Glossary of Film Terms

Question 1

ACCELERATED MOTION

Answer 1

movement in a shot is represented at greater speed than in reality. This can be achieved by filming at 18 frames per second rather than the standard 24, so that when the film is played back at 24 fps the motion appears faster. This technique was used as early as Chaplin but is today more often associated with the action film. It is the opposite of SLOW MOTION.

Question 2

ACTUAL SOUND

Answer 2

sound arising from within the action itself such as dialogue or other natural sounds. This is also called DIEGETIC SOUND.

Question 3

BACK LIGHTING

Answer 3

The main source of light is directed towards the camera – thus throwing the subject into silhouette – a technique that was pioneered in early German Expression such as Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau 1922), it has been adopted by a wide variety of other genres, most notably film noir.

Question 4

BACK PROJECTION (rear projection)

Answer 4

projection of film onto a translucent screen to create the impression that the action is taking place somewhere other than a studio. Used to great creative effect by Oliver Stone in Natural Born Killers (1994) to paint a psychological landscape for the protagonists.

Question 5

BIG CLOSE UP – B.C.U.

Answer 5

More tightly framed than a close up.

Question 6

Bridging Shot

Answer 6

used to cover a jump in time or some other continuity break.

Question 7

CHEAT SHOTS

Answer 7

shot in which part of the action or subject is deliberately excluded. Often used to add mystery, tension, suspense or even shock. In addition it is used to achieve certain effects, such as our hero falling from the top of a very tall building into a safety net (which, obviously, the camera does not reveal.) CGI has made the cheat shot all but redundant for technical purposes.

Question 8

CLOSE MEDIUM SHOT

Answer 8

precisely half way between a close up and a medium shot. Typically we would see the subject from about the knees up.

Question 9

CLOSE UP

Answer 9

Shot taken with the camera very close to the subject, for example focusing on the hands or the face.

Question 10

NON DIEGETIC SOUND

Answer 10

added sound which is not actual sound and therefore does not arise from the action, these can be special sound effects, orchestral score, soundtrack or narration.

Question 11

CRANE SHOT

Answer 11

allows smooth camera movement and high angle shots by fixing the camera to a specially constructed crane. Often used for establishing shots. -Also can be called birds eye view shots.

Question 12

CRANE SHOT/BIRDS EYE VEIW

Answer 12

allows smooth camera movement and high angle shots by fixing the camera to a specially constructed crane. Often used for establishing shots.

Question 13

DEPTH OF FIELD

Answer 13

Distance between the nearest and the furthest points of focus in a shot. Emphasis can be added by playing with the depth of field.

Question 14

DISSOLVE/ CROSS DISSOLVE

Answer 14

transition between shots using fade out and fade in of equal length superimposed upon one another.

Question 15

DOLLY/DOLLY SHOT

Answer 15

a rail like piece of equipment on which the camera can be wheeled about

Question 16

ESTABLISHING SHOT

Answer 16

a shot (usually a long shot) used near the beginning of a scene to introduce objects subjects settings and interrelationships. Often used to disruptive effect in order to play with audience expectations and hypotheses.

Question 17

FADE IN/FADE OUT

Answer 17

Visuals and audio fading in or out.

Question 18

FLASHBACK

Answer 18

sequence in a film which denotes an earlier time frame, often somewhere before the film has ‘begun’ – often used to disrupt linear editing and mix parallel narratives

Question 19

FREEZE FRAME

Answer 19

At a chosen point in a scene a particular frame is repeatedly printed to last for a few seconds (or more) to give emphasis.

Question 20

FULL SHOT

Answer 20

the subject or the object is the only thing present in the frame. Used to deliver significance or emphasis.

Question 21

JUMP CUT

Answer 21

Separate intervals of time stitched together in a one frame jump.

Question 22

HIGH KEY LIGHTING / LOW KEY LIGHTING

Answer 22

creates mood through the lighting.

Question 23

LONG SHOT

Answer 23

a shot in which the whole of the subject is visible.

Question 24

MEDIUM SHOT

Answer 24

closer the subject than a long shot, such that the subject appears half framed.

Question 25

MONTAGE

Answer 25

a technique variously ascribed to D.W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein in which two separate pieces of action occurring simultaneously are edited together.

Question 26

PAN

Answer 26

rotating the camera on its vertical axis to follow the action or to focus on something away from the action.

Question 27

SLOW MOTION

Answer 27

means by which movement in a shot is represented as taking place more slowly than it did.

Question 28

TRACKING SHOT

Answer 28

shot taken with a tracking camera – similar to a dolly, but with no weaving

Question 29

DIEGETIC SOUND

Answer 29

Sound in that comes from inside the movie. In other words subjects can hear, for example, a car horn, door bell, thunderstorms, gun shots etc.

Question 30

NARRATIVE

Answer 30

The films story. Usually has five acts. The Equilibrium, disturbance (rise in actions), Climax, Resolution, New Equilibrium (Dénouement).

Quentin Tarantino often has 6 acts in his films. For example - Django’s fifth act resolves shortly after Schultz dies, the film then has another final act where Django saves his wife.

Question 31

POLARITY/ REVERSED POLARITY

Answer 31

When something because the opposite. Can be applied to when something reverses in the course of the film (If a character changes from the good side to the bad side in a film, their specific polarity changes. Or when the opposite of something is used to represent something else. For example, generic horror is dark and mysterious, but when the polarity is reversed, it become light and warm.