Camera Techniques
This is a single, continuous recording made by a camera, from the time it starts rolling until it stops.
What is a shot?
This is a basic editing technique where two shots are joined together, eliminating unwanted footage.
What is a cut?
This is the primary light source illuminating the subject, establishing overall lighting and mood.
What is a key light?
This is sound that exists within the film's world and can be heard by the characters (dialogue, music from a radio, etc.).
This is a storytelling structure that divides the narrative into setup, confrontation, and resolution.
What is a three-act structure?
This is a camera shot taken from a short distance that shows detail, typically focusing on a person's face or an important object.
What is a close-up?
This is an abrupt transition between shots that creates a jarring or disorienting effect by skipping time.
What is a jump cut?
This is secondary lighting used to reduce harsh shadows created by the key light.
What is a fill light?
Sound added in post-production that characters cannot hear, such as musical score or narrator voice-over.
What is non-diegetic sound?
This is the main character, typically the hero or central figure driving the story forward.
What is the protagonist?
This is a camera shot showing a person from approximately the waist up, balancing detail with context.
What is a medium shot?
This is a sequence of shots edited together to compress time, convey information, or create emotional impact.
What is a montage?
This is light positioned behind the subject to separate them from the background and add depth.
What is back light (rim light)?
Narration spoken by a character or narrator that is heard over the film's images.
What is voice-over?
This is the character or force that opposes the protagonist and creates conflict in the story.
What is the antagonist?
This is a camera shot taken from a considerable distance, showing the entire subject and much of the surrounding area.
What is a long shot (wide shot)?
This is an editing style that maintains logical and smooth progression of time and space to keep viewers oriented.
This is the range of distance in a shot that appears in sharp focus, controlled by camera aperture settings.
What is depth of field?
Audio that continues from one shot into the next, creating smooth transitions between scenes.
What is a sound bridge?
This is the sequence of events that make up the story.
What is a plot?
This is a very tight shot focusing on a specific detail, such as a person's eyes or hands.
What is an extreme close-up?
This is a shot that interrupts the main action to show something else, then returns to the original shot.
What is a cutaway?
This is a cinematography technique where only a small portion of the image is in sharp focus.
What is shallow focus?
This is the process of creating and recording everyday sound effects in post-production to enhance audio realism.
What is Foley?
This is a scene that interrupts the chronological flow to show events that happened earlier in time.
What is a flashback?