FilmMaking Flashcards
180 Degree Rule
One of the key features of the continuity system to which most mainstream film and television has tended to adhere. A screen direction rule in which an imaginary line is drawn between two actors in a scene, which the camera should not cross, lest the viewer becomes disorientated.
Adaptation
A text in one art form based upon, derived from (or adapted from) a text in another. For example, a film based on a stage play, novel, video game or comic strip, which basically preserves some of the setting and dialogue of the original.
Animatic
The process of animating a storyboard into a moving sequence.
Aperture
A measure of the width of the opening allowing light to enter the camera.
Aspect Ratio
A term used to define the shape of the screen, presented in the form width:height.
Art Department
Responsible for arranging the overall “look” of the film, including sets, décor, props.
Assembly
The first stage of editing, in which all the shots are arranged in script order.
Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR)
The post production re-recording of dialogue in a sound studio, usually performed to playback of edited picture in order to match lip movements on screen.
Backlighting
Lighting directed towards the camera from behind the subject.
Best Boy
Assistant to the Gaffer or the Key Grip head in either the lighting or the grip department
Blocking
Setting out where lighting and camera will go on the set by working out where actors will be standing or moving.
Booming Microphone
A long pole with a microphone on the end, extended towards the actors but placed in the ‘camera safe’ area, thus out of shot.
Camera Crew
The team directly involved with operating the camera, including clapper-loader, focus puller and grip, as well as the camera operator, all responsible to the Cinematographer/Director of Photography.
Casting
The process of hiring the actors to play the characters, usually done by a casting director at auditions, with input from director and producer.
Cinematographer
See Director of Photography
Compositing
Combining visual elements from separate sources into single images or sequences, usually to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Also known as a matte shot.
Continuity
This describes the extent to which a film has internal consistency. For example, if in a scene an actor has her hat on from one angle but is not wearing it when seen from another, the film would lose continuity. A continuity person is employed to check that continuity is maintained to avoid the expense of having to reshoot such errors.
Continuity System
This is the system of editing that developed in the early 20th century to provide a continuous and clear movement of events in a film; it refers to the final edited structure of a completed film, with the events arranged as if they had occurred continuously, when, often, they were shot out of sequence. It involves a series of rules, notably the 180 degree rule, the match on action, eyeline match and shot/reverse shot.
Coverage
This refers to all the shots, including close-ups and reverse angles, that a director takes in addition to the master shot, to make up the final product; to have proper coverage means having all the scenes, angles and close-ups needed to ensure that all desired options are possible in the edit.
Crane Shot
This is a camera shot taken from a device that can raise the camera up in the air above the ground 20 feet or more; the crane allows the camera to fluidly move in virtually any direction (with vertical and horizontal movement), providing shifts in levels and angles; crane shots usually provide some kind of overhead view of a scene.
Cross Cutting
This is an editing technique involving alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence, or event) with another - usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two, which suggests some kind of parallel action is taking place simultaneously. The technique is frequently used to dramatically build tension and suspense.
Cut
A change in camera angle or placement, location, or time.
Dailies
The first footage or rushes which the director and editor will see from the previous day’s shoot.
Depth of Field
The range in the camera’s line of sight in which objects will be in focus.
Diegetic sound
A sound that comes from the world of the film, created by something or someone visible on screen or the source of which is implied as present by the action of the film.
Director
The main creative artist on a film, usually the driving artistic source who orchestrates the various other creative personnel on the film, communicating to the actors how a scene should be played. Typically, a director has complete artistic control over all aspects of the film.
Director of Photography
The head of the camera and lighting crews, responsible for the look of the film on camera. Also known as Cinematographer or Lighting Cameraperson.
Dissolve
An editing technique between two sequences, shots or scenes, in which the visible image of one shot or scene is gradually replaced, superimposed or blended by an overlapping fade out and fade in. It is often used to suggest the passage of time.
Distribution
The process of getting the film to its audience, in all formats, including theatrical release and other formats such as DVD and online, which includes working with exhibitors and the marketing of the film.
Dolly
A dolly refers both to a device which allows the camera to be moved along a track and to the movement itself in relation to the object which it is filming.
Editing
The process by which shots are put together into sequences or scenes.
Editor
Someone who carries out the editing process, in consultation with the director.
Establishing shot
The first shot of a new scene, introducing the audience to the space in which the scene will take place.
Executive Producer
The producer who looks after business and legal issues, but has little input on the technical and creative side.
Expressionism
A stylised form of cinema, in which the elements of shot and editing are mobilised to evoke powerful emotion. Key features are high contrast of light and dark, extreme camera angles and shot composition.
