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Camera Terms

 

Background. A shot where elements of the composition appear far away from camera dn thus far away from the viewer.

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Bird's eye view/shot. A shot in which the camera photographs a scene from directly overhead.

Close-up shot. A detailed view of a person or object, usually without much context provided

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Composition: The arrangement/placement of people or objects (and their movements) within the frame.  
 

Crane Shot: A moving shot taken by a crane that is high up and usually moving up and down.

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Deep Shot/Deep Focus: A shot where items in the foreground and background appear in equally sharp focus.

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Depth of Field. Refers to how much of the image is in focus. The camera will focus on one distance, but there’s a range of distance in front and behind that point that stays sharp—that’s depth of field. Portraits often have a soft, unfocused background—this is a shallow depth of field. Landscapes, on the other hand, often have more of the image in focus—this is a large depth of field, with a big range of distance that stays sharp.

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Dissolve, lap dissolve. These terms refer to the slow fading out of one shot and the gradual fading in of its successor, with a superimposition of images, usually at the midpoint.

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Establishing shot. Usually an extreme long or long shot offered at the beginning of a scene or sequence providing the viewer with the context of the subsequent closer shots.

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Extreme long shot. Although not at the beginning like an establishing shot, a panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter-mile away.

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Extreme close-up. A minutely detailed view of an object or a person. An extreme close-up of an actor generally includes only his eyes, or his mouth.

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Eye-level shot. The placement of the camera approximately 5 to 6 feet from the ground corresponding to the height of an observer on the scene

 

Fast Motion. Movements on the screen appearing more rapid than they would in actual life.

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Focus. Refers to the sharpness of the image.

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Foreground. A shot where elements of the composition appear closest to the camera and thus closest to the viewer. 

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Full Shot. A type of long shot which includes the human body in full, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom.

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High Angle Shot. A shot taken from above a subject, creating a sense of "looking down" upon whatever is photographed.

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Long take. A shot of lengthy duration.

 

Low angle shot. A shot in which the subject is photographed from below.

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Medium Shot. A shot taken with the camera at a mid-range point.

 

Montage. Transitional sequences of rapidly edited images, used to suggest the lapse of time or the passing of events. Often employs dissolves and multiple exposures. In Europe "montage" means editing.

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Panning shot/Pan. A shot in which a camera remains in place but rotates horizontally on its axis so the subject is constantly re-framed or to show an expanse of space.
 

Slow Motion. Movements on the screen appearing slower than they would in actual life

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Subjective shot. A shot that shows the point of view of the subject. Often a reverse angle shot, preceded by a shot of the character as he glances off-screen.

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Tilt Shot. A shot taken when a stationary camera is angled up (tilt-up) or down (tilt-down).

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Traveling shot. A shot taken from a moving object, such as a car or a boat.

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Two-shot: A medium shot, featuring two actors.

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Three-shot. A medium shot, featuring three actors.

Zoom. The simulation of the camera moving toward or away from the subject by means of a lens or or a variable focal length.

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Basic Lighting Terms

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Accent Light. Any Source from almost any direction which is used in addition to more basic lights to call attention to an object or area - not the Lighting.

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Fill Light. Light used to intentionally fill shadows.

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Hard Light. Lighting that creates well defined shadows and high contrast. This type of lighting would allow you to (crudely) identify an object based only on the shadow it generates.

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Key Light. The central and (typically) brightest light used in a photography studio.

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Side Lighting. Side lighting is light that creates volume for the subject of the picture and is capable of being used as a fill light.

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Soft Light. Light that results in "fuzzy" shadows that slowly transition from light to darkness. Imagine a room with multiple ceiling lights on a low setting, resulting in fuzzy shadows.

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Transition Terms

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Dissolve. When one clip seems to fade into the next. As one clip fades out, the next fades in.​

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Wipe. The opposite of the dissolve because this transition draws attention to itself on purpose. Wipe shapes include stars, diamonds, circles and the famous turning clock...

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Cutaway.  When the camera moves from the main action to something else and then back again. The purpose is to leave something out, enhance what is being shown through another example, or feature different content for any other purpose.

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Fade in or Fade Out. Camera fades to black or white, generally signaling the end of a scene.

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*In iMovie and other software, there are many transitions, some of which can be over the top and distract the viewer. A transition should be subtle, perhaps not noticable. Choose wisely.

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