Key Terms For The Year!

To film and evaluate my movie trailer, cover and poster I have to know the key terms and then apply them to both my work and my evaluation at the end of the course. The key terms I have to remember for my movie project coursework include:

Camera Shots:

• Establishing Shot - A shot which services to either introduce the audience to a location and context, or remind them of it.
• Master Shot - Film of an entire scene shot with all the characters included in the frame.
• Wide Shot - The subject takes up the entire frame from top to bottom.
• Two Shot - Shot that includes two people (used to establish relationships).
• Aerial Shot - Taken from directly above, often by helicopter.
• Point of View Shot - When the camera takes place of a characters eyes.
• Over the Shoulder Shot - Looking behind a person at the subject, cutting off the frame just behind the ear. The person facing the subject should occupy about 1/3 of the frame.

Don't forget the Extreme Long Distance Shots, Long Shots, Medium Shots, Close Ups and Extreme Close Ups.

Camera Angles:

• High Angle - The camera is set high up and looks down on the subject.
• Low Angle - The camera is set low (knee level) and looks up at the subject.
• Canted Angle - The camera is set at a titled angle often to suggest a point of view.

Camera Movement:

• Pan - A movement which scans a scene horizontally.
• Crane - Using a crane the camera can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on the action or move diagonally.
• Zoom - When the camera moves close to the subject.
• Reverse Zoom - Moving away from the subject.
• Tilt - A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.
• Dolly - The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object.
• Steadicam - A heavy contraption which is attached to a camera to an operator by a harness. The camera is stabilized so it moves independently.
• Handheld - Often used for documentary.

Composition:

• Framing - The deliberate way subjects are organised so we focus on them.
• Focus Pulls - Whatever the photographer/camera operator wants the audience's focus to be drawn to.
• Deep Focus - When only one small part of the image is in focus.
• Rule of Thirds - Imagine the frame is made up of nine squares (3x3). The eye is always drawn off centre so avoid the centre square.
• Depth of Field - The area of an image that is in focus (sharp).

Cutting:

• Shot Reverse Shot - Where one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing the opposite directions  the viewer unconsciously assumes that they are looking at each other (180 Rule).
• Jump Cut - A transition between two shots which appears to "jump" due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other.
• Parallel Editing - An editing technique that allows two or move simultaneous sets of action to unfold within a single film sequence.
• Insert - Part of a film that is filmed from another angle.
• Eyeline Match - The first shot shows a person looking towards an off-screen subject. There is a cut to the second shot, which shows the object of the person's gaze and the space surrounding the object.
• Cross Cutting - The editing between two scenes that are happening at the same time manipulating the audience.
• Cutaway - The interruption of continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else.

Transitions:

• Dissolve - To fade out one shot or scene while simultaneously fading in the next, overlapping the two during the process.
• Wipe - A gradual shift from one image to another.
• Superimposition - When one image or video is placed on top of an existing image or video to 'cover' something up.
• Ellipsis - What is left out of a narrative, but remains in the story.
• Post Production - The editing stage, where material is manipulated using software and transformed into a finished media product.
• Fade In/Fade Out - When an image appears from a darkened screen or disappears into the dark.
• Long Take - An interrupted shot which can be used to effect.
• Slow Motion - A sequence where time is slowed down.

Sound:

• Synchronous - Sounds that match with the image on screen.
• Asynchronous - Sounds that are not matched with a visible source on screen.
• Dialogue - What characters say.
• Voice Over - A non-diegetic voice that gives information, character view, E.T.C.
• Mode of Address - How a text, in any medium speaks to it's audience.
• Diegetic Sound - Material that exists in the world of text (ex dialogue).
• Non-Diegetic Sound - Material added for the audience (ex atmosphere music).
• Sound Perspective - The apparent distance of a sound (ex horse hooves coming close matched with the action on screen).

Soundtrack:

• Score - The music arranged for a film/television programme.
• Themes - The main initial piece of music used (often reoccurs through out a film or TV show).
• Ambient Sound - Background noise (sets a scene)l.
• Incidental music - Can add to a scene, perhaps to introduce a dramatic event, create a particular atmosphere between scenes or to enhance story telling sequences.
• Stings - A short sequence of music used in films and TV as a form of punctuation.

Mise-en-scene:
All the elements that the director/photographer choose to make up a media production these include:

• Set Design
• Costume
• Props
• Colour Design
• Location
• Studio
• Make Up
• Lighting