Glossary

Close up- a feature or part of something that takes up the entire frame (i.e. a humans face)

Cut away- where something other than the subject is the main focus of the shot.

Cut in- shows other parts of a subject in detail (i.e. the hands).

Dolly- a dolly is a cart that travels along tracks. The camera is mounted on the dolly and records the shot as it moves.

Extreme close up- shows part of a subject in substantial detail (i.e. the eyes), this can be used for effect, to add tension to a scene for example.

Extreme wide shot- the purpose of this shot is to show the subject's surroundings.  Ideal for beautiful landscapes that you want to capture.

Medium close up- is the middle ground between a ‘Close-Up’ and a ‘Mid-Shot’.

Mid shot- Includes parts of a figure (head and upper torso), shows parts of the subject in detail.

Mise-en-scène is a French term and originates in theatres. It means, literally, "put in the scene."

Noddy shot- this usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

Over the shoulder shot- this is where you would be looking from behind a person at the subject.

Pan- is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right about a central point.

Point of view shot- this shot shows a view from someone’s perspective.

Two shot- is where two subjects are in shot at the same time, and is framed very similarly to a mid shot.

Very wide shot- the subject is barely visible, but some emphasis is made on him in his environment. 

Weather shot- this shot focuses on the particular weather conditions.

Wide shot- this shot shows an entire object or the figure of the person in shot, and is usually intended to place it in some relation to the surroundings.

Types of Sound

whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:

-voices of characters

-sounds made by objects in the story

-music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world

 

Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame.

Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound

Non-diegetic sound

 

Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:

-narrator's commentary

-sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect

-mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.

The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening. We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy).

Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.

Soundtrack- The music that accompanies a movie

Theme music- is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_music)

 

Incidental music- is music in a film, play, video game or other that isn’t necessarily musical. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidental_music)

 

Sound Effects (FX) - Are artificially created sounds, commonly created by the use of a synthesizer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_effects)

 

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Ambient sound- means the background noise present in a scene. (http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/ambient/)

 

Dialogue- is spoken conversational exchange between two or more people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue)

 

Voice-over- (known as off-stage commentary) is a voice recording played on top of film, video game etc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over)