Media ‘Bible’

• Establishing Shot- An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.

Camera Shots & Angles

• Close-up Shot- a type of shot, which tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene.

• Master Shot- recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view.

• Mid-Shot- Can sometimes be a shot of the whole body, but some refer to a shot of just the waist up as a mid-shot. It is mainly used for a scene when it is desirable to see the subjects' facial expressions in the context of their body language.

• Long Shot- a long shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or a wide shot) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings.

• Wide Shot- A video or film recording made with the camera positioned to observe the most action in the performance. A long shot is now commonly called a wide shot.

• Two Shot- A type of shot employed in the film industry in which the frame encompasses a view of two people (the subjects). The subjects do not have to be next to each other, and there are many common two-shots which have one subject in the foreground and the other subject in the background. It is very useful if the film is about two people. The shots are also used to show the emotional reactions between the subjects.

• Aerial Shot- Aerial shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes. This sort of shot would be restricted to exterior locations. A good area to do this shot would be a scene that takes place on a building. If the aerial shot is of a character it can make them seem insignificant.

• Point Of View Shot- Also known as POV shot or a subjective camera, a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction.

• Over The Shoulder Shot- A shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person. The back of the shoulder and head of this person is used to frame the image of whatever (or whomever) the camera is pointing toward. This type of shot is very common when two characters are having a discussion.

• Canted Angle- The camera is tilted to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest Point Of View shots.

• High Angle- Usually when the camera angle is located above the eyeline. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting. High angle shots also make the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless. High angle shots are usually used in film to make the moment more dramatic or if there is someone at a high level that the character below is talking to.

• Low Angle- A shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up.

• Pan- Panning refers to the rotation in a horizontal plane of a still camera or video camera. Panning a camera results in a motion similar to that of someone shaking their head from side to side.

• Tilt- a cinematographic technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical plane (or tilting plane). Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone nodding their head "yes“.

• Track- tracking shot may refer to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken; in this case the shot is also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot. The term tracking shot may also refer to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame, such as a moving actor or a moving vehicle.

• Dolly- a specialized piece of filmmaking and television production equipment designed to create smooth camera movements. The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera operator and focus puller or camera assistant usually ride on the dolly to operate the camera.

Movement

• Crane- a crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane or jib. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie.

• Steadicam- A camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

• Handheld- Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conveniently sized for travel and because they allow greater freedom of motion during filming.

• Zoom- Digital zoom is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of view of a digital photographic or video image, quality is reduced except for optical zoom. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area.

• Reverse Zoom- A single shot which moves away from a particular subject. When done very quickly it can displace the audience, but it can also be used to show the wider picture or context of an image.

Editing• Action Match- Or matching on action refers to film editing and video

editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film. By having a subject begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next, the editor creates a visual bridge, which distracts the viewer from noticing the cut or noticing any slight continuity error between the two shots.

• Continuity Editing- The predominant style of film editing and video editing in the post-production process of filmmaking of narrative films and television programs. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

• Cross Cutting- An editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the case.

• Parallel Editing-Parallel editing (also known as cross-cutting), is a film editing technique of continuity editing that establishes the relationship between two subjects by cutting from one to the other. One of the most important effects of the parallel edit (but not a necessary one) is that of simultaneousness, suggesting that two events occur at the same time. By employing this sequence of alternating focus, the filmmaker is able to place subjects in relation to one another, allowing complex and subtle relationships to establish themselves by way of cinematic proximity.

• Cut- In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a cut is an abrupt, but usually trivial film transition from one sequence to another.

• Cutaway- In film and video, a cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The cutaway shot does not necessarily contribute any dramatic content of its own, but is used to help the editor assemble a longer sequence.

• Dissolve- In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. The terms fade-out and fade-in are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. This is in contrast to a cut where there is no such transition. A dissolve overlaps two shots for the duration of the effect, usually at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next, but may be used in montage sequences also. Generally, but not always, the use of a dissolve is held to indicate that a period of time has passed between the two scenes.

• Ellipsis- A common procedure in film narrative, where movement and action unnecessary to the telling of a story will often be removed by editing. For example, there would be no need to show a character standing up from a chair and walking the length of a room to open a door. Instead, the character may be shown standing up from the chair and then in the next cut - normally viewed from a different angle, or with a cutaway shot in between, necessary to smooth over the gap - he would have already crossed the room and be over by the door.

• Eyeline Match- A film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, followed by a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.

• Fade- A fade occurs when the picture gradually turns to a single colour, usually black, or when a picture gradually appears on screen. Fade ins generally occur at the beginning of a film or act, while fade outs are typically found at the end of a film or act.

• Graphic Match- A cut in film editing between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which an object in the two shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of action and linking the two shots metaphorically.

• Jump Cuts- A cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time. It is a manipulation of temporal space using the duration of a single shot, and fracturing the duration to move the audience ahead.

• Long Take- an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done properly.

• Short Take-

• Montage- a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information.

• Reverse Shot- a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

• Split Screen- In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye. There may or may not be an explicit borderline.

• Wipe- a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape. If the wipe proceeds from two opposite edges of the screen toward the center or vice versa, it is known as a barn door wipe.

Sound• Diegetic- Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is

implied to be present by the action of the film (voices of characters, sounds made by objects in the story, music represented as coming from instruments in the story space).

• Non-diegetic- Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action (narrator’s commentary, sound effects that are added for the dramatic effect, mood music).

• Ambient- consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of "silence." This term is often confused with presence.

• Asynchronous- sound effects that are not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen. Such sounds are included so as to provide an appropriate emotional nuance, and they may also add to the realism of the film.

• Contrapuntal Sound- When we hear sounds that we wouldn't associate with the events on the screen.

• Dialogue- This is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken language conversational exchange between two or more people.

• Direct Address-Also known as breaking the fourth wall, direct address refers to moments when movie characters appear to acknowledge our presence as spectators, they seem to ‘look at’ or ‘talk to’ us.

• Sound Bridge: Can lead in and out of scenes. They can occur at the beginning of one scene when the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins.

• Sound Motif: In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story.

• Soundtrack: The part of a film text that carries sound- the recorded sound of action filmed as well as added items such as music, voice-over and effects.

• Pitch- Determined by the frequency of the sound.

• Voice Over- Production technique where a voice- that isn’t part of the narrative- is used in a radio, TV production, filmmaking, theatre or other presentations.