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| The relationship of the frame's width to its height. The standard Academy ratio is currently 1.85:1. |
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| Sound that is not matched temporally with the movements occurring in the image, as when dialogue is out of synchronization with lip movements. |
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| The presumed or actual author of a film, usually identified as the director. Also sometimes used in an evaluative sense to distinguish good filmmakers (auteurs) from bad ones. |
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| In the continuity editing system, the imaginary line that passes from side to side through the main actors, defining the spatial relations of all the elements of the scene as being to the right or left. The camera is not supposed to cross the axis at a cut and thus reverse those spatial relations. Also called the 180° line. (See also 180° system.) |
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| Illumination cast onto the figures in the scene from the side opposite the camera, usually creating a thin outline of highlighting on those figures. |
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| A view in which the frame is not level; either the right or left side is lower than the other, causing objects in the scene to appear slanted out of an upright position. |
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| is characterized by strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. |
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| A general term for all the manipulations of the film strip by the camera in the shooting phase and by the laboratory in the developing phase. |
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| A framing in which the scale of the object shown is relatively large; most commonly a person's head seen from the neck up, or an object of a comparable size that fills most of the screen. |
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| A system of cutting to maintain continuous and clear narrative action. Continuity editing relies on matching screen direction, position, and temporal relations from shot to shot |
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| In cinematography, the difference between the brightest and darkest areas within the frame. |
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| A shot with a change in framing accomplished by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air in any direction. |
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| Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously. |
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| 1. In filmmaking, the joining of two strips of film together with a splice. 2. In the finished film, an instantaneous change from one framing to another. See also jump cut. |
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| An instantaneous shift from a distant framing to a closer view of some portion of the same space. |
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| A use of the camera lens and lighting that keeps both the close and distant planes being photographed in sharp focus. |
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| An arrangement of mise-en-scene elements so that there is a considerable distance between the plane closest to the camera and the one farthest away. Any or all of these planes may be in focus. (See shallow space.) |
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| The measurements of the closest and farthest planes in front of the camera lens between which everything will be in sharp focus. A depth of field from 5 to 16 feet, for example, would mean everything closer than 5 feet and farther than 16 feet would be out of focus. |
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| In a narrative film, the world of the film's story. The diegesis includes events that are presumed to have occurred and actions and spaces not shown onscreen. See also diegetic sound, nondiegetic insert, nondiegetic sound. |
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| Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a source within the film's world. See also nondiegetic sound. |
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| Any alternative system of joining shots together using techniques unacceptable within continuity editing principles. Possibilities would include mismatching of temporal and spatial relations, violations of the axis of action, and concentration on graphic relationships. See also elliptical editing, graphic match, intellectual montage, jump cut, nondiegetic insert, overlapping editing. |
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| A transition between two shots during which the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; for a moment the two images blend in superimposition. |
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| One of the three branches of the film industry; the process of supplying the finished film to the places where it will be shown. See also exhibition, production. |
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| A camera support with wheels, used in making tracking shots. |
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| The process of replacing part or all of the voices on the sound track in order to correct mistakes or rerecord dialogue. See also postsynchronization. |
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| 1. In filmmaking, the task of selecting and joining camera takes. 2. In the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relations among shots. |
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| In a narrative film, the shortening of plot duration achieved by omitting intervals of story duration. See also elliptical editing, viewing time. |
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| Shot transitions that omit parts of an event, causing an ellipsis in plot and story duration. |
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| A shot, usually involving a distant framing, that shows the spatial relations among the important figures, objects, and setting in a scene. |
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| One of the three branches of the film industry; the process of showing the finished film to audiences. See also distribution, production. |
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| A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very large; most commonly, a small object or a part of the body. |
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| A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very small; a building, landscape, or crowd of people will fill the screen. |
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| 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. |
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| 1. Fade-in: A dark screen that gradually brightens as a shot appears. 2. Fade-out: A shot gradually disappears as the screen darkens. Occasionally, fade-outs brighten to pure white or to a color. |
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| A dark screen that gradually brightens as a shot appears. |
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| A shot gradually disappears as the screen darkens. Occasionally, fade-outs brighten to pure white or to a color. |
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| Illumination from a source less bright than the key light, used to soften deep shadows in a scene. See also three-point lighting. |
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| The strip of material upon which a series of still photographs is registered; it consists of a clear base coated on one side with a light-sensitive emulsion. |
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| A piece of glass or gelatin placed in front of the camera or printer lens to alter the quality or quantity of light striking the film in the aperture. |
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| An alteration of story order in which the plot moves back to show events that have taken place earlier than ones already shown. |
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| An alteration of story order in which the plot presentation moves forward to future events and then returns to the present. |
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| A shot with framing that shifts to keep a moving figure onscreen. |
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| A single image on the strip of film. When a series of frames is projected onto a screen in quick succession, an illusion of movement is created. |
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| The use of the edges of the film frame to select and to compose what will be visible onscreen. |
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| Illumination directed into the scene from a position near the camera. |
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| Various types of films that audiences and filmmakers recognize by their familiar narrative conventions. Common genres are musical, gangster, and Western films. |
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| Two successive shots joined so as to create a strong similarity of compositional elements (e.g., color, shape). |
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| The use of the camera operator's body as a camera support, either holding it by hand or using a harness. |
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| Illumination that creates sharp-edged shadows. |
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| Illumination that creates comparatively little contrast between the light and dark areas of the shot. Shadows are fairly transparent and brightened by fill light. |
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