Vocabulary Flashcards
What is an over-the-shoulder shot?
Often used in dialogue scenes, it is a frontal view of a dialogue partner from the perspective of someone standing behind and slightly to the side of the other partner, so that parts of both can be seen.
What is a reaction shot?
A short shot of a character’s response to an action.
“He decided to hold a ~.”
What is an insert shot?
A detail shot which quickly gives visual information necessary to understand the meaning of a scene, for example a newspaper page, or a physical detail.
What is a reverse angle shot?
A shot from the opposite perspective, e.g. after an over-the-shoulder shot.
“What effect does the ~ have in the party scene?”
What is an aerial shot?
A long or extreme long shot of the ground from the air.
What is a high-angle shot?
Shows people or objects from above, i.e. higher than eye level.
What is a low-angle shot?
Shows people or objects from below, i.e. lower than eye level.
What is a straight-on angle?
Views a subject from the level of a person’s eyes.
“In the first part the straight-on angle of the camera puts the viewer on the same level as Mrs Robinson.”
What is a pan (panning shot)?
The camera pans (moves horizontally) from left to right or vice versa across the picture.
“The camera pans across the picture.”
What is a tilt shot?
The camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts down (moves downwards) around a vertical line.
What is a tracking shot?
The camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person.
What is a zoom shot?
The stationary camera appears to approach a subject by ‘zooming in’; or to move farther away by ‘zooming out’.
“The camera zooms in (zooms out) on Ben’s face.”
What is a master shot?
Main shot of a whole scene taken by one camera in one position, which is then intercut with other shots to add interest.
What is a cutaway shot?
Shot of something not shown by the master shot of a scene, but connected to the main action in some way.
What is cross-cutting?
Intermingling the shots of two or more scenes which are taking place at the same time.
What is a flashback?
A scene or sequence dealing with the past which is inserted into a film’s ‘present time’.
