Film Terms (II)

Terms related to film and TV
anchor	the main newsreader on a television news programme who leads the viewer through the programme
backlighting (also called a contre-jour shot)	filming a person or event against a background of light, especially the sun, which produces an idealized, sometimes romantic effect
beat	pause
camera operator	the person behind the camera(s); in major productions, the head of the camera team is usually called the director of photog-raphy.
caption	words that are shown on a cinema or television screeen, e.g. to establish the scene of a story
composition	the arrangement of people or things in a painting, photograph, film scene, etc.
correspondent	a journalist who contributes news or comments regularly to a newspaper or TV or radio station, esp. from other countries
credits	the list of people who were involved in the making of a film or television programme
cut	a switch from one image to the next
director	the person responsible for the artistic production of a film, i.e. the lighting, camera work, action, and the actors’ interpretation of their roles
editor	(verb: edit) the person responsible for ar-ranging the camera shots and splicing (cutting/ pasting) the shots together
footage	a length of film made for TV or cinema
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
motion picture	a US and Canadian term for film
newsreader (also newscaster)	a person who reads news on television or radio
OOV	out of vision
producer	the person responsible for the overall organization, especially the financing and marketing, of a film or television production
scene	a shot or series of shots that deal(s) with a single action (see also sequence)
screenplay	the script of a film or television show, usually including dialogue as well as rough descriptions of the setting, camera range, camera movements, etc. (see pp. 78-80)
sequence	a part of a film dealing with one or more scenes that form(s) a single continuous episode
shot	a length of film, however long or short, taken by a single camera without cuts
soundtrack	a band near the edge of a film which has the recorded sound on it; the recorded music from a film, play, etc. on a tape or CD
still	a single photograph or frame from a motion picture
(voice) off	not to be seen but to be heard (especially a narrator, a character voicing thoughts or a news correspondent commenting on pictures that are being shown)
voice-over	an explanation or account given in a film or television programme by someone who is not seen
camera range
medium long shot	shows a group ofpeople in interaction with each other, e.g. a fight scene, with part of their surroundings in the picture
full shot	a view of a figure’s entire body in order to show action and/or a constellation of characters
medium shot	shows a subject down to his or her waist
close-up	a full-screen shot of a subject’s face, showing the finest nuances of expression
point of view
establishing shot	often used at the beginning of a scene to indicate the location or setting, it is usually a longshot taken from a neutral position
point-of-view shot	shows a scene from the perspective of a character
over-the-shoulder shot	often used in dialogue scenes, a frontal view of a dialogue partner from the perspective ofsomeone standing behind and slightly to the side of the other partner, so that parts of both can be seen
reverse-angle shot	a shot from the opposite perspective, e.g. after an over-the-shoulder shot
camera angles
high-angle shot	shows people or objects from above, i.e. higher than eye level
low-angle shot	shows people or objects from below, i.e. lower than eye level
eye-level shot or straight-on angle	views a subject from the level of a person’s eyes
camera movement
panning shot	the camera pans (moves horizontally) from left to right or vice versa across the picture
tilt shot	the camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts down (moves downwards) around a horizontal axis
tracking shot	the camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person
zoom	the stationary camera appears to approach a subject by ‘zooming in’, or to move farther away
editing
cross-cutting or parallel action	alternating between shots from two or more scenes which are takingplace at the same time
flashback	a scene or sequence dealing with the past which is inserted into a film’s ‘present time’
flash-forward	a scene or sequence which looks into the future
match cut	two scenes connected by visual or aural parallelism, e.g. one door closing and then another one opening
punctuation
cut	a switch from one image or shot to another
jump-cut	(a) switching back and forth between two or more persons who are closely involved with each other, e.g. in a conversation or a chase scene; (b) using cuts to create an effect of moving rapidly towards a subject
fade-in	from a black screen or ground, the gradual emergence of an image, which slowly becomes brighter until it reaches full strength
fade-out	the gradual disappearance of an image until the screen or ground is completely black; a device used to end a scene
dissolve or cross-fade	following a fade-out with a fade-in in order to move slowly from one scene to the next

Terms related to film and TV