The Language of film analysis

CAMERA RANGE
(=the distance between the camera and object)

extreme long shot Shot of, e.g. a large crowd scene or a view of scenery as far
as the horizon
"What is the effect of the ~?"
Long shot A view of a situation or setting from a distance
"the camera pulls away from the close-ups to a long shot of
the Boston skyline."

Medium long shot Shows a group o f people 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, mid Shows a subject down to his or her waist, e.g. showing head
shot, medium close and shoulders of two people in conversation
shot "What is the purpose of the high angle medium close shot?"

Close-up A full-screen shot o f a subject's face, showing the finest

nuances of expression
"The camera suddenly cuts to a close-up."
"What does the series of close-ups show?"

Extreme close-up a shot of a hand, eye, mouth or object in detail

(shot)
Detail (shot)

POINT OF VIEW (VIEWPOINTS)

(=position from which the camera is filming)
Establishing shot Often used at the beginning of a scene to indicate the location or setting, it is usually a long shot taken
from a neutral position
"The scene starts with an ~."
Point-of-view shot, Shows a scene from the perspective of a character
POV-shot

Over-the-shoulder Often used in dialogue scenes, a frontal view o f a dialogue partner from the perspective of someone
shot standing behind and slightly to the side of the other partner, so that parts of both can be seen
Reaction shot Short shot of a character's response to an action "He decided to hold a ~."
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
Reverse-angle shot A shot from the opposite perspective, e.g. after an over-the-shoulder shot
Hand-held camera "What effect does the ~ have in the party scene?"

CAMERA ANGLES

Aerial shot or Long or extreme long shot of the ground from the air
High angle or "How does the sequence of aerial and tracking shots
support the voiceover commentary?"
Overhead

High-angle shot Shows people or objects from \ above, i.e. higher than
eye level
Low-angle shot or Shows people or objects from below, i.e. lower than eye
below shot level

Eye-level Views a subject from the level of a person's eyes

shot or straight-on "In the first part the straight-on angle of the camera puts
the viewer on the same level as Mrs. Robinson."
angle
"How do the various camera shot angles highlight the
power of Mrs. Robinson?"

CAMERA MOVEMENT

(movement of the camera during a shot)

Panning shot The camera pans (moves horizontally) from left to right or vice versa across the picture
"The camera pans across the picture."
Tilt shot The camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts down (moves downwards) around a vertical line
Tracking shot / The camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person
trucking shot
Zoom The stationary camera appears to approach a subject by 'zooming in' ; or to move farther away by
'zooming out'
"The camera zooms in(zooms out) on Ben's face."

EDITING / MONTAGE
(= the arrangement of shots in a structured sequence)

Master shot Main shot of a whole scene taken by one camera in one position, which is then intercut with other
shots to add interest
Cutaway Shot of something not shown by the master shot of a scene, but connected to the main action in some
way
Cross-cutting or Intermingling the shots of two or more scenes which are taking place at the same time
parallel action
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
Split screen Division of the screen to show two or more pictures at the same time
PUNCTUATION
(= the way in which shots are linked)

Casting Choosing actors to impersonate the characters

Cut A switch from one image or shot to another

"What effect does the sudden cut from the pool to Ben's room have on the viewer?"
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 o f moving rapidly towards a
subject
Fade-in From a black screen or ground, the gradual emergence o f 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, dissolving Following a fade-out with a fade-in in order to move slowly from one scene to the next
shot or cross-fade

Miscellaneous

Backlighting Filming a person or event against a background of light, especially the sun, which produces an
idealized, sometimes romantic effect
Background music The music accompanying scenes
"What ~ would you use?"
"What effect does the ~ have?"
Camera operator The person behind the camera(s); in major productions, the head of the camera team is usually called
the director of photography
Caption Words that are shown on a cinema or television screen, e.g. to establish the scene of a story
Clip Short piece of film or video.
Composition The arrangement of people or things in a painting, photograph, film scene, etc.
Film director The person responsible for the artistic production of a film, i.e. the lightning, camera work, action, and
the actors' interpretation of their roles
"What do you think the director's intention is?"
"Why does the director use this shot?"
Credits List of people who helped to make a film or program
Editor The person responsible for arranging the camera shots and splicing (cutting / pasting) the shots
together
Film transcript Transcript of the final film according to the individual shots giving field size, camera angle, camera
movement, action, dialogue etc.
Footage Piece of film or video.
"Where is the ~ being filmed from?"
"What sort of TV program uses footage like this?"
Freeze-frame Effect when all movement is stopped.

Motion picture A US and Canadian term for film

Producer The person responsible for the overall organization, especially the financing and marketing, of a film
or TV production
Scene A shot or a series of shots that deal(s) with a single action
Screenplay Film script with dialogue, location descriptions and some camera angles and
movements.
Sequence Connected piece of film, perhaps a complete scene.
"What does the ~ of close-up and extreme cluse-up shots focus on?"
Setting The location of a film
"If you were the director of the film, what kind of setting would you choose?"
Shot Single piece of camera work, e.g. a cutaway.
"What sort of shot has to be used for an event like this?"
"Watch the film as far as the first shot of Ben in his room."
"The director uses ...shots to ..."
Soundtrack All sound for a film, including voices and music.
Still Single frame of a film, like a photo.
"What could the connection between the title and the stills?"
Storyboard Series of simple pictures showing the sequence of main shots, often with notes an camera angles and
movements.
Subtitle Printed words, usually below the picture, and usually used to translate dialogue in a
foreign film.
Time-lapse Technique of filming very short bursts from a fixed position at fixed time intervals,
photography so that action appears very rapid when the film is played back at normal speed.

(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 Commentary heard by the viewer without the speaker being in-shot.
Often used in documentaries.
"The voice-over comments break the scene into four sections."