Chapter 6: Film Terms and Techniques

Most people talk about the plot and the acting after they see a film, but they rarely talk about how the film was photographed. This is known as cinematography.

The conventions of camera technique are the foundations upon which film is built.

There are four building blocks from which films are assembled:

1. Frame: An individual picture, or exposure, on a strip of film. While shooting, film passes through the camera at 24 frames per second.

2. A shot is the basic unit of film. A shot is any continuous piece of unedited film, which can be as short as a split-second or as long as an entire reel of film or memory card. Most feature films contain shots averaging 20 to 30 seconds.

3. A scene is a group of interrelated shots taking place in the same location. For example, a 20-second moment in an elevator in a movie is considered a scene.

4. Sequence: A group of interrelated scenes that form a natural unit in the story. For example, the above elevator example may be part of a two-minute escape sequence.

Angle

Low angle (LA): A shot where the camera is lower than the subject and looks up at the subject. These are used to make a subject look more powerful and important. This conveys a sense of authority or strength.

Flat angle (FA): A shot where the camera is at the same level as the subject, or eye-level. Flat-angle shots are neutral – they don’t convey any particular sense about the strength or weakness of the subject.

High angle (HA): A shot where the camera is higher than the subject and looks down at the subject. High-angle shots can make the subject look lesser and insignificant. They are used to convey a sense of defeat or weakness.

There are three ways to describe the form of a shot: distance, angle, and movement.

Composition

Directors must also think about composition: the inclusion and arrangement of objects in the shot.

The objects that are included and how they are arranged are key creative decisions.

For example, there are many ways to film two people arguing in the front seat of a car. The director could shoot each person as they talk, never in the same frame together, to give a sense of separation. The last shot could be the two people together, proving that they have made-up.

Distance

Long shot (LS): A shot that shows the main subject shot in its entire surroundings. For example, if you were showing a swimmer in an outdoor Olympic pool, you would show the entire pool, with the swimmer in it.

A long shot can also be known as an establishing shot. This is because long shots are often used at the beginning of a sequence to establish where the action is taking place. This helps tell where the setting currently is when transitioning in between scenes.

Medium Shot (MS): A shot showing the main subject in some of its immediate surroundings. In this example, the swimmer would be seen, with a smaller portion of the pool visible than a long shot.

Close-up (CU): A shot showing only the main subject. You would only see the swimmer or the swimmer’s face in this example.

Cinematography

Movement

Tilt: A shot in which the camera remains in place but pivots up or down. A tilt shot gives the viewer a trip up or down a building, person, or other vertical object.

Boom: A shot in which the camera, usually on a crane, moves up or down. Booms can also move sideways while moving vertically.

Subjective: A shot in which the camera shows what the character sees. The camera is meant to take the place of the character’s eyes. This is also known as a point of view shot (POV).

Movement

Pan: A shot in which the camera remains in place but swivels from side to side. Panning is used to survey a scene or to capture horizontal movement.

Track: A tracking shot also captures horizontal movement, but does so by actually moving the entire camera left or right.

Zoom: A shot in which the camera remains in place but the lens of the camera is changed to create the appearance of moving closer or father away from the subject. Zooms are used for dramatic effect.

Dolly: A shot in which the camera itself moves toward or away from the subject. The dolly shots differ from a zoom by leaving more of the background visible than the zoom.

Chapter 6: Film Terms and Techniques