This document defines key technical terms related to four areas of filmmaking: camera work, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene. It provides definitions for various shots, angles, movements, cuts, transitions, sound elements, and aspects of production design. Terms defined include establishing shot, close-up, pan, dissolve, diegetic sound, soundtrack, set design, lighting, and more. The glossary offers concise explanations of essential cinematic techniques.

1. REVISION- THE
FOUR TECHNICAL
AREAS
(CAMERA WORK, EDITING, SOUND, MISE-
EN-SCENE)
SHANNON CLARKE

2. GLOSSARY- CAMERA WORK
SHOTS
1. Establishing Shot: usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is
usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot
2. Master Shot: a film recording of an entire dramatised scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view
3. Close-up: usually concentrates on a face, shows very little background and is usually blurred. This shot shows the importance of
things as it takes up the majority of the frame
4. Mid-shot: contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes
5. Long Shot: includes a full shot showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the screen and the feet at the
bottom
6. Wide Shot: the subject takes up the full frame
7. Two Shot: a shot of two people in one frame
8. Aerial Shot: a shot taken from a hat, helicopter or a person on top of a building. Not necessarily a moving shot. The main source
of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera
9. Point Of View Shot: is a short film scene that shows what a character is looking at
10.Over The Shoulder Shot: looking from behind the person at the subject

3. GLOSSARY- CAMERA WORK
ANGLE
1. High Angle: the camera is elevated above the character/object. This shot makes the character or
object feel small and therefore, less significant
2. Low Angle: this shot increases the character or object height and gives a sense of power and
intimidation as they’re seen as bigger than their surroundings
3. Canted Angle: a tilted camera angle (not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance,
transition and instability (common in horror films). This is also used as a point-of-view shot (when
the camera becomes the ‘eyes’ of a character, seeing what they see - a hand held camera is often
used for this)

4. GLOSSARY- CAMERA WORK
MOVEMENT
1. Pan: a movement which scans a scene horizontally (usually placed on a tripod)
2. Tilt: a movement which scans a scene vertically
3. Track/Dolly Shot: the camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, usually
following a moving figure or object
4. Crane: a large, heavy piece of equipment. The camera is suspended and raised up according to the
scene content- this effect allows horizontal and vertical movement
5. Steadicam: a lightweight mounting for a film camera which keeps it steady for filming when handheld or
moving
6. Hand-held: this type of movement gives a jerky/ragged effect
7. Zoom: a zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image
8. Reverse Zoom: when the camera is moving towards the background while zooming out or the camera
moves away from the character or background while zooming in

5. GLOSSARY- CAMERA WORK
COMPOSITION
1. Framing: the action of framing something - the size and position of objects relative to the edges of
the screen; the arrangement of objects so that they fit within the actual boundaries of the film
2. Rule Of Thirds: a concept in video and film production in which the frame is divided into into nine
imaginary sections
3. Depth Of Field: the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects giving a focused image
4. Deep Focus: refers to the closest proximity to the lens in which the objects being photographed will
remain in focus
5. Shallow Focus: one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is
typically used to emphasise one part of the image over another
6. Focus Pull: you change focus during a shot. Usually this means adjusting the focus from one
subject to another

6. GLOSSARY- EDITING
GENERAL TERMS
1. Continuity Editing: a system of cutting used to maintain continuous and clear narrative action by following a
set of rules
2. Montage Editing: Style of editing involving rapid cutting so that one image is juxtaposed with another or one
scene quickly dissolves into the next
3. Long Take: a shot that is allowed to continue for longer than usual without editing
4. Short Take: a shot that is cut at a quicker time than expected
5. Slow Motion: the action of showing film or playing back video more slowly than it was made or recorded, so
that the action appears much slower than in real life
6. Ellipsis: there to suggest an action by simply showing what happens before and after what is observed
7. Expansion Of Time: making the duration of the video sequence longer than real-time
8. Post-Production Visual Effects: the final stage of the filmmaking process that involves editing the visual
effects

7. GLOSSARY- EDITING
CUTTING
1. Shot/Reverse Shot: 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
2. Eyeline Match: refers to the path of the looking eye (similar to shot/reverse shot). Based on the audience wanting
to view what the character on screen is viewing
3. Graphic Match: a visual rhyme between two successive shots
4. Action Match: refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another
view that matches the first shot's action
5. Jump Cut: a rapid, jerky transition from one frame to the next, either disrupting the flow of time or movement
within a scene or making an abrupt transition from one scene to another
6. Cross Cutting: swiftly cutting backwards and forwards between more than one scene
7. Parallel Editing: is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in
different locations
8. Cutaway: a sudden shift to another scene of action or different viewing angle; or a shot inserted between scenes
to effect a transition (as a bridging shot

8. GLOSSARY- EDITING
TRANSITIONS
1. Cut: when one shot suddenly changes to another shot
2. Cross-Dissolve: a gradual fade from one shot to the next
3. Fade In: when the screen appears just a blank, black screen to begin with, and then
the shot begins to fade in. This usually occurs at the beginning of a scene to indicate
a softer, quieter introduction
4. Fade Out: when the shot is shown on the screen and then slowly fades out into a
blank, black screen
5. Wipe: a transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with
a distinct edge that forms a shape
6. Superimposition: where two shots are blended into one, and unlike dissolve, this is
not a transition between two different shots

9. GLOSSARY- SOUND
SOUND
1. Diegetic: sound that exists within the fictional world of the text (the diegesis)
2. Non-Diegetic Sound: sound that the audience can hear, but doesn’t exist within the fictional
world of the text (e.g. soundtrack)
3. Sound Mixing: when the different parts of sound, music, voice etc, change volume levels
4. Synchronous Sound: the sound happens at the same time as the action that creates it
5. Asynchronous Sound: the sound occurs at a different time to the action that created it
6. Sound Effects: artificially created or enhanced sounds
7. Sound Motif: a sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a
particular character, setting, situation or idea through the text
8. Sound Bridge: a piece of music or sound that bridges an edit from one scene to another
(commonly used in American sitcoms)

10. GLOSSARY- SOUND
SOUND
1. Dialogue: scripted and unscripted voices
2. Voice Over: a non-diegetic voice anchoring down the meanings produced by the on screen images
3. Mode Of Address/Direct Address: the viewer is directly addressed. The voice over or character looks at
the audience or addresses that audience as ‘you’
4. Sound Perspective: refers to the apparent distance of a sound, e.g. the sound of horses hooves in the
distance will be quieter than when closed
5. Soundtrack: recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a moving image text
6. Incidental music: often “background” music, and adds atmosphere to the action
7. Themes and Stings: all sound features may share certain characteristics - e.g. a particular rhythm
8. Ambient Sound: the background sounds which are present in a scene or location. Common ambient
sounds include wind, water, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic

11. GLOSSARY- MISE-EN-SCENE
MISE-EN-SCENE
1. Production Design: the overall ‘look’ of the film/TV drama (lighting, set, filters, costumes, makeup)
2. Location: states where it’s set
3. Studio: a production set in a studio but made to look like a location (with a backdrop or green screen)
4. Set Design: a constructed environment in which to shoot a scene: often consists of flat backdrops or
façades, but can be a three-dimensional construction
5. Costume and Make-Up:
6. Properties: ‘props’ - what kind of items are in the frame and what does this connote about the genre of
the film/TV drama
7. Lighting: lighting refers to the illumination of a subject or scene. High key, low key, naturalistic,
chiaroscuro (an effect of contrasted light and shadow)
8. Colour Design: camera filters