene.
Used in action scenes to keep all the action as clear as
possible.
Offers viewers a sense of time and place; also offers the
viewer a choice of where to focus.
It can capture a lot of information and picture at one time,
often used in big crowds.
Used to establish the time and location of the scene.
The shot can be used to enhance a conversation had
between two people on camera.
Provides close details on a persons face that may have
been overlooked before.
Often used when filming two news anchors sitting beside
one another during a news report.
Perhaps used to show a certain physical characteristic on
the object.
Perhaps used to show a certain physical characteristic on
the object.
Gives a sense of tension or danger approaching

4. Eye-Level- even with the eye of the person

1. Side Lighting lighting from the side that leaves the subject half in light and half
in the shadows.
2. Hard light/Low Key- creates a sharp, distinct, and very dark shadow
3. Soft Light/Bottom - creates indistinct shadows, half-light, half dark
Lighting
4. Spotlight- used to focus on one area
5. Flood Light/High Key- soft light that provides general lighting to a
large area
6. Barndoors- used to shape and block light
1. Dolly- physically moving the camera and its tripod perpendicularly
Camera
Movement
and
Transitions

2.
3.
4.
5.

Arc- moving the camera around the object in focus

Pedestal- raising or lowering the camera on the tripod
Truck- moving the camera and its tripod in a parallel direction to the set
Birds Eye/Crane- camera is mounted on a crane overlooking the entire set

6. Tilt- Pointing on the front of the camera vertically

7. Pan- moving only the camera to scan the sett horizontally
1. Fade a scene fades to black (or any other color) for a very short time as is slowly
replaced with another image; may start the next scene or change subjects
2. Video Delay Edit- you hear the audio before you see the video
3. Audio Delay Edit- you see the video before you hear the audio
4.
Editing

Capture- coping all the good footage and to a computer

5. Split- program footage is separated into individual clips

6. Clip- piece of video used when compiling the complete project
7. Bin- a folder containing all the footage
8. Trimming- determining the exact place an edit should occur
9. Export- copying the completed program for copying and distribution

Can create an intense moment in the conversation being

held.
It can indicate a split personality or a secret/something
hidden by a character.
Necessary to create shadow puppets against a wall.
Makes the line between light and shadow very hard to
determine.
Most often used in theatre to focus on one person on the
stage.
Lights a large scene but not with an overbearing amount of
light.
Can bring the focus of the light from one place to another.
This technique keeps the entire frame in complete focus
while cutting away at the full picture.
Provides a 360 degree shot of the object in focus.
Can capture higher and lower views of the object in focus.
Used to capture a large crowd of people standing in a line.
Scans everything to the right of the initial subject of focus.
Evaluates an object or a person from head to toe without
moving the tripod or the entire camera.
It can view people standing nearby one another.
It indicates a passage of time or the end of a segment.
A time when the narrator can speak and corresponding
video will appear later.
A silent begin to a movie where we just see pictures or a
video playing.
Basically just keeping all the good footage and leaving out
the bad footage.
When they make a preview they take pieces of the footage
and mush it together.
Putting the best pieces of footage into the final project.
Just a place where they out all the footage to go back and
file out the pieces they want to use.
Finding exactly where you want to make some changes or
cut pieces out.
The last step of the editing process before it goes out for
the public to see.