Film Technique & Effect List (1 Viewer)

[buriza]

While I was belatedly cleaning out my HSC notes, I found a bunch on techniques. As Absolutezero has already done a thread on literary techniques, I figured I would just do one for film techniques (as sometimes there are students who study films for their core or related texts).

Techniques (also some random terms here and there)

Aerial shot: usually an exterior shot taken from above the scene by way of a crane or an aircraft

Allegory: use of highly symbolic features to represent well-known ideas, such as death or love

Allusion: obvious reference to something well-known, although not fully expressed or stated

Anamorphic lens: special lens used to make a wider image fit a standard frame or film, which if used in the projection of the film, will reproduce a wider image for the viewer

Animation: bringing life to lifeless images created by drawings, computer graphics, models or photographs

Anti-hero: hero or central character who does not seem to possess expected heroic virtues or characteristics

Background: all items or objects not part of the main area of interest in a film

Backlighting: main light source is behind the subject, silhouetting it

Boom mike: long pole carrying a microphone above the actors (out of shot) so that sound can be recorded without interfering with the action of the scene

Cinemascope: process using an anamorphic lens to create a widescreen image

Close shot: shot that provides clear detail of a person (usually only the head and shoulders)

Confrontation: the middle part of a plot where the characters of the film begin to attempt a resolution of the film's conflict

Covering shots: usually long shots that bolster the continuity in a scene

Crane shot: shot taken with the aid of a large crane that lifts the camera and the cinematographer above and around the action in almost any direction

Cross-cutting: intermingling of two or more scenes to suggest parallel action

Crosslighting: lighting from the side

Cut: a switch from one image to another

Deep focus shot: most distant part of the screen image that is still in focus

Dialogue: the spoken component of a screenplay which can take the form of a voice over, soliloquy or an exchange between characters

Diegetic sound: belonging to on-screen, e.g. dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise

Dolly shot: also called a trucking shot, a shot taken from a moving platform

Establishing shot: initial shot of a scene, usually from a distance, letting the viewer know where the scene takes place, and showing everything that is happening in the scene

Extreme close-up: very detailed view of a person or a thing (generally eyes or mouth)

Extreme long shot: view of an exterior location shot in panoramic fashion so that the entire surrounds are evident

Eye-line match: a cut obeying the axis of action principle, in which the first shot shows a person looking off in one direction and the second shows a nearby space containing what he or she sees. If the person looks left, the following shot should imply that the looker is offscreen right

First-person point of view: a shot showering what a character would see

Foreground: part of the scene represented on film as being closest to the viewer

Freeze frame: same shot repeated on the filmstrip so that the image appears frozen

Genre: common types of movies, recognised by viewers, where well-known conventions are in place, especially in the form of the narrative

Hand-held shot: jerky camera motion often deliberately used to suggest documentary footage

High-angle shot: subject of the shot is photographed from high up

Imagery: term used to denote the use of images, figure or likeliness of things, or such images collectively for illustrative purposes

Insert shot: a detail shot that gives specific relevant information necessary to a complete understanding of the meaning of a scene or motif. The significance of the object in an insert shot may not be known immediately

Jump cut: a cut that occurs within a scene rather than between scenes, for example to eliminate dead periods (between a character entering a room and reaching his/her destination, etc)

Leading character: also called protagonist, major character in a film, most important to the resolution of a film

Lighting: term used to denote the manipulation of natural and artificial light to create artistic visual shots

Location: any place outside the studio which is used for filming

Long shot: similar to the audience's view of an entire scene

Long-angle shot: shot in which a person or thing is photographed from below

Master shot: a long take of an entire scene, generally a relatively long shot that facilitates the assembly of component closer shots and details

Match cut: a cut in which the two cuts are linked by visual, or aural, or metaphorical parallelism

Medium shot: taken from relatively close-up, so that the human figure is evident

Mise-en-scène: the whole part of the cinematic process taking place on the set in front of the camera, such as setting, props, lighting, actions of the characters, costume, etc

Narration: speaking voice heard on the soundtrack, either from a character on-screen or an off-screen voiceover, that provides commentary on the action of the spot

Narrative: term used to denote the story of events, experiences, or the like, that comprises a film

Non-diegetic sound: coming from outside, e.g. music soundtrack, voice-over

Oblique shot: also called tilt shot, a shot that is achieved by shooting a scene with a tilted camera

Out of frame: something that the camera (and therefore the audience) cannot see

Panning shot: a shot that uses a moving camera to encompass the full width of a scene

Pathos: touching or pathetic character for effect

Plot points: pivotal moments that occur at the end of the first and second acts in a film

Pull-back dolly: moving the camera away from the scene to reveal something that was not in the frame originally

Reaction shot: a cutaway view of a character's reaction to an immediately preceding action

Resolution: the final act of a plot, showing how the journey or actions undertaken by the main character(s) conclude, and how they grow as a result

Reverse angle: a shot from the opposite side of a subject OR in a dialogue scene, a shot of the second participant

Scene: a series of shots that take place in a single location and that deal with a single action

Set: where a film is shot, which can be either indoors or outdoors

Setting: where the action of the film takes place

Sequence: a basic unit of film construction consisting of one or more scenes that form a natural unit

Shot: a single piece of film, however long or short, without cuts, exposed continuously

Slow motion: film in which the image moves slower than normal

Subtext: the often subtle and hidden messages beneath the surface language and actions

Swish pan: also called flash pan or zip pan, swift movement of the camera to produce a blurring of the subject being filmed

Symbolism: technique whereby an object or event has significance, determined by the dramatic context, beyond the literal and often represents something immaterial

Take: a version of a shot, where a film maker shoots one or more takes of each shot or set-up, usually only one of each group appears in the final film

Theme: central subject or topic of a work

Tracking shot: any shot in which the camera moves from one point to another either sideways, in or out

Zoom: a shot using a lens whose focal length is adjusted during the shot

Effects (generally speaking, but consider context before applying)

Shot size

Big close up: emotion, a vital moment, drama
Close-up: intimacy
Medium shot: a personal relation to the subject
Long shot: context, public distance

Camera angle

High (looking up): domination, power, authority
Eye-level: equality
Low: weakness, powerlessness

Lens type

Wide angle: dramatic
Normal: everydayness, normality
Telephoto: voyeurism

Composition

Symmetrical: posed, calm, formal
Asymmetrical: natural, everyday, unposed
Static: lack of conflict
Dynamic: disturbance, disorientation

Focus

Selective focus: draws attention, foregrounds
Soft focus: romance, nostalgia
Deep focus: all elements are important, commanding the gaze

Lighting

High key: happiness, positive
Low key: sombre, downbeat
High contrast: theatrical, dramatic
Low contrast: realistic, documentary

Film stock

Grainy: realism, authenticity
Smooth grain: normal, everyday
Video: modern, immediate, journalistic

Colour

Warm: optimism, intense emotion
Cool: pessimism, clinical calm, reason
Black and white: realism, actuality, film noir

Cinematic codes

Zoom in: observation
Fast zoom in: passing of time, humour, suspense
Zoom out: context, location
Pan: survey, follow, eye witness
Track: intimacy, immediacy, urgency
Tilt: survey, follow, eye witness

Types of edit

Fade in: beginning of new section
Fade out: ending, contemplative
Dissolve: passage of time, link between scenes
Wipe: Conclusion or transition imposed externally
Cut: normal change of shot
Cut to black: abrupt ending

I apologise in advance if there are typos as I typed this all out in one go from my notes. If you have another techniques, feel free to tell me so I can add them!

 

[enoilgam]

Great guide buriza.

 

[Absolutezero]

To clarify, there is one for this; I just haven't organised it yet. Text dump.

Visual
1 shots - are used to describe shots framing one person. Similarly, is 2 shot and 3 shot for the respective number of people
A Roll - *the main shot in an interview or documentary
Aerial perspective - the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance
Aerial shot - showing a location from high overhead
Aerial shot - A shot taken looking down from a plane, helicopter or a person on top of a building. Not necessarily a moving shot.
American shot - refers to a medium-long ("knee") film shot of a group of characters
Angle - the line towards an object in relation to another item
Angle of view - describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera
Asides - When a character temporarily turns away from another character and speaks directly to the audience.
Auteur- A theory where the work represents the creative vision of the director to create a distinctive voice
Background – what is placed at the back of the image
Backlighting - The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera.
Bird's eye shot - refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject
Bird's-eye view - *an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird
Body Language - Meaning that is conveyed through the body, rather than the spoken, symbolic or written word
Boom shot - *high-angle shots, sometimes with the camera moving
Border - A frame around a piece, object etc.
Bridging shot - A shot used to cover a jump in time or place or other discontinuity.
B-roll - the supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot in an interview or documentary
Bullet Points - Typically small, concise pieces of text, indicated by the bullet “•” symbol
Camera angle - marks the specific location at which a movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot and angle at which the camera is pointed at the subject
Camera coverage - *the amount of footage shot and different camera angles used to capture a scene.
Camera tracking
Caricature – a drawing that exaggerates the features of its subject, often to parody
Chiaroscuro – the dramatic use of light and dark
Choice of images - The image that is consciously selected by the artist
-Choral movement - where all the characters move at the same time - doing the same thing
-Choral Speech - the recital of poetry and dramatic pieces by a chorus of speakers
-Clocking the audience - recognizing that the audience is there and interacting with them
Close Up Shot - Where the subject is camera shot in a tight frame
Close-up/extreme close-up (CU/ECU)
Clothing/costume – what is worn by the characters
Colour – this can be symbolic, create contrast, draw attention etc.
Composition - How the text is constructed
Composition – the way things are arranged and placed in the visual text
Continuity cuts: These are cuts that take us seamlessly and logically from one sequence or scene to another. This is an unobtrusive cut that serves to move the narrative along.
Contrast - the revealed differences between two items; often in relation to colour.
Conversely, if there is a series of two and one shots, these MCUs would suggest a complicity between two people against a third who is visually separate in another shot.
Crane shot - *a shot taken by a camera from above on a crane
Crane Shot - a camera shot taken from above, similar to bird’s eye view
Cropping - Cutting out part of an image so that a smaller section remains
Cross cutting - is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations.
Cross-cutting: Literally, cutting between different sets of action that can be occurring simultaneously or at different times, (this term is used synonymously but somewhat incorrectly with parallel editing.) Cross-cutting is used to build suspense, or to show the relationship between the different sets of action.
Cut: The splicing of 2 shots together. this cut is made by the film editor at the editing stage of a film. Between sequences the cut marks a rapid transition between one time and space and another, but depending on the nature of the cut it will have different meanings.
Cutaway - *is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else
Cutting - *The separation of one item from that which follows it.
Deep focus: A technique in which objects very near the camera as well as those far away are in focus at the same time.
Depth – the distance between the foreground and background
Diegesis: The denotative material of film narrative, it includes, according to Christian Metz, not only the narration itself, but also the fictional space and time dimension implied by the narrative.
Dissolve - *is a gradual transition from one image to another.
Dissolve/lap-dissolve: These terms are used inter-changeably to refer to a transition between 2 sequences or scenes. generally associated with earlier cinema but still used on occasion. In a dissolve a first image gradually dissolves or fades out and is replaced by another which fades in over it. This type of transition, which is known also as a soft transition (as opposed to the cut), suggests a longer passage of time than a cut.
Dolly zoom - *achieved by zooming a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view while the camera dollies (or moves) towards or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. The dolly zoom is an unsettling in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception.
Dolly: A set of wheels and a platform upon which the camera can be mounted to give it mobility. Dolly shot is a shot taken from a moving dolly. Almost synonymous in general usage with tracking shot or follow shot
Dollying: A tracking shot or zoom which follows the subject as it moves.
Dutch angle - is a type of camera shot where the camera is tilted off to one side so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame.
Editing – the omission of certain words/images/sounds from the original
Editing: Editing refers literally to how shots are put together to make up a film. Traditionally a film is made up of sequences or in some cases, as with avant-garde or art cinema, or again, of successive shots that are assembled in what is known as collision editing, or montage.
Ellipsis: A term that refers to periods of time that have been left out of the narrative. The ellipsis is marked by an editing transitions which, while it leaves out a section of the action, nonetheless signifies that something has been elided. Thus, the fade or dissolve could indicate a passage of time, a wipe, a change of scene and so on. A jump cut transports the spectator from one action and time to another, giving the impression of rapid action or of disorientation if it is not matched.
Entrance and exits - t is important to notice when characters exit and enter a scene. Pay particular attention to what is being said as they enter or what they say as they leave.
Establishing shot - sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects, usually taken in long- or extreme-long shot
-Exaggerated movement - larger than life gestures
Extreme long shot (ELS): The subject or characters are very much to the background of the shot. Surroundings now have as much if not more importance, especially if the shot is in high-angle. A first way to consider these shots is to say that a shot lends itself to a greater or lesser readability dependent on its type or length. As the camera moves further away from the main subject (whether person or object) the visual field lends itself to an increasingly more complex reading - in terms of the relationship between the main subject and the decor there is more for the spectator's eye to read or decode. This means that the closer up the shot, the more the spectator's eye is directed by the camera to the specified reading.
Extreme long shot: A panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a considerable distance, often as far as a quarter-mile away. May also serve as the establishing shot
Facial Expression - expression on a character’s face to convey emotion
Fade in: A punctuation device. The screen is black at the beginning; gradually the image appears, brightening to full strength. The opposite happens in the fade out
Fade out/in - often used at the beginning/ending of a scene to transition
Fast cutting - is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less).
Feminists took up this concept of the gaze and submitted it to more rigorous analysis. Laura Mulvey's vital and deliberately polemical article, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) started the debate by demonstrating the domination of the male gaze, within and without the screen, at the expense of the woman's; so much so that the female spectator had little to do, gaze upon or identify with. The exchange or relay of looks, (as it is also known) within film reproduces the voyeuristic pleasure of the cinematic apparatus but only for the male. In fact, given that woman is normally, both within the film and on screen, the prime object that is being looked at, (and thus controlled) much feminist film theory has argued that the gaze is male through and through. It has thus been held that by attempting to expose how woman is constructed cinematiclly as an object of the male gaze, it is possible to deconstruct the normalising or naturalising process of patriarchal (male) socialisation.
Fill light: An auxiliary light, usually from the side of the subject that can soften shadows and illuminate areas not covered by the key light
Flashforward/Flashback - Where the narrative jumps forward or backwards in the narrative time, without logical progression in that direction.
Focal Lines – same as Vector
Focal Point – where our eyes are drawn to
Focus: The sharpness of the image. A range of distances from the camera will be acceptably sharp. Possible to have deep focus, shallow focus. Focus in, focus out: a punctuation device whereby the image gradually comes into focus or goes out of focus.
Follow shot - is a specific camera angle in which the subject being filmed is seemingly pursued by the camera
Font – bold, italics, size, typeface, underline
Font – the size and style of the text; bold, italics, underlining
Forced perspective - is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.
Foreground - the opposite of background, the elements that are at the front of the scene
Foreground – what is placed at the front of the image
Frames – this is used in cartoons
Framing - The view of a subject. How an object is framed depends upon multiple factors including depth of field, position, and spacing
Framing: The way in which subjects and objects are framed within a shot produces specific readings. Size and volume within the frame speak as much as dialogue. So too do camera angles. Thus, for example, a high-angle extreme long shot of two men walking away in the distance, (as in the end of Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, 1937) points to their vulnerability - they are about to disappear, possibly die. Low angle shots in medium close-up on a person can point to their power, but it can also point to ridicule because of the distortion factor.
Freeze frame shot - *is used when one shot is printed in a single frame several times, in order to make an interesting illusion of a still photograph.
Full frame - refers to the use of the full film gate at maximum width and height
Full shot - Long shot
Gaze/Look: This term refers to the exchange of looks that takes place in cinema but it was not until the 1970s that it was written about and theorised. In the early 1970s, first French and then British and American film theorists began applying psychoanalysis to film in an attempt to discuss the spectator/screen relationship as well as the textual relationships within the film. Drawing in particular on Freud's theory of libido drives and Lacan's theory of the mirror stage, they sought to explain how cinema works at the level of the unconscious. Indeed, they maintained that the processes of the cinema mimics the workings of the unconscious. The spectator sits in a darkened room, desiring to look at the screen and deriving visual pleasure from what he or she sees. Part of that pleasure is also derived from the narcissistic identification she or he feels with the person on the screen. But there is more; the spectator also has the illusion of controlling that image. First, because the Renaissance perspective which the cinematic image provides ensures that the spectator is subject of the gaze; and second, given that the projector is positioned behind the spectator's head, this means that it is as if those images are the spectator's own imaginings on screen.
Gestures - posturing or movement of the body to express and idea/emotion
Hand held camera - The camera is held in the hands, rather than on a fixed rig or on a tripod. Usually creates a shaky or non-uniform take.
Hanging miniature - is an in-camera special effect similar to a matte shot where a model, rather than a painting, is placed in foreground and the action takes place in the background. It is thus a specific form of forced perspective.
Head shot - demonstrates a person's appearance from the shoulder up.
High-angle shot - *is usually when the camera angle is located above the eyeline.
Hue/Saturation the relation and intensity respective of compariative colours
Insert - a shot of part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot
Iris in/out: An old technique of punctuation that utilises a diaphragm in front of the lens, which is opened (iris in) or closed (iris out) to begin or end a scene. The iris can also be used to focus attention on a detail of the scene.
Jump cut - *is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly.
Jump cut: Cut where there is no match between the 2 spliced shots. Within a sequence, or more particularly a scene, jump cuts give the effect of bad editing. The opposite of a match cut, the jump cut is an abrupt cut between 2 shots that calls attention to itself because it does not match the shots seamlessly. It marks a transition in time and space but is called a jump cut because it jars the sensibilities; it makes the spectator jump and wonder where the narrative has gone.
Juxtaposition - Positioning subjects side by side to emphasise difference e.g. an elephant positioned near a mouse emphasises a difference in size.
Key light: The main light on a subject. Usually placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera-subject axis. In high key lighting, the key light provides all or most of the light in the scene. In low key lighting, the key light provides much less of the total illumination.
L cut ("Split edit") - An L cut, also known as a split edit, is an edit transition from one shot to another in film or video, where the picture and sound are synchronized but the transitions in each are not coincident
Layout - The arrangement of visuals
Light/Shadow - the brightness or darkness of a image, dependent on its relation to lighting sources
Lighting – soft, harsh, backlighting
Lines
Logo - symbol of an organisation, company, group, government etc
Long shot (LS): Subject or characters are at some distance from the camera; they are seen in full within their surrounding environment.
Long take - is 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.
look or gaze. In other words, eyeline matching is based on the belief in mainstream cinema that when a character looks into off-screen space the spectator expects to see what he or she is looking at. Thus there will be a cut to show what is being looked at: object, view, another character, etc. Eyeline then refers to the trajectory of the looking eye. The eyeline match creates order and meaning in cinematic space. Thus, for example, character A will look off-screen at character B. Cut to character B, who-if she or he is in the same room and engaged in an exchange either of glances or words with character A-will return that look and so 'certify' that character A is indeed in the space from which we first saw her or him look. This "stabilising" is true in the other primary use of the eyeline match which is the shot/reverse angle shot, also known as the reverse angle shot, commonly used in close-up dialogue scenes. The camera adopts the eyeline trajectory of the interlocutor looking at the other person as she or he speaks, then switches to the other person's position and does the same.
Low-angle shot - *is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up.
Manipulation - for example, cutting and pasting a head of someone onto the body of a dog
Master shot - A master shot is a film recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view.
Master shot: A long take of an entire scene, generally a relatively long shot that facilitates the assembly of component closer shots and details. The editor can always fall back on the master shot: consequently, it is also called a cover shot.
Match cut: Exactly the opposite of a jump cut within a scene. These cuts make sure that there is a spatial-visual logic between the differently positioned shots within a scene. thus, where the camera moves to, and the angle of the camera, makes visual sense to the spectator. Eyeline matching is part of the same visual logic: the first shot shows a character looking at something off-screen, the second shot shows what is being looked at. Match cuts then are also part of the seamlessness, the reality effect, so much favoured by Hollywood.
Medium long shot (MLS): Halfway between a long and a medium shot. If this shot frames a character then the whole body will be in view towards the middle ground of the shot. A quite open shot in terms of readability, showing considerably more of the surroundings in relation to the character(s).
Medium Shot
Medium shot - *is a camera angle shot from a medium distance
Medium shot (MS): Generally speaking, this shot frames a character from the waist, hips or knees up (or down). The camera is sufficiently distanced from the body for the character to be seen in relation to her or his surroundings (in an apartment, for example).
Medium shot: A shot intermediate between a close-up and a full shot.
Mime – silent acting that depends on gestures rather than words. Also refers to items that are physically referred to and enacted, but not visible. e.g. A mimed cup
Mockumentary *- A fake documentary, usually for the purpose of comedy or satire
Money shot - is a moving or stationary visual element that is disproportionately expensive to produce and/or is perceived as essential to the overall importance or revenue-generating potential of the work
Montage - *A selection of shots or scenes that are intended to convey a similar idea or period of time
Montage: Simply, editing. More particularly: Eisenstein's idea that adjacent shots should relate to each other in such a way that A and B combine to produce another meaning, C, which is not actually recorded on the film.
Numbered Points - to create an ordered list, tends to emphasise the importance or priority of each item
Off-stage - Noises off-stage may indicate the coming of conflict, of something bad likely to happen
One shot - A "one-shot" is any music video which consists of action, continuous in time and space, from the perspective of a single camera— a single long take
Over the shoulder shot - is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.
Palette – the range of colours used by the composer
Pan: (abbreviation of panorama) Movement of the camera from left to right or right to left around the imaginary vertical axis that runs through the camera. A panning shot is sometimes confused with a tracking shot.
Panning - Rotation of a camera on a vertical axis
Panning - the rotation in a horizontal plane of a still camera or video camera
Panorama - a wide angle view of a physical space
Perspective
-Physical Theatre - Performance based on movement and the physical body
Point of view shot - A point of view shot is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera).
Point of view shot - Where the camera takes the position of the eyes of the character
Point of view shot: (Often abbreviated as 'pov'). A shot which shows the scene from the specific point of view of one of the characters.
Prose or verse - In older plays, it is possible to tell the status of a character or the mood of the scene by whether it is written as poetry or in everyday speech, e.g. characters of low status do not speak in verse and comic scenes are often written in prose.
Pull back shot: A tracking shot or zoom that moves back from the subject to reveal the context of the scene.
Rack focus - A rack focus in filmmaking and television production is the practice of changing the focus of the lens during a shot.
Rack focusing: A technique that uses shallow focus (shallow depth of field) to direct the attention of the viewer forcibly from one subject to another. Focus is "pulled", or changed, to shift the focus plane, often rapidly, sometimes several times within the shot.
Reaction shot - It is a shot which cuts away from the main scene in order to show the reaction of a character to it.
Recurring imagery - Look out for repeated words, phrases and images. Together, these create a sense of mood or a key theme.
Reverse angle: A shot from the opposite side of a subject. In a dialogue scene, a shot of the second participant.
Salience – the features which stand out (ie. the focal points)
Scene: A complete unit of film narration. A series of shots (or a single shot) that takes place in a single location and that deals with a single action. Sometimes used interchangeably with sequence.
Scenes and Acts - It is important to pay attention to when a playwright chooses to end a scene and an Act (a number of scenes). It is usually significant in building audience expectations of what is to come. This is sometimes a cliff hanger.
Screen direction - is a term used in motion picture and video editing and refers to an underlying concept of cinematic grammar which involves the direction that actors or objects appear to be moving on the screen from the point of view of the camera or audience.
Sequence shot - long
Shapes
Shot - *a shot is a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time
Shot reverse shot - Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is 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
Shot: In terms of camera distance with respect to the object within the shot, there are basically 7 types of shots:
Shots, in and of themselves, can have a subjective or objective value: the closer the shot, the more subjective its value, the more the meaning is inscribed from within the shot; conversely, the longer the distance of the shot the more objective its value, the greater the participation of the spectator or reader in the inscription of meaning. other factors influence the readability of a shot. A high or low camera angle can de-naturalise a shot or reinforce its symbolic value. Take, for example, an ELS that is shot at a high angle. This automatically suggests the presence of someone looking, thus the shot is implicitly a point of view shot. In this way some of the objective value or openness of that shot, (which it would retain if angled horizontally at 90 degrees) is taken away, the shot is no longer 'naturally' objective. The shot is still open to a greater reading than a CUC, however; although the angle imposes a preferred reading (someone is looking down from on high). In terms of illustrating what is meant by reinforcing symbolic value, the contrastive examples of a low- and high-angle CU can serve here. The former type of shot will distort the object within the frame, rendering it uglier, more menacing, more derisory; conversely, when a high-angle CU is used, the object can appear more vulnerable, desirable.
Sign
Single-camera setup - A single camera—either motion picture camera orprofessional video camera—is employed on the set, and each shot to make up a scene is taken independently.
Size – how small/big something is
Slap stick - Physical comedy, often painful in nature
Slow cutting - *is a film editing technique which uses shots of long duration.
Slow motion - Whereby the action is slowed down through technical manipulation of film
Smash cut - *is a technique in film and other moving visual media where one scene abruptly cuts to another without transition,
Soliloquy - When a character is alone on stage and speaks out his or her thoughts aloud. Language that invites action A character can say something that requires others to act or react.
Speech directions - Words in brackets that tell the actor how to say the lines.
-Split focus - Where focus is placed on two different areas simultaneously, or quickly between.
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.
Spoof - To parody or satire
Stage Directions - Read these carefully. They tell us what should be happening on stage and will often include clues, e.g. the darkening of the stage may suggest something bad approaching.
Steadicam: The invention of cameraman Garret Brown (developed in conjunction with Cinema Products, Inc.), this is a system which permits hand-held filming with an image steadiness comparable to tracking shots. A vest redistributes the weight of the camera to the hips of the cameraman; a spring-loaded arm minimises the motion the camera; a video monitor frees the cameraman from the eyepiece.
Story board: A series of drawings and captions (sometimes resembling a comic strip) that shows the planned shot divisions and camera movements of the film.
Subject selection - The subject that is consciously chosen by the artist
Symbolism - A symbol or picture used to represent something e.g. a heart represents love.
Symbolism - When an object is used to represent something else, e.g. a broken vase may symbolise a broken relationship.
-Tableaux (a.k.a. Freeze Frame) - a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story
Take: One version of a shot. A film-maker shoots one or more takes of each shot or set-up. Only one of each group of takes appears in the final film.
Talking head - is a broadcasting term for interview footage, where only the person's head and shoulders are visible to the camera.
-Teichoscopy - *synchronous discussion of events, as opposed to events being reported later by messengers or other eyewitnesses.
The subject framed by the camera fills the screen. Connotation can be of intimacy, of having access to the mind or thought processes (including the subconscious) of the character. These shots can be used to stress the importance of a particular character at a particular moment in a film or place her or him as central to the narrative by singling out the character in CU at the beginning of the film. It can signify the star exclusively (as in many Hollywood productions of the 1930s and 1940s). CUs can also be used on objects and parts of the body other than the face. In this instance they can designate imminent action (a hand picking up a knife, for example), and thereby create suspense. Or they can signify that an object will have an important role to play in the development of the narrative. Often these shots have a symbolic value, usually due to their recurrence during the film. How and where they recur is revealing not only of their importance but also of the direction or meaning of the narrative.
The way in which a person is framed in that shot has a specific meaning, (for example, if the camera holds a person in the frame but that person is at one extreme or other of the frame, this could suggest a sense of imprisonment).
-Thought tracking - *is when characters pause and step out of their character and say how they are feeling.
Tilt - is a cinematographic technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical plane.
Tilt shot: The camera tilts up or down, rotating around the axis that runs from left to right through the camera head.
Top-down perspective - bird’s eye view
Tracking – the camera follows a character’s movement by moving with them
Trunk shot - is a cinematic camera angle which captures film from inside the trunk of a car.
Two shot - *is a type of shot employed in the film industry in which the frame encompasses a view of two people (the subjects)
Typically, characters will occupy half to two-thirds of the frame. This shot is very commonly used in indoor sequences allowing for a visual signification of relationships between characters. Compare a two-shot MS and a series of separate one-shots in MS of two people. The former suggests intimacy, the latter distance. The former shot could change in meaning to one of distance, however, if the two characters were separated by an object (a pillar, table or telephone, for example). Visually this shot is more complex, more open in terms of its readability than the preceding ones. The characters can be observed in relation to different planes, background middle ground and foreground, and it is the inter-relatedness of these planes which also serves to produce a meaning.
Vector – an object that directs our eyes towards the focal point. E.g. the subject in the visual text is pointing or looking towards a certain direction. Our eyes will follow the direction that they are pointingor looking in
Voice-over: The narrator's voice when the narrator is not seen. Common in television commercials, but also in film noir.
Walk and talk - is a distinctive storytelling-technique used in filmmaking and television production in which a number of characters have a conversation en route.
Whip pan - is a type of pan shot in which the camera moves sideways so quickly that the picture blurs into indistinct streaks
Whip pan: A type of pan shot in which the camera moves sideways so quickly that the picture blurs into indistinct streaks. It is commonly used as a transition between shots, and can indicate the passage of time and/or a frenetic pace of action. Also known as: swish pan, flick pan and zip pan.
Wipe: An optical effect in which an image appears to "wipe-off" or push aside the preceding image.
Worm's-eye view - is a view of an object from below, as though the observer were a worm; the opposite of a bird's-eye view.
Zoom: Zoom in the focus of an individual object or multi-object smoothly from distance shot to close up shot.

If someone wants to fix it, be my guest.

 

[KenzieTheBard]

You might want to organise that text dump, Absolutezero. Otherwise...

Why did the one handed man cross the road?

He was going to the second hand store...

 

[jazz519]

Here's mine:View attachment Shortanswertechniques.pdf