180 Degree Line—The imaginary line established by the sight lines of subjects within a shot that determines where the 180 degree arc of safe shooting is set up for the camera coverage of that scene. Traditionally, one would not move camera to the opposite side of this action line because it would cause a reversal in the established screen direction when the shots are edited together. See also 180 Degree Rule, Axis of Action, Sight Line.
180 Degree Rule—In filmmaking, an imaginary 180 degree arc, or half circle, is established on one side of the shooting set once the camera first records an angle on the action in that space. All subsequent shots should be made from within that same semicircle. Since screen direction, left and right, for the entire scene is already established, the camera may not photograph the subject from the other side of the circle without causing a reversal in the screen direction.
30 Degree Rule—A cousin to the 180 degree rule, this rule suggests that when recording coverage for a scene from differing camera angles within the film set, the camera should be moved around the 180 degree arc at least 30 degrees from one shot to the next in order to create enough variation on the angle on action so that the two different shots will edit together and appear different enough in their framing. A focal length change between set-ups will also help.
4:3—The aspect ratio for standard definition television. Four units wide by three units tall – more square in its visual presentation than the high definition 16:9 video display.
50/50—A profile 2-shot, typically in a medium shot or closer, where both subjects look across the screen at one another – used especially in dialogue scenes.
Act (noun)—Much as with stage plays, in long form programming (feature films or episodic television, etc.) the “story” is broken down into several major sections known as acts. In fictional narrative filmmaking, a story will traditionally have three acts – loosely termed the set-up, the confrontation, and the resolution.
Action—What the director calls out to signify that the acting for the shot being recorded should begin.
Aesthetics—A way of creating and analyzing art and art forms for their beauty.
Angle of Incidence—The angle from which incident light falls upon a film set. A single lighting fixture directly overhead will have a 90 degree (from horizon) angle of incidence.
Angle of View—The field of view encompassed by the light-gathering power of a camera’s lens. A wide angle lens has a wide angle of view. A telephoto lens has a more narrow angle of view on the world.
Angle on Action—The angle from which a camera views the action on the film set.
Answer Shot—see Matching Shots.
Aperture—In motion picture equipment terms, the aperture refers to the iris or flexible opening of the camera lens that controls how much or how little light is used to expose the image inside the camera. A wide aperture or iris setting lets in a larger amount of light. A smaller aperture lets in less light. On many camera lenses, the aperture can also be fully “stopped down” or closed all the way for total darkness on the image.
Artificial Light—Any light generated by a man-made device such as a film light, a desk lamp, or a neon sign.
Aspect Ratio—The numerical relationship between the dimensions of width and height for any given visual recording medium. In the example 16:9, the first number, 16, represents the units of measure across the width of a high definition video frame. The second number, 9, represents the same units of measure for the height of the same frame.
Atmospherics—Any particulates suspended in the air around a film set or location, such as fog, mist, or dust, which will cumulatively obscure the distant background or “catch” and “show” the light in the air.
Attention—The direction in which a subject looks within the film space. The attention of a subject may be drawn by another subject, an inanimate object, or anything that attracts his/her gaze. An imaginary line connects the eyes of the subject and the object of his/her attention. An audience member will trace this line in order to also see what the subject is observing. See also Sight Lines.
Axis of Action—The invisible line created by talent sight lines that helps establish which side of the action the camera can record coverage for that scene. The camera should not be moved to the opposite side of this action line because it will cause a reversal in the established screen direction. See also 180 Degree Rule, Sight Line, Imaginary Line.
Back Light—A light used on a film set placed behind an object but pointed at its back side. It generally serves to help separate the object from the background by providing a rim or halo of light around the edges.
Background—The zone within a filmed frame that shows the deep space farther away from camera. The background is often out of focus, but serves to generate the ambience of the location.
Binocular Vision (Human Visual System)—Having two eyes located at the front of the head. The slight distance between the two eyes causes the human to see nearby objects from two distinct vantage points. The brain then combines the two distinct images into one picture where the overlapping elements take on a three-dimensional aspect.
Blocking—The movement of talent within the film space and the corresponding movement, if any, of the camera in order to follow the actions of the moving talent.
Boom Arm—Deriving its name from the armature on a sailing ship’s mast, a boom arm is used to swivel and extend the camera’s placement in order to get sweeping shots or keep the camera buoyant without a tripod directly beneath it.
Break Frame—When an object being recorded accidentally moves to the edge of the frame and falls outside the visible area of the image.
B-Roll—Any visual material acquired for a project (especially news, documentary, and reality) that visually supports the main topic of discussion but does not include important human subjects. Often used to “mask” edits in interviewee’s answers or commentary when used as a cutaway on the picture track.
Camera Angle—The angle at which a camera views a particular scene. Camera angles can be based on horizontal camera positioning around the subject or vertical camera positioning below or above the subject.
Camera Person/Camera Operator—The person, man or woman, who physically handles the camera during the shooting, whose main responsibility is to maintain proper framing and composition and to verify good focus.
Camera Set-up—A place on the film set where a camera is positioned to record a shot. Each time the camera is physically moved to a new position it is considered a new camera set-up. The camera set-up is often associated with a particular shot from the shot list for scene coverage.
Camera Support (Tripods, etc.)—Any device or piece of film equipment that is used to support the motion picture camera. Tripods, dollies, and car mounts are all examples of various kinds of camera support.
Canted Angle—See Dutch Angle.
Catch Light—See Eye Light.
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)—The electronic light sensor built into many video cameras whose job is to turn light wave energy into electronic voltages, which get recorded as brightness and color values on a tape, hard drive, or memory card in the camera.
Chiaroscuro—Italian for clear/dark, the term is used in the visual arts to talk about the high contrast ratio between light areas of a frame and dark areas. Filmmakers, as well as painters, use this technique to show or hide certain visual elements within their frames.
Clean Single—A medium shot to a close-up that contains body parts of only one person even though other characters may be part of the scene being recorded.
Close-Up Shot—Any detail shot where the object of interest being photographed takes up the majority of the frame. Details will be magnified. When photographing a human being, the bottom of frame will just graze the top part of their shoulders and the top edge of frame may just cut off the top part of their head or hair.
CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)—A type of image sensor used in many smaller devices such as cell phones and consumer digital cameras.
Color Temperature—Often referenced on the degrees Kelvin scale, color temperature is a measurement of a light’s perceived color when compared to the color of light emitted from a “perfect black body” exposed to increasing levels of heat. The color temperature for film lighting is generally accepted as around 3200 degrees Kelvin. Noontime sunlight is generally accepted as around 5600 degrees Kelvin. The lower numbers appear “warm” orange/amber when compared to “white,” and the higher numbers appear “cool” blue.
Composition—In motion picture terms, the artful design employed to place objects of importance within and around the recorded frame.
Continuity—In motion picture production terms: (i) having actors repeat the same script lines in the same way while performing similar physical actions across multiple takes; (ii) making sure that screen direction is followed from one camera set-up to the next; (iii) in post-production, the matching of physical action across a cut point between two shots of coverage for a scene.
Contrast—The range of dark and light tonalities within a film frame.
Contrast Ratio—The level of delineation between strong areas of dark and strong areas of light within a film frame as represented in a ratio of two numbers: Key + Fill:Fill.
Coverage—Shooting the same action from multiple angles with different framing at each camera set-up. Example: A dialogue scene between two people may require a wide shot of the room, a tighter two-shot of both subjects, clean singles of each actor, reciprocal over-the-shoulder shots favoring each actor, cutaways of hands moving or the clock on the wall, etc.
Crane—Much like the large, heavy machinery used in construction, a crane on a film set may raise and move camera or have large lighting units mounted to it from high above the set.
Critical Focus—As with the human eye, there can be only one plane or physical slice of reality that is in sharpest focus for the motion picture camera. The plane of critical focus is this slice of space in front of the lens that will show any object within that plane to be in true focus. Example: When recording a person’s face in a medium close-up, their eyes should be in sharpest focus, in which case the plane of critical focus is at the same distance away from the lens as the actor’s eyes.
Cross the Line—Based on the concept inherent to the “action line” or 180 degree rule, this expression refers to accidentally moving the camera across the line and recording coverage for a scene that will not match established screen direction when edited together. See also Jump the Line.
Cutaway—Any shot recorded whose purpose is to allow a break from the main action within a scene. The editor may place a cutaway into an edited scene of shots when a visual break is necessary or when two other shots from the primary coverage will not edit together smoothly.
Daylight Balance—Emulsion film stock and video cameras may be biased toward seeing the color temperature of daylight as “white” light. When they are set this way, they have a daylight balance.
Degrees Kelvin—The scale used to indicate a light source’s color temperature, ranging roughly from 1000 to 20,000 degrees. Red/orange/amber colored light falls from 1000 to 4000 and bluish light falls from 4500 on up to 20,000.
Depth—The distance from camera receding into the background of the set or location. The illusion of three-dimensional deep space on the two-dimensional film plane.
Depth of Field (DoF)—In filmmaking terms, the DOF refers to a zone, some distance from the camera lens, where any object will appear to be in acceptable focus to the viewing audience. The depth of field lives around the plane of critical focus, but rather than being centered equally, it appears one-third in front of and two-thirds behind the point of critical focus. Any object outside the DOF will appear blurry to the viewer. The DOF may be altered or controlled by changing the camera-to-subject distance or by adding light to or subtracting light from the subject and adjusting the lens iris accordingly.
Desaturation—In filmmaking, the removal of colors (hues) from an image such that only grayscale values (blacks, grays, whites) are left in the pixels of the image.
Digital Zoom—A camera/lens function which digitally enlarges an image based on a magnification of the existing pixel data by the camera’s processor. The result is often blurry or “pixelated” due to this expansion of limited picture information. A digital blow-up. Differs from an optical zoom, which uses glass lenses to record an actual magnified image of a distant object.
Direct Address—A subjective style of recording motion pictures where the subject looks (and speaks) directly into the camera lens. Used in news reporting, talk shows, game shows, etc.
Director of Photography (DP, DoP)—The person on the film’s crew who is responsible for the overall look of a motion picture project’s recorded image. He or she primarily creates the lighting scheme but may also help in planning the angles, composition, and movement of the camera as well as design details such as color palettes and object textures.
Dirty Single—A medium shot to a close-up that contains the main person of interest for the shot but also contains some visible segment of another character who is also part of the same scene. The clean single is made “dirty” by having this sliver of another’s body part in the frame.
Dolly—Traditionally, any wheeled device used to move a motion picture camera around a film set either while recording or in between takes. A dolly may be three or four wheeled; ride on the floor or roll (with special wheels) along straight or curved tracks; have a telescoping or booming arm that lifts and lowers the camera.
Domestic Cutoff—The outer 10% of analog-transmitted picture information that is cut off at the outside edges of a cathode ray tube television set and not viewable by the in-home audience. Although not as common in the digital age, this phenomenon should be taken into account when composing shots for a project that will be broadcast on television or viewed as a standard definition DVD. Videos encoded for web playback will display full frame.
Dutch Angle/Dutch Tilt—In filmmaker terms, any shot where the camera is canted or not level with the actual horizon line. The “Dutch angle” is often used to represent a view of objects or actions that are not quite right, underhanded, diabolical, or disquieting. All horizontal lines within the frame go slightly askew diagonally and, as a result, any true vertical lines will tip in the same direction.
End Frame—Any time the camera has been moving to follow action, the camera should come to a stop before the recorded action ceases. The editor may use this clean, static frame to cut away from the moving shot to any other shot that would come next. In a filmed sequence, viewing moving frames cut to static frames can be a jarring visual cut, and this static end frame helps prevent this visual glitch.
Establishing Shot—Traditionally the first shot of a new scene in a motion picture. It is a wide shot that reveals the location where the immediately following action will take place. One may quickly learn place, rough time of day, rough time of year, weather conditions, historical era, and so on by seeing this shot.
Exposure—In motion picture camera terms, it is the light needed to create an image on the recording medium (either emulsion film or a video light sensor). If you do not have enough light you will underexpose your image and it will appear too dark. If you have too much light you will overexpose your image and it will appear too bright.
Exterior—In film terms, any shot that has to take place outside.
Eye Light—A light source placed somewhere in front of talent that reflects off the moist and curved surface of the eye. Sometimes called the “catch” or “life” light, this eye twinkle brings out the sparkle in the eye and often informs an audience that the character is alive and vibrant. Absence of the eye light can mean that a character is no longer living or is hiding something, etc.
Eye-Line Match—When shooting clean single coverage for a scene with two or more people, the eyes of the two characters should be looking off frame in the direction of where the other character’s head or face would be. Even though the actors may not be sitting next to one another as they were in the wider two-shot, the eye-line of each “looking” at the other must match from shot to shot so that there is consistency in the edited scene.
Fill Light—A light, of lesser intensity than the key light, used to help control contrast on a set but most often on a person’s face. It is “filling” in the shadows caused by the dominant key light.
Film Gauge—In the world of emulsion film motion pictures, the physical width of the plastic film strip is measured in millimeters (i.e., 16 mm, 35 mm). This measurement of film width is also referred to as the film’s gauge.
Film Noir—A term generated by French film critics of the late 1940s to describe the visually and thematically dark motion pictures created in Hollywood from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Meaning, “black film,” the term typically applied to black and white, gritty crime-dramas that used a very low-key lighting design.
Film Space—The world within the film, both that which is currently presented on screen and that which is “known” to exist within the film’s manufactured reality. Diegesis.
Fish-Eye Lens—A camera lens whose front optical element is so convex (or bulbous like the eye of a fish) that it can gather light rays from a very wide area around the front of the camera. The resulting image formed while using such a lens often shows a distortion in the exaggerated expansion of physical space, object sizes, and perspective – especially with subjects closer to camera.
Focal Length—The angle of view that a particular lens can record. A number, traditionally measured in millimeters (mm), that represents a camera lens’ ability to gather and focus light. A lower focal length number (i.e., 10 mm) indicates a wide angle of view. A higher focal length number (i.e., 200 mm) indicates a narrower field of view where objects further from the camera appear to be magnified and fill more of the frame.
Focus—The state where objects being viewed by the camera appear to be sharply edged, well defined, and show clear detail. Anything out of focus is said to be blurry.
Following Focus—If a subject moves closer to or further away from camera but stays within the film frame, often the camera assistant or camera operator must manually control the focus of the recording lens in order to keep the moving subject in clear, crisp focus. If the subject at the plane of critical focus moves away from that plane and outside the corresponding depth of field, he/she will get blurry unless the camera assistant follows focus.
Foreground—The zone within a filmed frame that starts near the camera’s lens but ends before it reaches a more distant zone where the main action may be occurring. Any object that exists in the foreground of the recorded frame will obscure everything in the more distant zones out to the infinity point.
Foreshortening—In the visual arts, it is a way that three-dimensional objects get represented on the two-dimensional plane. When pictured from a certain view or perspective, the object may appear compressed and/or distorted from its actual shape; the closer end will appear larger and the farther end will appear smaller.
Fourth Wall—In fictional narrative filmmaking, this term means the place from where the camera objectively observes the action on the film set. Because it is possible for the camera to record only three of the four walls within a film set without moving, the fourth wall is the space on set where the camera lives and it is from that privileged place where it observes the action. “Breaking the fourth wall” means that talent has directly addressed the camera lens and therefore the audience.
Frame—The entire rectangular area of the recorded image with zones of top, bottom, left, right, center, and depth.
Front Lighting—Any lighting scheme where lights come from above and almost directly behind the camera recording the scene. Talent, when facing toward the camera, will have an overall even lighting, which often causes flatness to their features but may also smooth out surface imperfections.
Geared Head—A professional piece of camera support used on dollies, cranes, and tripods that has two spinning geared wheels that allow for very fluid vertical and horizontal movements of the camera. The camera operator must crank each gear wheel manually in order to maintain the appropriate framing during tilts or pans.
Gel—Heat-resistant sheet of flexible, thin plastic that contains a uniform color. Used to add a “wash” of color on a film set. Example: When the feeling of sunset is required for a shot, one can place an orange/yellow gel between the lights and the set to give the impression of a warmer sunset color.
Genre—A French term meaning a category within some larger group. In film, the term genre applies to types of movies such as comedy, drama, action, western and so forth.
Golden Hour—The moments just after direct sunset but before the ambient light in the sky fades to nighttime darkness. Filmmakers often appreciate the visual quality the soft top light of dusk creates on exterior scenes; sometimes called Magic Hour.
Grip—A film crew member whose job it is to move, place, and tweak any of the various pieces of film equipment used for support of camera and lighting units, or devices used to block light, among other duties. A special dolly grip may be used to rig the dolly tracks and push or pull the dolly or camera during the recording of a shot.
Handheld—Operating the motion picture camera while it is supported in the hands or propped upon the shoulder of the camera operator. The human body acts as the key support device for the camera and is responsible for all movement achieved by the camera during the recording process.
Hard Light—A quality of light defined by the presence of strong, parallel rays being emitted by the light source. Well-defined, dark shadows are created by hard light.
Head—A common film term for the beginning of a shot, especially during the post-production editing process.
Headroom—The free space at the top of the recorded frame above the head of the talent. Any object may have “headroom.” Too much headroom will waste valuable space in the frame, and not enough may cause your subject to appear cut off or truncated at the top.
High Angle Shot—Any shot where the camera records the action from a vertical position higher than most objects being recorded. Example: The camera, looking out a third-floor window of an apartment house, records a car pulling into the driveway down below.
High Definition (HD)—A reference to the increased image quality and wider frame size (16:9) of the digital video format. The increase in vertical line resolution per frame (720 or 1080) increases the sharpness and color intensity of the playback image. All HD formats use square pixels.
High Key Lighting—A lighting style in which a low contrast ratio exists between the brightly lit areas and the dark areas of the frame. Overall, even lighting gives proper exposure to most of the set and characters within it. There are no real dark shadow regions and no real overly bright regions.
HMI—A film lighting fixture whose internal lamp burns in such a way as to emit light that matches daylight/sunlight in color temperature (5500–6000 degrees Kelvin).
Hood Mount—A device used to mount a tripod head and camera to the hood of a motor vehicle such that the occupants of the vehicle may be recorded while the vehicle is in motion. Often a large suction cup is employed to help secure the camera rig to the hood.
Horizon Line—The distant line that cuts across a film frame horizontally. It is used to help establish the scope of the film space and helps define the top and bottom of the film world.
Imaginary Line—The invisible line created by talent sight lines that helps establish what side of the action the camera can record coverage for that scene. The camera should not be moved to the opposite side of this action line because it will cause a reversal in the established screen direction. See also 180 Degree Rule, Sight Line, Axis of Action.
Interior—In film terms, any shot that has to take place inside.
Iris—In motion picture equipment terms, the iris refers to the aperture or flexible opening of the camera lens that controls how much or how little light is used to expose the image inside the camera. Some modern video cameras use an electronic iris that controls the amount of light automatically. Most high-end HD and emulsion film lenses use an iris of sliding metal blades that overlap to make the aperture smaller or wider. A marked ring on the lens barrel can manually control the size of the opening.
Jib Arm—A piece of motion picture camera support equipment that allows the camera to move around a central fulcrum point, left/right/up/down/diagonally. It may be mounted onto tripod legs or on a dolly.
Jump Cut—An anomaly of the edited film when two very similar shots of the same subject are cut together and played. A “jump” in space or time appears to have occurred, which often interrupts the viewer’s appreciation for the story being shown.
Jump the Line—Based on the concept inherent to the “action line” or 180 degree rule, this expression refers to moving the camera across the line and recording coverage for a scene that will not match the established screen direction when edited together.
Key Light—The main light source around which the remaining lighting plan is built. Traditionally, on film sets, it is the brightest light that helps illuminate and expose the face of the main subject of the shot.
Kicker Light—Any light that hits the talent from a ¾ backside placement. It often rims just one side of the hair, shoulder, or jaw line.
Legs—An alternate name for a camera tripod.
Lens Axis—In motion picture camera terms, it is the central path cutting through the middle of the circular glass found in the camera’s lens. Light traveling parallel to the lens axis is collected by the lens and brought into the camera that is exposing the recording medium. One can trace an imaginary straight line out of the camera’s lens (like a laser pointer) and have it fall on the subject being recorded. That subject is now placed along the axis of the lens.
Light Meter—A device designed to read and measure the quantity of light falling on a scene or being emitted from it. Often used to help set the level of exposure on the film set and, consequently, the setting on the camera’s iris.
Line—The imaginary line that connects a subject’s gaze to the object of interest being viewed by that subject. Example: A man, standing in the entry way of an apartment building, looks at the name plate on the door buzzer. The “line” would be traced from the man’s eyes to the name plate on the wall. The next shot may be a close-up of the name plate itself, giving the audience an answer to the question, “what is he looking at?”
Locked Off—The description of a shot where the tripod head pan and tilt controls are locked tight so that there will be no movement of the camera. If there were a need to make adjustments to the frame during shooting, the pan and tilt locks would be loosened slightly for smooth movement.
Long Shot—When photographing a standing human being, their entire body is visible within the frame and a large amount of the surrounding environment is also visible around them. Sometimes called a wide shot.
Look Room/Looking Room/Nose Room—When photographing a person, it is the space between their face and the farthest edge of the film frame. If a person is positioned frame left and is looking across empty space at frame right, then that empty space is considered the look room or nose room.
Low Angle Shot—Any shot where the camera records the action from a vertical position lower than most objects being recorded. Example: The camera, on a city sidewalk, points up to the tenth floor of an office building to record two men, suspended with rigging, cleaning the windows.
Lower Thirds—A title or graphic that appears as a superimposed visual element across the bottom lower third of the screen. Usually used to identify a person or place in a factual news piece or a documentary interview.
Low Key Lighting—A lighting style in which a large contrast ratio exists between the brightly lit areas and the dark areas of the frame. Example: Film noir used low key lighting to create deep, dark shadows and single-source key lighting for exposure of principal subjects of importance.
Matching Shots (also known as Reciprocating Imagery or Answering Shots)—When shooting coverage for a scene, each camera set-up favoring each character being covered should be very similar if not identical. One should match the framing, camera height, focal length, lighting and so forth. When edited together, the “matching shots” will balance one another and keep the information presented about each character consistent.
Medium Shot—When photographing a standing human being, the bottom of the frame will cut off the person around the waist.
Middle Ground—The zone within the depth of a filmed frame where, typically, the majority of the important visual action will take place. Objects in the middle ground may be obscured by other objects in the foreground, but middle ground objects may then also obscure objects far away from camera in the background.
Monocular Vision (Camera Lens)—A visual system in which only one lens takes in and records all data. The three-dimensional aspect of human binocular vision is not present in the monocular vision of the film or video camera.
MOS—A term applied to shots recorded without sound. It should be noted on the clap slate and on the camera report and camera log. Although originating in the early days of sync sound emulsion film production, it may be used on any project where a camera records the visual images and a separate device records the audio signal. The post-production team knows not to search for a sync sound clip that corresponds to that “MOS” picture clip.
Motivated Light—Light, seen on a film set, that appears to be coming from some light source within the film’s pretend world.
Natural Light—Any light that is made by the sun or fire; non-manmade sources.
Negative Space—An artistic concept wherein unoccupied or empty space within a composition or arrangement of objects also has mass, weight, importance, and is worth attention. Used to help balance objects within the frame.
Neutral Density Filter—A device that reduces the amount of light entering a camera (density), but does not alter the color temperature of that light (neutral). It is either a glass filter that one can apply to the front of the camera lens or, with many video cameras, a setting within the camera’s electronics that replicates the reduced light effect of neutral density glass lens filters.
Normal Lens—A camera lens whose focal length closely replicates what the field of view and perspective might be on certain objects if those same objects were seen with human eyes.
Objective Shooting—A style of filmmaking where the talent never addresses the existence of the camera. The camera is a neutral observer, not participating actively in the recorded event but simply acting as a viewer of the event for the benefit of the audience.
Overexposed—A state of an image where the bright regions contain no discernible visual data but appear as glowing white zones. The overall tonality of this image may also be lacking in true “black” values so that everything seems gray to white in luminance.
Overheads—Drawings or diagrams of the film set, as seen from above like a bird’seye view, that show the placement of camera, lighting equipment, talent, and any set furnishings, etc. These overheads will act as a map for each department to place the necessary equipment in those roughed-out regions of the set.
Overlapping Action—While shooting coverage for a particular scene, certain actions made by talent will have to be repeated from different camera angles and framings. When cutting the film together, the editor will benefit from having the talent making these repeated movements, or overlapping actions, in multiple shots so that when the cut is made it can be made on the matching movement of the action across the two shots.
Over the Shoulder (OTS)—A shot used in filmmaking where the back of a character’s head and one of his shoulders create an “L” shape in the left/bottom or right/bottom foreground and act as a “frame” for the full face of another character in the middle ground opposite the first character. This shot is often used when recording a dialogue scene between two people.
Pan—Short for panoramic, the horizontal movement, from left to right or right to left, of the camera while it is recording action. If you are using a tripod for camera support, the pan is achieved by loosening the pan lock on the tripod head and using the pan handle to swivel the camera around the central pivot point of the tripod in order to follow the action or reveal the recorded environment.
Pan Handle—A tripod head with a horizontal pivot axis which allows for the panning action of the camera either left or right. The pan handle is a stick or length of metal tubing that extends off the tripod head and allows the camera operator to control the rate of movement of the camera pan by physically pushing or pulling it around the central axis of the tripod.
Point of View (POV)—In filmmaking terms, any shot that takes on a subjective vantage. The camera records what one of the characters is seeing. The camera sits in place of the talent, and what it shows to the viewing audience is supposed to represent what the character is actually seeing in the story. It can help an audience relate to that character because they are placed in that character’s position.
Point Source—A light source derived from a specific, localized instance of light generation/emission. A non-diffused light source.
Post-production—The phase of motion picture creation that traditionally happens after all of the action is recorded with a camera (also known as production). Post-production can include picture and sound editing, title and graphics creation, motion effects rendering, color correction, musical scoring and mixing, etc.
Practical—A functional, onset lighting fixture visible in the recorded shot’s frame that may actually help illuminate the set for exposure. Example: A shot of a man sitting down at a desk at night. Upon the desk is a desk lamp whose light illuminates the face of the man.
Pre-production—The period of work on a motion picture project that occurs prior to the start of principal photography (also known as production). Story development, script writing, storyboards, casting, etc. all happen during this phase.
Prime Lens—A type of lens that has only one focal length.
Principal Photography—The recording of motion images that involve the major talent of a production during the primary dialogue and/or action scenes contained in the script.
Production—The period of work on a motion picture project that occurs while the scenes are being recorded on film or video. This could be as short as a single day for a commercial or music video or last several months for a feature film.
Proscenium Style—In theatre as well as motion pictures, this is a way to stage the action such that it is seen from only one direction. The audience or, in film’s case, the camera views and records the action from only one angle.
Pulling Focus—Camera lenses that have manual controls for the focus will allow a camera assistant or camera operator to move the plane of critical focus closer to the camera, therefore shifting the distance of the zone that appears to be in sharp focus within the depth of the frame. This is often done to shift focus from one farther object in the frame to one closer object within the frame.
Punch-In—When two or more separate shots of differing frame sizes cover the same subject along the same camera axis.
Pushing Focus—Camera lenses that have manual controls for the focus will allow a camera assistant or camera operator to move the plane of critical focus further away from the camera, therefore shifting the zone of what appears to be in sharp focus within the frame’s depth. This is often done to shift focus from a near object in the frame to one further away.
Racking Focus—During the recording of a shot that has a shallow depth of field, the camera assistant or camera operator may need to shift focus from one subject in the frame to another. This shifting of planes of focus from one distance away from the camera to another is called racking focus.
Reveal—Any time that the filmmaker shows new, important, or startling visual information on the screen through camera movement, talent blocking, or edited shots in post-production. The reveal of information is the payoff after a suspenseful expectation has been established within the story.
Rim Light—Any light source whose rays “rim” or “halo” the edges of a subject or an object on the film set, often placed somewhere behind the subject but directed at him.
Rule of Thirds—A commonly used guideline of film frame composition where an imaginary grid of lines falls across the frame, both vertically and horizontally, at the mark of thirds. Placing objects along these lines or at the cross points of two of these lines is considered part of the tried and true composition of film images.
Safe Action Line—Related to the domestic cutoff phenomenon, the safe action line is found on many camera viewfinders and is used to keep the important action composed more toward the inner region of the frame. This prevents important action from being cut off.
Scene—A segment of a motion picture that takes place at one location. A scene may be composed of many shots from different camera angles or just one shot from one camera set-up.
Screen Direction—The direction in which a subject moves across or out of the frame. Example: A person standing at the center of frame suddenly walks out of frame left. The movement to the left is the established screen direction. When the next shot is cut together for the story, the same person should enter the frame from frame right, continuing their journey in the same screen direction – from the right to the left.
Shooting Ratio—The amount of material you shoot for a project compared to the amount of material that makes it into the final edit. Example: You shoot fourteen takes of one actor saying a line, but only use one of those takes in the final movie. You have a 14:1 shooting ratio for that one line of dialogue.
Shot—One action or event that is recorded by a camera at one time. A shot is the smallest building block used to edit a motion picture.
Shot List—A list of shots, usually prepared by the director during pre-production, that acts as a guide for what shots are required for best coverage of a scene in a motion picture project. It should show the shot type and may follow a number and letter naming scheme (e.g. Scene 4, Shot C, or simply 4C).
Shot–Reverse–Shot—A term applied to an editing style where one shot of a particular type (medium close-up) is used on one character and then the same type of shot (medium close-up) is edited next to show the other character in the scene. You see the shot, “reverse” the camera angle, and see a matching shot of the other character.
Side Lighting—A method of applying light to a subject or film set where the lights come from the side, not above or below.
Sight Line—The imaginary line that traces the direction in which a subject is looking on screen; sometimes called a line of attention. Sight line also establishes the line of action and sets up the 180 degree arc for shooting coverage of a scene.
Silhouette—A special way of exposing a shot where the brighter background is correct in its exposure but the subject (in the MG or FG) is underexposed and appears as a black shape with no detail but the hard edge “cutout.”
Slate—(noun) The clapboard used to identify the shot being recorded. Often the name of the production, director, DP, the shooting scene, and the date are written on the slate. (verb)—Using the clapboard sticks to make a “clapping” sound, which serves as a synchronization point of picture and sound tracks during the edit process.
Soft Light—Any light that has diffused, non-parallel rays. Strong shadows are very rare if one uses soft light to illuminate talent.
Spreader (Tripod)—The three legs of a tripod are often attached to a rubber or metal device in order to keep the legs from splaying too far apart while the heavy camera sits atop the tripod head. This three-branched brace allows for greater stability, especially as the tripod legs are spread further and further apart to get the camera lower to the ground.
Staging—The placement of talent and objects within the film set.
Standard Definition—A reference to the normal image quality and frame size of most televisions around the world during the twentieth century. Limitations in broadcast bandwidth, among other technological reasons, required a low-resolution image (525-line NTSC or 576-line PAL) of the 4:3 aspect ratio for television reception in the home.
Start Frame—Any time the camera needs to move in order to follow action, the camera should begin recording, stay stationary for a few moments while the action begins, and then start to move to follow the action. The start frame can be useful to the editor of the film so that the shot will have a static frame to start on at the beginning of the cut. Static frames cut to moving frames can be a jarring visual experience and this static start frame may help prevent this from occurring.
Sticks—(i) An alternate name for a camera tripod. (ii) The clapboard or slate used to mark the synchronization point of picture and sound being recorded.
Storyboards—Drawings often done during pre-production of a motion picture that represent the best guess of what the ultimate framing and movement of camera shots will be when the film goes into production. These comic book-like illustrations act as a template for the creative team when principal photography begins.
Subjective Shooting—A style of filmmaking where the talent addresses the camera straight into the lens (as in news broadcasting) or when the camera records exactly what a character is observing in a fictional narrative, as with the point of view shot.
Tail—The common film term for the end of a shot, especially during the post-production editing process.
Tail Slate—Often used while recording documentary footage, a tail slate is the process of identifying the shot and “clapping” the slate after the action has been recorded but before the camera stops rolling. The slate is physically held upside-down to visually indicate a tail slate.
Take—Each action, event, or dialogue delivery recorded in a shot may need to be repeated until its technical and creative aspects are done to the satisfaction of the filmmakers. Each time the camera rolls to record this repeated event is called a “take.” Takes are traditionally numbered, starting at “one.”
Taking Lens—The active lens on a motion picture or video camera that is actually collecting, focusing, and controlling the light for the recording of the image. On certain models of emulsion film motion picture cameras there can be more than one lens mounted to the camera body. Most video cameras have only one lens, which would be the “taking” lens.
Talking Head—Any medium close-up shot or closer that frames one person’s head and shoulders. Usually associated with documentaries, news, and interview footage.
Three Point Lighting—A basic but widely used lighting method where a key light is employed for main exposure on one side of talent, a fill light for contrast control on the opposite side, and a back light for subject/background separation.
Tilt—The vertical movement, either down/up or up/down, of the camera while it is recording action. If using a tripod for camera support, the tilt is achieved by loosening the tilt lock on the tripod head and using the pan handle to swing the camera lens up or down in order to follow the vertical action or reveal the recorded environment.
Timecode—A counting scheme based on hours, minutes, seconds, and frames used to keep track of image and sound placement on videotapes, digital media files, and editing software.
Tracks/Rail—Much like railroad tracks, these small-scale metal rails are used to smoothly roll a dolly across surfaces, either inside or outside, in order to get a moving shot.
Tripod—A three-legged device, often with telescoping legs, used to support and steady the camera for motion picture shooting. The camera attaches to a device capable of vertical and horizontal axis movements called the tripod head, which sits atop the balancing legs.
Truck In/Out—Moving the camera into set or pulling camera out of set, usually atop a dolly on tracks. Also known as tracking in and tracking out.
Tungsten Balanced—Film and video cameras may be biased toward seeing the color temperature of tungsten lamps (aka, film lights) as “white” light. When they are set this way, they have a tungsten balance at approximately 3200 degrees Kelvin.
Two-Shot—Any shot that contains the bodies (or body parts) of two people.
Underexpose—A state of an image where the dark regions contain no discernible visual data but appear as deep black zones. The overall tonality of this image may also be lacking in true “white” values so that everything seems gray down to black in luminance.
Vanishing Point—A long-established technique in the visual arts where opposing diagonal lines converge at the horizon line to indicate the inclusion of a great distance in the image’s environment. It is an illusion used to help represent three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.
Video Format—A video combines recorded electronic voltage fluctuations or digital bit data that represent picture and sound information. Video cameras are manufactured to record that data onto a tape or memory card in a particular way. The shape, amount of data, frame rate, color information and so forth that gets recorded are determined by the technologies inside the video camera. Examples include NTSC-525 line, PAL, HD-1080i, HD-720p.
Visible Spectrum—The zone in electromagnetic energy waves that appears to our eyes and brains as colored light.
Voice Slate—A practice used at the head of a shot after the camera is rolling and before the director calls “action.” Often, a camera assistant will verbally speak the scene and take number so as to identify audio data that may be recorded separately from the picture.
Workflow—A plan or methodology that maps the flow of picture and sound data from the production through numerous post-production phases and ultimately to a finished product that is distributed for viewing. Managing a clear digital mediafile workflow is very important to the efficient completion of any project.
Zoom Lens—A camera lens whose multiple glass lens element construction and telescoping barrel design allow it to gather light from a wide range or field of view and also from a very narrow (more magnified) field of view. The focal length of the lens is altered by changing the distances of the optical elements contained within the lens barrel itself. Most modern video cameras have built-in optical zoom lenses that can be adjusted from wide to telephoto with the touch of a button.