Glossarysomeusefultermsforstudyingfilm

Actualityfilm
Aformofdocumentaryfilmthatshowsactualplaces,peopleandevents.
Unlikedocumentaryfilm,actualitiesdonotdeliberatelypresentanopinion
ontheactionbutrather,recordwhateveristakingplaceinfrontofthe
camera.

Animation
Anyprocesswhereartificialmovementiscreatedbyphotographingaseries
ofdrawings,objectsorcomputerimagesonebyone.Whenshownin
succession,smallchangesinpositiongivetheillusionofmovement.

Cameraangle
Thepositionofthecamerainrelationtothesubjectbeingfilmed.Forexample
filmedfromabove,below,onthesamelevelorhorizontally.

Closeup
Aframinginwhichthescaleoftheobjectfilmedisrelativelylarge.For
examplewhenapersonsheadfillsthewholescreen.

Craneshot
Ashotfilmedbysuspendingthecameraabovethegroundandmovingitin
anydirection.

Cut
Infilmmakingacutiswhentwostripsoffilmarejoined(orspliced)
together.Inthefinishedfilm,acutisthechangebetweenshots.

Dissolve
Atransitionbetweentwoshotsduringwhichthefirstimagegradually
disappearswhilethesecondimagegraduallyappears.

Documentary
Anynonfictionfilmthatrepresentsaversionofreallife.

Editing
Infilmmaking,editingistheprocessofselectingandjoiningsectionsofthe
film.Inthefinishedfilm,editingisthetechniqueusedtoorganisetheorder
ofeventsandstructureofthefilm.

Exposure

Theadjustmentofthecamerainordertocontrolhowmuchlighthitseach
frameofthefilm.Toomuchlightandthefilmisoverexposedandtheimage
appearstoobright;toolittleanditisunderexposedandtheimageisdark.

Extremecloseup
Aframinginwhichthescaleoftheobjectshownisverylarge.Forexample
whenjustpartofapersonsfacefillsthewholescreen.

Extremelongshot
Aframinginwhichthescaleofanobjectisverysmall.Forexamplewhena
largecrowdofpeoplefillthewholescreen.

Fade
Afadeinoccurswhenadarkscreengraduallybrightenstorevealashot.A
fadeoutoccurswhenashotgraduallydarkenstobecomeablackscreen.
(Sometimesafadetowhiteisusedinthisinstance).

Filmstock
Thestripoffilmonwhichindividualimagesarephotographedsothat,when
projected,itgivestheillusionofmovement.Thestockcomprisesaclear
plasticbase,coveredwithalightsensitiveemulsionthatrecordstheimage.

Frame
Asingleimageonthestripoffilm.

Framing
Theuseofthecameratoselectandcomposewhatwillbevisiblewithinthe
frameandthereforeonscreen.

Gauge
Thewidthofthefilmstrip,measuredinmillimetres.Featurefilmsare
generallyshoton35mmandthemostcommonlyusedamateurgaugesare
16mm,StandardandSuper8mmand9.5mm.

Genre
Thetypeoffilm,recognisabletotheaudiencebyfamiliarnarrative
conventions.ForexampleScienceFiction.

Iris
Around,movingmaskthatcanclosetoendasceneorfocusonadetail,or
opentobeginasceneorrevealsurroundingdetail.

Longshot

Aframinginwhichthescaleoftheobjectfilmedissmall.Forexample,a
personstandingupwouldjustfitwithintheheightofthescreen.

Mediumcloseup
Aframinginwhichthescaleoftheobjectshownismoderatelysmall.For
exampleapersonfilmedfromshinstoheadwouldfillthescreen.

Mediumlongshot
Aframinginwhichthescaleoftheobjectfilmedisofmoderatesize.For
exampleapersonfilmedfromthechestupwouldfillthescreen.

Miseenscne
Alltheelementsplacedinfrontofthecameratobefilmed.Thisincludes
settings,props,costumesandmakeup,lightingandthebehaviourofthe
characters(orsubjectifthefilmdoesnotincludepeople).

Narrative
Achainofeventsincauseandeffectrelationshipthatoccuracrossspaceand
throughtime.

Pan
Acameramovementduringwhichthecamerabodyturnstotheleftorright.
Onscreenitproducesamobileframingwhichscansthespacehorizontally.

Pointofviewshot(POV)
Ashotfilmedwhenthecameraisplacedapproximatelywhereacharacters
eyeswouldbe,showinguswhattheywouldsee.

Scene
Asegmentinafilmthatshowscontinuousactioninoneplaceandtime.Or,a
segmentthatshowssimultaneousactionbycuttingbetweentwoormore
places.

Shot
Anuninterruptedimagewithasinglestaticormobileframing.Forexamplea
closeupofsomeonetalking,orapanofalandscape.

Storyboard
Drawingsofindividualshotsorscenes,likeacomicstrip,withdescriptions
writtenbeloweachdrawing.Thestoryboardisusedtoplanafilm
production.

Tilt

Theverticalmovementofthecamerafromastationarypositionforexample
restingonatripod.

Trackingshot
Ashotproducedbymovingthecameraalongthegroundforward,
backwardsorsideways.

Wipe
Acutbetweenshotsinwhichalinepassesacrossthescreenreplacingthefirst
shotwiththenextone.

Zoom
Atechniquethatgivestheimpressionofthecameramovingtowards(zoom
in)orawayfrom(zoomout)theactionwhilekeepingthefilminfocus,
achievedusingthelensofthecamera.

Reference
Bordwell,DavidandThompson,Kristin:FilmArt.AnIntroduction.Fifth
Edition[UniversityofWisconsin,TheMcGrawHillCompanies,Inc.1997]