Talking about Film

Terms	Definitions
Shot	A single, uninterrupted piece of film
Sequence	Collection of shots forming a natural unit
Long shot	Shot taken from a distance. Shows full subject.
Establishing shot	Sets the scene or emphasizes setting
Close up	Image being shot takes up at least 80% of the screen
Medium shot	Subjects seen from waist up
Low key lighting	Darkness and shadows. Often create suspense/ suspicion
High key lighting	Light, bright, open looking. Creates warmth and happiness
Neutral lighting	Lighting is not intentionally manipulated.
Bottom/side lighting	Direct lighting from below or side. Associated with secrecy, dangerous or evilness, moral ambiguity, slit personalities
Front/rear lighting	Direct lighting from front/ behind. Angelic and innocent expression
Soft focus	Intentional edge blur. Innocence, new life
Rack focus	When the director shifts the focus from one object to another in the same scene. Changes attention. Signifies power or significance.
Deep focus	When the foreground and background are in the same focus.
Low angle	Shooting subject from below. Makes them look important and powerful.
High angle	Camera is above. Makes things look small, even weak and powerless.
Eye level	Natural angle.
Dutch angle	Tilted sideways on a horizontal line. Adds tension to static frame. Sinister/distorted view of character.
Dolly shots	Camera moves with action on a track. Often used in "walk and talk"
Pan	Camera pivots along the horizontal axis left or right. To take in scenery.
Tilt	Camera moves up and down vertically. Used to emphasize setting. Sex and the city recently used it to show fashion, and now many others are too.
Zoom	Lens moves, but not camera. Object appears bigger or smaller depending on focal length.
Cut	Abrupt transition of visual content from one shot to the next.
Fade	Scene fades to black. Often implies that time has passed.
Dissolve	One image fades into another. Creates connection between scenes.
Crosscut	Cut between 2 scenes that are happening simultaneously.
Flashback	Movement into action that happened in past.
Eye line match	Shot of a person looking, cut to what they're looking at.
Cutaways	Single shot is inserted into a sequence of shots that momentarily interrupt the action
Reverse cutting	Over the shoulder shot showing different people speaking.
Diegetic	Sound that can logically be heard by the characters
Nondiegetic	Sounds that aren't heard by characters in the film.
overhead shot	this depicts the action or subject from high above, sometimes looking directly down on it
Symbol	one single object, person, place, etc. that represents an abstract idea. Helps get across the theme.
Motif	a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
verbal irony	occurs when what is said contradicts what is meant or thought
static character	a character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end
dynamic character	A character who grows, learns, or changes as a result of the story's action
Allusion	a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize
Allegory	A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions. Multiple layers of meaning.
Auteur Theory	a critical method by which a film is viewed as the product of its director and is judged by the quality of its expression of the director's personality or world view; usually used to relate a film to others by the same director.
Linear Narrative	a narrative that goes in chronological order.
Nonlinear Narrative	a narrative that goes out of chronological order.
frame story	a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story
catalyst event	the event in the first act that is the "domino" that starts all the action