Technical Terms Flashcards
(34 cards)
Mise-en-scène
The setting or surroundings of an event or action in a movie
Cinematic codes
Systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic
Long lens
It is used to make distant objects appear magnified
Wide-angle lens
A shot that shows the subject within their surrounding environment. A wide shot tells the audience who is in the scene, where the scene is set, and when the scene takes place
Zoom lens
Altering the focal length of the lens to give the illusion of moving closer to or further away from the action
Depth of field
The area in front of the camera that appears sharp in the frame. Can be either shallow or deep
Long Take
A shot lasting much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general
Long (or wide) shot
A view of a scene that is shot from a considerable distance, so that people appear as indistinct shapes
Medium shot
Captured at a medium distance from the subject. It is used for dialogue scenes, but also depict body language and more of the setting
Close-up
Type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. They do not include the broader scene
Establishing shot
Sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects
Tracking shot
The camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded
Pan
Rotating a camera on its horizontal axis in order to keep a moving person or object in view or allow the film to record a panorama
Tilt
The camera stays in a fixed position but rotates up/down in a vertical plane
Composition within the frame
Framing is the preliminary. Composing is where you put the elements together
Handheld camera
Technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator’s hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base
One-shot
A type of shot in which the frame encompasses one person
Two-shot
A type of shot in which the frame encompasses two people
Three-shot
A type of shot in which the frame encompasses three people
Low-angle shot
A shot from a camera angle positioned lowon the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful
High-angle shot
The camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets “swallowed up”. Makes the subject look weak
Shot/ Reverse-shot
Technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character
Editing/Montage
An editing technique in which shots are juxtaposed in an often fast-paced fashion that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a relatively short period
Jump cut
A cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly if at all. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time
