Cinematography
Horizontal rotation of the camera from a fixed spot.
Pan
Sound that comes from within the world of the story.
Diegetic
Movement of characters.
Blocking
The simple joining of two shots or two parts of the same shot.
Cut
Leading character
Protagonist
Camera is slightly tilted. Suggests instability, tension or altered states.
Dutch angle
How fast or slow is the sound.
Tempo
Dark lighting, emphasis on shadows.
Low key lighting
Moves the action backward in time. May represent memory of character.
Flashback
Scene lasts longer than the events it portrays.
Stretch relationship
Shot taken from the floor or ground level.
Worm's eye
All noise present in a given environment, background noise.
Ambient noise
Composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image.
Rule of thirds
Cut that goes from intense to quiet and vice versa.
Smash cut
Characters that possess very few personal, unique traits and behave in predictable ways.
Flat characters
Smoothly shifting focus from one plane to another. Shifts emphasis and creates significance in sharply-focused object. Can be used as a reveal.
Rack focus
Sound that contrasts strongly with the image that you see on screen.
Contrapuntal sound
Colors in the frame are based on a single color.
Monochromatic color palette
Two or more images that are placed on top of each other. All the top images are partially transparent (translucent), allowing the viewer to see through to the base layer. Indicates altered states, such as dreaming or remembrances.
Superimposition
An unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation.
Deus ex Machina
Out of focus area, includes saturated colors and out of focus lights.
Bokeh
Creating and adding sound in post-production.
Dubbing
Lighting technique where light and dark are used together - the juxtaposition of the two.
Chriaroscuro lighting
Combination of metric, rhythmic and tonal montage.
Overtonal montage
Object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.
MacGuffin