Film Vocab

Front 1

film treatment

Back 1

description of film in narrative (story) form as if the writer were seeing the film

Front 2

shooting script

Back 2

shot-by-shot description of the film with action/camera direction down one side, sound direction down the other; written breakdown of movie story into its individual shots, often containing mechanical instructions. Used by director and staff to film

Front 3

storyboard

Back 3

a series of sketched that lays out the set-ups of the shot. Pre-visualization techique; shots sketched in advanced like a comic strip. Drawing of each shot in the script identifying kind, angle, briefdescription and length in seconds of the shot.

Front 4

frame

Back 4

Dividing line between the edges of teh screen image and the enclosing darkness; single photograph from the filmstrip (using a writing metaphor, the frame is "a word.")

Front 5

shot

Back 5

Basic unit of film structure; an unbroken strip of film made by an uninterrupted running of the camera. (Using a writing metaphor, the shot is "a sentence")

Front 6

sequence (scene):

Back 6

Number of interrelated shots unified with common concern, location, etc.; action takes place in a single space at a single time. The film's smallest dramatic unit. (Using a writing metaphor, the sequence/scene is "a paragraph")

Front 7

establishing shot

Back 7

L.S. (long shot) or E.L.S. (extra long shot) giving the setting and context of the action. OFTEN at the beginning of a film and /or many scenes.

Front 8

long shot

Back 8

Audience's view of ara within the proscenium arch of the live theater. (what the director wants you (the audience) to see as if you were viewing a stage play)

Front 9

medium shot

Back 9

Relatively close shot, revealing figure/person from knees or waist up.

Front 10

close shot

Back 10

Head shot; detailed view of person or object

Front 11

low angle

Back 11

Filmed from below (camera low and shooting up)

Front 12

high angle

Back 12

Filmed from above (camera high shooting down)

Front 13

one shot (two, three)

Back 13

one figure in the shot. Usually at a medium distance.

Front 14

underexposure

Back 14

insufficent light enters the camera aperture; dark images

Front 15

overexposure

Back 15

too much light enters camera aperture; bleach out images

Front 16

fast or unercranked

Back 16

film speed runs slower that normal 24 fps to make action run faster

Front 17

slow or overcranked

Back 17

film speed run faster than normal 24 fps to make action run slower

Front 18

rack focus

Back 18

blurring. focusing viewer's eye to travel in-focus areas of the frame. It is used to get YOUR attention on what the director wants you to see by blurring unimportant images and keeping the important image infocus

Front 19

angle

Back 19

camera angle of view relative to subject. Low shot from below; Tilt (oblique) angle shot by fixed, tiled camera creating a diagonal.

Front 20

pan

Back 20

fixed camera revolves horiontally from left to right or vice versa

Front 21

dolly

Back 21

moving/mounted camera follows action; may be on tracks for smoother movement

Front 22

boom

Back 22

crane; mounted camera/cinematographer moves any direction through space.

Front 23

zoom

Back 23

fixed camera; entire scene magnified equally often pluging viewer in or out of scene rapidly as focal length of lens is changed.

Front 24

cut

Back 24

simple break where two shots are joined together. Jump cut is a abrupt transition between shots; sometimes dilibrate, disorienting in terms of continuity of space and time. Crosscutting: cutting back and forth between two or more separate scenes suggesting simultaneity and eventual convergence of the actions

Front 25

fade

Back 25

gradual darkening of the image until it becomes black or gradual brightening of a darkened image until it becomes visable. gains proper brightness

Front 26

dissolve

Back 26

simulataneously fading out on a oneshot while fading in on the next so the first shot gradually disappears as the second appears; during the dissolve; two shot will be briefly superimposed

Front 27

iris

Back 27

used as a major transition in silent film; a masking device is placed over the camera lens will gradually open (iris in) or close (iris out) to widen or narrow the field of view.

Front 28

wipe/filip wipe

Back 28

somewhat dated transition in which second shot appears to push/pull the first shot off the screen

Front 29

matches

Back 29

transitions within a scene to provide continuity of action

Front 30

freeze frame

Back 30

single frame is reprinted a number of times on the filmstrip;when projected, it gives the illusion of a still photograph

Front 31

synchronous sound

Back 31

image and sound correspond

Front 32

MOS

Back 32

without sound; images without sound

Front 33

dialogue

Back 33

the spoken lines

Front 34

voice over narration

Back 34

nonsynronous, spoken commentary, often used to convey a character's thoughts and memories

Front 35

sound effects

Back 35

aural atmosphere; sounds added to provide realism

Front 36

music

Back 36

musical score written by the film's composer; functions as commentary on action, directs audience's attention to specific characters or details; info about action and it establishes mood

Front 37

three point light

Back 37

standard lighting setup referring to the dominant sources of illumination

Front 38

credits

Back 38

who produced, directed, acted and peformed jobs of film's crew and contributors

Front 39

rushes/dailies

Back 39

selected footage of previous day's shooting

Front 40

outtakes

Back 40

shots, pieces of film not used in final cut

Front 41

Rough cut

Back 41

crudely edited footage before editor tightens up the slackness between shots; rough draft

Front 42

key light

Back 42

chief, directional light souces above front side and rear

Front 43

back light

Back 43

minor light used to light the space between the back of the set and actors, creates the illusion of deptrh

Front 44

diffraction

Back 44

the bending of waves as they pass through, by, or around a barrier

Front 45

interference

Back 45

the wave interation in which waves occupy the same space (they overlap)

Front 46

dispersion

Back 46

when waves bend less when frequency increases or wavelength decreases when changing the medium

Front 47

pitch

Back 47

how high or low a sound wave is, determined by its frequency (in hertz)

Front 48

compression

Back 48

the process by which a wave travels through a medium, causing molecules to be closer together

Front 49

interference

Back 49

when 2 waves interact and occupy the same space

Front 50

ultrasonic

Back 50

frequency of sound waves above detection by human being