Research

Terms List

Scripting - A script, or screenplay, is the blueprint for a movie. They can be original works or adapted from existing works. Common adaptations come from novels. The major components are dialogue and action.

Storyboarding - Storyboards are very helpful in the process of creating a movie. They can help you to organize the story and give it better focus. They help to define your limits with resources and time. They also help you to decide what medium will work best for a given situation.

Film Terminology
180 degree rule - a film editing guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other

30 degree rule - film editing guideline that states the camera must make at least 30° movements around the axis of movement while still respecting the 180° rule

Accelerated montage - sequence edited into progressively shorter shots to create a mood of tension and excitement

Aerial shot – shot taken from a crane or helicopter, not necessarily moving shot

Ambient light – natural light surrounding subject, usually soft

Angle of view - the angle subtended by the lens, wide angle lenses have broad angles of view,
telephoto lenses have very narrow angles of view.

Aspect Ratio - The ratio of the width to the height of the film or television image

Bluescreen - A process of combining separate images, can be used for special effects

Boom – an arm used to hold a microphone near the actor

Clapperboard - A chalkboard, photographed at the beginning of a shot, upon which are written the pertinent data for the shot. A clapstick on top of the board is snapped shut and the resultant sound and image are used later to synchronise picture and sound.

Cutaway - shot inserted in a scene to show action at another location, usually brief, and most often used to cover breaks in the main take

Cut – switch from one image to another

Depth of Field - The range of distances from the camera at which the subject is sharp

Deep focus – objects both near and far from the camera are in focus at the same time

Dolly shot – a shot taken from a moving dolly

Dub – to rerecord a film in a language other than original

Establishing Shot - generally a long shot that shows the audience the general location of the scene that follows, often providing essential information, and orienting the viewer

Extreme close-up – generally focused on certain parts of subject, ex: hand, eye, mouth

Extreme Long Shot - a panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a considerable distance, often as far as a quarter-mile away

Fade in - a punctuation device. The screen is black at the beginning; gradually the image appears, brightening to full strength.

Fade out – a similar device except this may be used to end a scene (starting bright then going to black

Focal Length - The length of the lens, a measurement of tile distance from the centre of the outside surface of the lens to the film plane. Long lenses are telephoto lenses, short lenses are wide-angle lenses.

Focus – sharpness of image

Focus puller – changing focus as subject moves closer or further away

Frame – a single image

Freeze frame – printing one frame many times in succession

Montage – editing

Pan – moving camera left to right

POV shot – shows scene from point of view of character

Storyboard - A series of drawings and captions (sometimes resembling a comic strip) that shows the planned shot divisions and camera movements

Take – an attempt at doing a shot

Tracking shot – similar to dolly shot

Voice- over – usually for animated films, an actor supplies his voice to the character. which is edited into the film

Widescreen - Any one of a number of aspect ratios of 1.66:1 or greater