1.      

Long shot (LS)

 Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings. Extreme Long Shot (ELS) - see establishing shot: In this type of shot the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasising the background. Medium Long Shot (MLS): In the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles. Some documentaries with social themes favour keeping people in the longer shots, keeping social circumstances rather than the individual as the focus of attention

2.      

Medium shot (MS)

 In such a shot the subject or actor and its setting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. In the case of the standing actor, the lower frame passes through the waist. There is space for hand gestures to be seen. Medium Close Shot (MCS): The setting can still be seen. The lower frame line passes through the chest of the actor. Medium shots are frequently used for the tight presentation of two actors (the two shot), or with dexterity three (the three shot).

3.      

Close-up (CU)

 A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character's face, in great detail so that it fills the screen. It abstracts the subject from a context. MCU (Medium Close-Up): head and shoulders. BCU (Big Close-Up): forehead to chin. Close-ups focus attention on a person's feelings or reactions, and are sometimes used in interviews to show people in a state of emotional excitement, grief or joy. In interviews, the use of BCUs may emphasise the interviewee's tension and suggest lying or guilt. BCUs are rarely used for important public figures; MCUs are preferred, the camera providing a sense of distance. Note that in western cultures the space within about 24 inches (60 cm) is generally felt to be private space, and BCUs may be invasive.

4.      

Frame

The edges which define the size and shape of the screen. The very existence of these edges, or frame, has significant implications for spatial and narrative considerations.

5.      

Establishing shot

 Opening shot or sequence, frequently an exterior 'General View' as an Extreme Long Shot (ELS). Used to set the scene.

6.      

Point-of-view shot (POV)

 A shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a performer who is to be watching the action shown in the point-of-view shot.

7.      

Over-the-shoulder shot

The partner in a dialogue is seen from the perspective of a person standing just behind and a little to one side of the other partner so that parts of both are in the frame.

8.      

Reverse-angle shot

A shot from the opposite side.

9.      

Two-shot

 A shot of two people together.

10.  

Angle of shot

 The direction and height from which the camera takes the scene. The convention is that in 'factual' programmes subjects should be shot from eye-level only. In a high angle the camera looks down at a character, making the viewer feel more powerful than him or her, or suggesting an air of detachment. A low angle shot places camera below the character, exaggerating his or her importance. An overhead shot is one made from a position directly above the action.

11.  

Low Angle

The camera is placed below the plane of action being filmed and points upwards.

12.  

High Angle

The camera is placed above the plane of action being filmed and points downwards.

13.  

Wide-angle shot

 A shot of a broad field of action taken with a wide-angle lens.

12.  

Crane shot

A shot which is taken when the camera as a whole is moved either up or down or laterally. It is almost always linked to another movement of the camera, such as a pan or tilt, in which case it becomes a compound movement.

15.  

Tilt

A vertical movement of the camera - up or down- while the camera mounting stays fixed.

16.  

Pan

A camera movement in which the camera is pivoted either to the right or left (pan right or pan left) moving the perceived field of vision horizontally in either direction. The camera pivots on its vertical axis.

17.  

Following pan

 The camera swivels (in the same base position) to follow a moving subject. A space is left in front of the subject: the pan 'leads' rather than 'trails'. A pan usually begins and ends with a few seconds of still picture to give greater impact. The speed of a pan across a subject creates a particular mood as well as establishing the viewer's relationship with the subject. 'Hosepiping' is continually panning across from one person to another; it looks clumsy.

18.  

Surveying pan

 The camera slowly searches the scene: may build to a climax or anticlimax.

19.  

Tracking (dollying)

 Tracking involves the camera itself being moved smoothly towards or away from the subject (contrast with zooming). Tracking in (like zooming) draws the viewer into a closer, more intense relationship with the subject; moving away tends to create emotional distance. Tracking back tends to divert attention to the edges of the screen. The speed of tracking may affect the viewer's mood. Rapid tracking (especially tracking in) is exciting; tracking back relaxes interest. In a dramatic narrative we may sometimes be drawn forward towards a subject against our will. Camera movement parallel to a moving subject permits speed without drawing attention to the camera itself.

20.  

Crab

 The camera moves (crabs) right or left.

21.  

Zoom

In zooming in the camera does not move; the lens is focussed down from a long-shot to a close-up whilst the picture is still being shown. The subject is magnified, and attention is concentrated on details previously invisible as the shot tightens (contrast tracking). It may be used to surprise the viewer. Zooming out reveals more of the scene (perhaps where a character is, or to whom he or she is speaking) as the shot widens. Zooming in rapidly brings not only the subject but also the background hurtling towards the viewer, which can be disconcerting. Zooming in and then out creates an ugly 'yo-yo' effect.

22.  

Selective focus

 Rendering only part of the action field in sharp focus through the use of a shallow depth of field. A shift of focus from foreground to background or vice versa is called rack focus.

23.  

Cut

Sudden change of shot from one viewpoint or location to another. On television cuts occur on average about every 7 or 8 seconds.

24.  

Jump cut

 Abrupt switch from one scene to another which may be used deliberately to make a dramatic point. Sometimes boldly used to begin or end action. Alternatively, it may be result of poor pictorial continuity, perhaps from deleting a section.

25.  

Motivated cut

 Cut made just at the point where what has occurred makes the viewer immediately want to see something which is not currently visible (causing us, for instance, to accept compression of time). A typical feature is the shot/reverse shot technique (cuts coinciding with changes of speaker). Editing and camera work appear to be determined by the action. It is intimately associated with the 'privileged point of view' (see narrative style: objectivity).

26.  

Cutting rate

 Frequent cuts may be used as deliberate interruptions to shock, surprise or emphasize.

27.  

Cross-cut

 A cut from one line of action to another. Also applied as an adjectuve to sequences which use such cuts.

28.  

Mise-en-scene

  (Contrast montage). 'Realistic' technique whereby meaning is conveyed through the relationship of things visible within a single shot (rather than, as with montage, the relationship between shots). An attempt is preserve space and time as much as possible; editing or fragmenting of scenes is minimised. Composition is therefore extremely important. The way people stand and move in relation to each other is important. Long shots and long takes are characteristic.

29.  

Direct sound

 Live sound. This may have a sense of freshness, spontaneity and 'authentic' atmosphere, but it may not be acoustically ideal.

30.  

Selective sound

The removal of some sounds and the retention of others to make significant sounds more recognizable, or for dramatic effect - to create atmosphere, meaning and emotional nuance. Selective sound (and amplification) may make us aware of a watch or a bomb ticking. This can sometimes be a subjective device, leading us to identify with a character: to hear what he or she hears. Sound may be so selective that the lack of ambient sound can make it seem artificial or expressionistic.

31.  

Sound perspective/aural perspective

The impression of distance in sound, usually created through the use of selective sound. Note that even in live television a microphone is deliberately positioned, just as the camera is, and therefore may privilege certain participants.

32.  

Dubbed dialogue

 Post-recording the voice-track in the studio, the actors matching their words to the on-screen lip movements. Not confined to foreign-language dubbing.

33.  

Voice over

The voice of the narrator speaking while other sounds including voices of the characters continue

34.  

Shot

 A single run of the camera or the piece of film resulting from such a run.

35.  

Scene

 A dramatic unit composed of a single or several shots. A scene usually takes place in a continuous time period, in the same setting, and involves the same characters.

36.  

Sequence

 A dramatic unit composed of several scenes, all linked together by their emotional and narrative momentum.

37.  

Storyboard

Sketch of what is going to be filmed.

38.  

Screenplay

A document text in a specific format which contains the dramatic elements of the film, as well as indications of other elements such as setting, light values, action, and, in general, everything which it is essential to see on the screen from the point of view of the whole narrative; in its relationship to the completed film, a screenplay is sometimes described as being analogous to a blue print of a structure. The analogy is true up to a point, but in fact there is no other kind of text which has the specific characteristics and constraints of a screenplay. And no other text which, when successful at attaining its goal--i.e., the finished film--effectively ceases to exist except as a historical and critical curiosity.

39.  

Film transcript

Transcript of the final film according to the individual shots giving field size, camera angle, camera movement, action, dialogue etc.

40.  

Director

The author of the film. The director has the responsibility (and creative pleasure) of interpreting the screenplay through all the imagination deployed by her or his art, by that of the crews in the production, and through the virtually limitless combinations of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. It is, in other words, the director's vision which illuminates the film text.

41.  

Editor

The person in charge of splicing the shots of the film together.

42.  

Producer

The person responsible for the financing and marketing of a film.

43.  

Casting

Choosing of actors to impersonate the characters.

44.  

Credits

List of people who were involved in the making of the film.

45.  

Series

A succession of programmes with a standard format.

46.  

Serial

An ongoing story in which each episode takes up where the last one left off. Soap operas are serials.