4K – A shorthand reference to the 4096 x 2160 pixel image of digital cinema projection.

4:3 – The aspect ratio for standard-definition television. Four units wide by three units tall – more square in its visual presentation than the widescreen high-definition 16:9 video display.

16:9 – The aspect ratio for high-definition video. Sixteen units wide by nine units tall – a widescreen display.

30 Degree Rule – A cousin to the 180-degree rule, this rule suggests that when recording coverage for a scene from differing camera angles within the film set, the camera should be moved around the 180-degree arc by at least 30 degrees from one shot to the next to create enough variation on the angle on action so that the two different shots will edit together and appear different enough in their framing. A focal length change between set-ups will also help.

50–50 – A profile two-shot, typically in a medium shot or closer, where both subjects look across the screen at one another. Used especially in dialogue scenes.

180-Degree Line/Action Line/Axis of Action/Imaginary Line – The imaginary line established by the sight lines of objects within a shot that determines where the 180-degree arc of safe shooting is set up for the camera coverage of that scene. Traditionally, the camera should not be moved to the opposite side of this action line because it will cause a reversal in the established screen direction when the shots are edited together. See also 180-Degree Rule, Sight Line.

180-Degree Rule – In filmmaking, an imaginary 180-degree arc, or half-circle, is established on one side of the shooting set once the camera first records an angle on the action in that space. All subsequent shots should be made from within that same semi-circle. As screen direction, left and right, for the entire scene is already established, the camera cannot photograph the subject from the other side of the circle without causing a reversal in the screen direction.

Act (noun) – Much as in stage plays, in long-form programming (feature films or episodic television, etc.), the story is broken down into several major sections known as acts. In fictional narrative filmmaking, a story will traditionally have three acts, loosely termed the set-up, the confrontation, and the resolution.

Action – What the director calls out to signify that the acting for the shot being recorded should begin.

ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) – A process where actors record lines of dialogue in a recording studio. Used to replace poor-quality or altogether missing production audio. An editor may then use these clean recordings for the actual edit.

Aesthetics – A way of creating and analyzing art and art forms for their beauty.

Ambience/Atmosphere (sound) – The general background sounds of any location where a scene for a film is shot. Examples: school cafeteria, football stadium, subway car, remote forest.

Analog – Not digital in nature. Composed of or designed with a more free-form variant not specifically limited to a single, quantifiable range.

Angle of Incidence – The angle from which incident light falls upon a film set. A single lighting fixture directly overhead will have a 90-degree (from horizon) angle of incidence.

Angle of View – The field of view encompassed by the light-gathering power of a camera’s lens. A wide-angle lens has a wide angle of view. A telephoto lens has a narrower angle of view on the world.

Angle on Action – The angle from which a camera views the action on the film set.

Aperture – In motion picture equipment terms, the aperture refers to the iris or flexible opening of the camera lens that controls how much or how little light is used to expose the image inside the camera. A wide aperture or iris setting lets in a larger amount of light. A smaller aperture lets in less light. On many camera lenses, the aperture can also be fully “stopped down” or closed all of the way for total darkness on the image.

Artificial Light – Any light generated by a manmade device such as a film light, a desk lamp, or a neon sign.

Aspect Ratio – The numerical relationship between the dimensions of width and height for any given visual recording medium. In the example 16:9, the first number, 16, represents the units of measure across the width of a high-definition video frame. The second number, 9, represents the same units of measure for the height of the same frame.

Assembly Edit – The phase during the post-production process when an editor first assembles the raw footage into a basic story structure.

Assistant Editor – A support position within a post-production environment. The duties and responsibilities of an assistant editor change with the complexity of the program being edited, the budget, and the facility in which the edit is completed. General tasks include capturing and organizing footage within an editing project, attending to the chief editor’s needs, authoring proof copies for review and approval, etc.

Atmospherics – Any particulates suspended in the air around a film set or location, such as fog, mist, or dust, which will cumulatively obscure the distant background or “catch” and “show” the light in the air.

Attention – The direction in which a subject looks within the film space. The attention of a subject may be drawn by another subject, an inanimate object, or anything that attracts his or her gaze. An imaginary line connects the eyes of the subject and the object of his or her attention and, most often, the audience will trace this line to also see what the subject is observing. See also Sight Line.

Audio Mix – The process of blending together the many different audio tracks used in an edited program such that their levels (volumes) work appropriately together. Spoken dialogue, voice-over narration, music, sound effects, etc. are all blended so they sound good with one another under the picture track.

Axial Edit – Cutting two shots together that view the subject from the exact same angle on action but only change the magnification of the subject. See also Cut-In, Punch-In.

Background – The zone within a filmed frame that shows the deep space further away from the camera. The background is often out of focus, but serves to generate the ambience of the location.

Back Light – A light used on a film set placed behind an object but pointed at its backside. It generally serves to help to separate the object from the background by providing a rim or halo of light around the edges of the body, head, and hair. It may also illuminate the reflective surfaces around the subject such as wet pavement or polished floors.

Back Timing – Laying in audio from a known and desired end point with a yet-to-be-determined starting point in your program.

Beat – A moment in time. A pause of no precise timing but appropriate for the needs of the edited piece. When strung together, several beats can account for the editor’s gut instinct in proper timing of shots, titles, transition effects, etc.

Binocular Vision (human visual system) – Having two eyes located at the front of the head. The slight distance between the two eyes causes humans to see nearby objects from two distinct vantage points. The brain then combines the two distinct images into one picture where the overlapping elements take on a 3D aspect.

Blocking – The planned movement of subjects within the film space and the corresponding movement, if any, of the camera to follow the actions of the moving subjects.

Boom Arm – Deriving its name from the armature on a sailing ship’s mast, a boom arm is used to swivel and extend the camera’s placement to get sweeping shots or keep the camera buoyant without a tripod directly beneath it.

Boom Operator (audio recording) – The crew member whose job it is to hold and manipulate the audio-recording microphone suspended from a long, telescoping pole usually over the heads of the acting talent.

Break Frame – When an object being recorded accidentally moves to the edge of the frame and falls outside the visible area of the image.

B-Roll – Any visual material acquired for a project (especially news, documentary, and reality) that visually supports the main topic of discussion but does not include important human subjects. Often used to “mask” edits in an interviewee’s answers or commentary when used as a cutaway on the picture track.

Business – Any busy work performed by an actor with his or her hands while acting in a scene.

Butt-Cut – A straight edit between two video clips in a sequence with no transition effect such as a dissolve, wipe, or fade. See also Straight Cut.

Camera Angle – The angle at which a camera views a particular scene. Camera angles can be based on horizontal camera positioning around the subject or vertical camera positioning below or above the subject.

Camera Person/Camera Operator – The person who physically handles the camera during the shooting, whose main responsibility is to maintain proper framing and composition and to verify good focus.

Camera Set-Up – A place on the film set where a camera is positioned to record a shot. Each time the camera is physically moved to a new position, it is considered a new camera set-up. The camera set-up is often associated with a particular shot from the shot list for scene coverage.

Camera Support – Any device or piece of film equipment that is used to support the motion picture camera. Tripods, dollies, and car mounts are all examples of various kinds of camera support.

Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) – The electronic light sensor built into many video cameras that turns light wave energy into electronic voltages. These voltages get recorded as brightness and color values on a tape, hard drive, or memory card in the camera.

Chiaroscuro – Italian for light/dark, this term is used in the visual arts to talk about the high contrast ratio between light and dark areas of a frame. Filmmakers, as well as painters, use this technique to show or hide certain visual elements within their frames.

Clapper Board – This is the visual record of the shot that is to be filmed. On the clapper board is marked the scene and take number, together with other information about the production. The sound of the board “clapped” together is the point at which sound and vision are synchronized together during post-production. If the board is clapped, it indicates that sound and vision are being recorded. If the board is held open, it indicates that vision only is being recorded. If the board is shown upside down, it indicates that it was recorded at the end of the shot and is called an “end board” or “tail slate.” An end board can be also either clapped or mute. See also Slate.

Clean Single – A medium shot to a close-up that contains body parts of only one person even though other characters may be part of the scene being recorded.

Clip – Any piece of film or segment of digital video media file that will be used in an edited sequence.

Close-Up – Any detail shot where the object of interest being photographed takes up the majority of the frame. Details will be magnified. When photographing a human being, the bottom of the frame will just graze the top part of the shoulders and the top of the frame may just cut off the top part of the head or hair.

Color Bars – In video, these are the thick, colored vertical lines that are recorded first on a tape. They are used to calibrate or “line up” the editing machines, so that each time a picture is copied, the color is the same. The colors are, from the left of the screen, white, yellow, cyan, green, magenta, red, blue, and black.

Color Temperature – Often referenced on the degrees Kelvin scale, color temperature is a measurement of a light’s perceived color when compared to the color of light emitted from a “perfect black body” exposed to increasing levels of heat. The color temperature for tungsten film lighting is generally accepted as around 3200 degrees Kelvin. Noontime sunlight is generally accepted as around 5600 degrees Kelvin. The lower numbers appear “warm” orange/amber when compared to white, and the higher numbers appear “cool” blue.

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) – A type of image sensor used in many smaller devices such as smartphones and in both consumer-and professional-grade digital video cameras.

Complex Shot – Any shot that involves both talent movement and movement of the camera (pan or tilt).

Composition – In motion picture terms, the artful design employed to place objects of importance within and around the recorded frame.

Continuity – In motion picture production terms: (1) having actors repeat the same script lines in the same way while performing similar physical actions across multiple takes; (2) making sure that screen direction is followed from one camera set-up to the next; (3) in post-production, matching physical action across a cut point between two shots of coverage for a scene.

Contrast – The range of dark and light tonalities within a film frame.

Contrast Ratio – The level of delineation between strong areas of dark and strong areas of light within a film frame, as represented in a ratio of two numbers: Key+Fill:Fill.

Coverage – Shooting the same action from multiple angles with different framing at each camera set-up. Example: A dialogue scene between two people may require a wide, establishing shot of the room; a tighter two-shot of both subjects; clean singles of each actor; reciprocal over-the-shoulder shots favoring each actor; cutaways of hands moving or the clock on the wall, etc.

Crab – When a dolly moves the camera sideways or parallel to the movement/action recorded. The camera lens is most often actually perpendicular to the subjects.

Crane – Much like the large, heavy machinery used in construction, a crane on a film set may raise and move the camera or have large lighting units mounted to it from high above the set.

Critical Focus – As with the human eye, there can be only one plane or physical slice of reality that is in sharpest focus for the motion picture camera. The plane of critical focus is this slice of space in front of the lens, at a particular distance, that will show any object within that plane to be in true focus. Example: When recording a person’s face in a medium close-up, his or her eyes should be in sharpest focus, in which case the plane of critical focus is the same distance away from the lens as the actor’s eyes.

Cross-Cutting/Parallel Editing – A process in film construction where one plot line of action is intercut with another, potentially related plot line. The audience are given an alternating taste of each action sequence as the “single” scene progresses toward resolution.

Cross-Fade – An audio treatment applied to audio edits where the end of one piece of audio is faded down under the rising audio level of the next piece of sound.

Cut (noun) – An edit point.

Cut (verb) – To edit a motion picture.

Cut Away (verb) – Editing out of one shot to another shot that is different in subject matter from the previous one. Example: “Cut away from the postman coming through the gate to the dog inside the house, waiting.”

Cutaway (noun) – Any shot recorded that allows a break from the main action within a scene. The editor may place a cutaway into an edited scene of shots when a visual break is necessary or when two other shots from the primary coverage will not edit together smoothly.

Cut-In – A tighter shot taken either with a long-focal-length lens or a closer camera position but along the same lens axis as the original wider shot. See also Axial Edit, Punch-In.

Daylight Balance – Emulsion film stock and video cameras may be biased toward seeing the color temperature of daylight as “white” light. When they are set this way, they have a daylight balance of approximately 5500 degrees Kelvin.

Degrees Kelvin – The scale used to indicate a light source’s color temperature, ranging roughly from 1000 to 20,000 degrees. Red/orange/amber-colored light falls from 1000 to 4000 and bluish light falls from 4500 to 20,000.

Depth – The distance from the camera receding into the background of the set or location. The illusion of 3D deep space on the 2D film plane.

Depth of Field (DOF) – In filmmaking terms, the DOF refers to a zone, some distance from the camera lens, where any object will appear to be in acceptable focus to the viewing audience. The DOF lives around the plane of critical focus, appearing one-third in front of and two-thirds behind the plane of critical focus instead of being centered equally. Any object outside the DOF will appear blurry to the viewer. The DOF may be altered or controlled by changing the camera-to-subject distance or by adding light to or subtracting light from the subject and adjusting the lens iris accordingly.

Desaturation – In filmmaking, the removal of colors (hues) from an image such that only gray-scale values (blacks, grays, whites) are left in the pixels of the image.

Developing Shot – Any shot that incorporates elaborate talent movement: a zoom, a pan or tilt, and a camera dolly.

Diegetic – Generated by something within the film world, usually associated with sound elements in a fictional motion picture. Example: a song playing on a jukebox in a diner.

Digital Zoom – A camera lens function that digitally enlarges an image, based on a magnification of the existing pixel data by the camera’s processor. The result is often blurry or “pixelated” due to this expansion of limited picture information. A digital zoom is a digital blow-up, and differs from an optical zoom, which uses glass lenses to record an actual magnified image of a distant object.

Direct Address – A subjective style of recording motion pictures where the subject looks (and speaks) directly into the camera lens. Used in news reporting, talk shows, game shows, etc.

Director of Photography (DP/DOP) – The person on the film crew who is responsible for the overall look of a motion picture project’s recorded image. He or she primarily creates the lighting scheme but may also help in planning the angles, composition, and movement of the camera as well as design details such as color palettes and object textures.

Dirty Single – A medium shot to a close-up that contains the main person of interest for the shot but that also contains some visible segment of another character who is part of the same scene. The clean single is made “dirty” by having this sliver of another’s body part in the frame.

Dissolvev A treatment applied to the visual track of a program at an edit point. While the end of the outgoing shot is disappearing from the screen, the incoming shot is simultaneously resolving onto the screen.

Dolly – Traditionally, any wheeled device used to move a motion picture camera around a film set, either while recording or between shots. A dolly may be three or four wheeled; travel on the floor, or roll (with special wheels) along straight or curved tracks; or have a telescoping or booming arm that lifts and lowers the camera.

Domestic Cutoff – The outer 10% of analog-transmitted picture information that is cut off at the outside edges of a cathode ray tube television set and not viewable by the in-home audience. Although not as common in the digital age, this phenomenon should be taken into account when composing shots for a project that will be broadcast on television or viewed as a standard-definition DVD. Videos encoded for web playback will display full frame.

Dutch Angle/Dutch Tilt/Canted Angle/Oblique Angle – In filmmaking terms, any shot where the camera is canted or not level with the actual horizon line. The Dutch angle is often used to represent a view of objects or actions that are not quite right, underhanded, diabolical, or disquieting. All horizontal lines within the frame go slightly askew diagonally and, as a result, any true vertical lines will tip in the same direction.

Edit (noun) – The actual cut point between two different clips in a sequence.

Edit (verb) – To assemble a motion picture from disparate visual and auditory elements.

End Frame – Any time that the camera has been moving to follow action, the camera should come to a stop before the recorded action ceases. This clean, static frame may be used by the editor to cut away from the moving shot to any other shot that would come next. In a filmed sequence, viewing moving frames cut to static frames can be a jarring visual cut, and this static end frame may help to prevent this visual glitch.

Establishing Shot – Traditionally, the first shot of a new scene in a motion picture. It is a wide shot that reveals the location where the immediately following action will take place. The audience may quickly learn place, rough time of day, rough time of year, weather conditions, historical era, etc. by seeing this shot.

Exposure – In motion picture camera terms, the light needed to create an image on the recording medium (either emulsion film or a video light sensor). If you do not have enough light, you will underexpose your image and it will appear too dark. If you have too much light, you will overexpose your image and it will appear too bright.

Exterior – In film terms, any shot that has to take place outside.

Eye Light/Catch Light/Life Light – A light source placed somewhere in front of the talent that reflects off the moist and curved surface of the eye. This eye twinkle brings out the sparkle in the eye and often informs the audience that the character is alive and vibrant. Absence of the eye light can mean that a character is no longer living or is hiding something, etc.

Eye-Line – The imaginary line that traces across the screen from the talent’s eyes to some object of interest. See also Attention, Sight Line.

Eye-Line Match – The attention line from a subject (eye-line) should match in direction and angle to the object of interest in the reveal shot. Example: When shooting clean single coverage for a two-person dialogue scene, the eyes of each character should be looking out of the frame in the direction of where the other character’s head or face would be. Even though the actors may not be sitting next to one another as they were in the wider two-shot, the eye-line of each “looking” at the other must match from shot to shot so that there is consistency in the edited scene.

Eye Trace – The places on a screen that attract the viewer’s eyes. As the motion picture plays on the screen, the audience will move their focus around the composition to find new pieces of information.

Fade – A treatment of an edit point where the screen transitions from a frame of solid color into a fully visible image or from a fully visible image into a frame of solid color.

Fade-In/Fade-Up – A transition from a solid black opaque screen to a fully visible image.

Fade-Out/Fade-Down – A transition from a fully visible image to a solid black opaque screen.

Fill Light – A light, of lesser intensity than the key light, used to help to control contrast on a set but most often on a person’s face. It “fills” in the shadows caused by the dominant key light.

Film Gauge – In the world of emulsion film motion pictures, the physical width of the plastic film strip is measured in millimeters (e.g. 16mm, 35mm). This measurement of film width is also referred to as the film’s gauge.

Film Space – The world within the film, both that which is currently presented on screen and that which is “known” to exist within the film’s manufactured reality.

Fine Cut – A later stage in the editing process where the edited program is very near completion. Any further changes will be minor.

Fisheye Lens – A camera lens whose front optical element is so convex (or bulbous, like the eye of a fish) that it can gather light rays from a very wide area around the front of the camera. The resulting image formed when using such a lens often shows a distortion in the exaggerated expansion of physical space, object sizes, and perspective – especially with subjects close to the camera.

Flashback – A device in film construction that jumps the narrative from the present time of the story to an earlier time. Usually used to explain how the current circumstances came about.

Flash Pan – A very quick panning action that blurs the image across the film or video frame horizontally. Flash pans are often used in pairs as a way to transition out of one shot and into the next.

Focal Length – The angle of view that a particular lens can record. It is a number, traditionally measured in millimeters (mm), that represents a camera lens’ ability to gather and focus light. A lower focal length number (e.g., 10mm) indicates a wide angle of view. A higher focal length number (e.g., 200mm) indicates a narrower field of view where objects further from the camera appear to be magnified and fill more of the frame.

Focus – The state where objects being viewed by the camera appear to be sharply edged and well defined, and show clear detail. Anything out of focus is said to be blurry.

Foley – A sound-recording practice where “artists” make noises in a studio while they watch the edited motion picture. The sounds that they record will replace or augment the sound effects of the film, such as footsteps, leather creaks, door knob jiggles, etc.

Following Focus – If a subject moves closer to or further away from the camera but stays within the film frame, often the camera assistant or camera operator must manually control the focus of the recording lens to keep the moving subject in clear, crisp focus. If a subject at the plane of critical focus moves away from that plane and outside the corresponding depth of field, he or she will get blurry unless the camera assistant follows focus and shifts the DOF.

Footage – The raw visual material with which the editor works. It is a general name given to the recorded images on the film or video that were created during production, even if the media file counts in timecode and not feet.

Foreground – The zone within a filmed frame that starts near the camera’s lens but ends before it reaches a more distant zone where the main action may be occurring. Any object that exists in the foreground of the recorded frame will obscure anything in the more distant zones out to the infinity point that would normally have been visible behind it.

Foreshortening – In the visual arts, it is a way that 3D objects are represented on the 2D plane. When pictured from a certain view or perspective, the object may appear compressed and/or distorted from its actual shape: the closer end will appear larger and the further end will appear smaller or tapered.

Fourth Wall – In fictional narrative filmmaking, this term means the place from which the camera objectively observes the action on the film set. Because it is possible for the camera to record only three of the four walls within a film set without moving, the fourth wall is the space on set where the camera lives and it is from that privileged place that it observes the action. “Breaking the fourth wall” means that the actor has directly addressed the camera lens and therefore the audience.

Frame – The entire rectangular area of the recorded image with zones of top, bottom, left, right, center, and depth.

Front Lighting – Any lighting scheme where lights come from above and almost directly behind the camera recording the scene.The talent, when facing toward the camera, will have an overall even lighting, which often causes flatness to their features but may also smooth out surface imperfections.

Geared Head – A professional piece of camera support used on dollies, cranes, and tripods that has two spinning geared wheels that allow for very fluid vertical and horizontal movements of the camera. The camera operator must crank each gear wheel manually to maintain the appropriate framing during tilts or pans.

Gel – Heat-resistant sheet of flexible, thin plastic that contains a uniform color. Used to add a “wash” of color on a film set. Example: If the feeling of sunset is required for a shot, an orange/yellow gel can be placed between the lights and the set to give the impression of a warmer sunset color.

Genre – A French term meaning a category within some larger group. In film, the term applies to types of movies such as comedy, drama, action, musical, etc.

Golden Hour/Magic Hour – The moments just after actual sunset but before the ambient light in the sky fades to night-time darkness. Filmmakers often appreciate the visual quality that the soft top light of dusk creates on exterior scenes.

Grip – A film crew member whose job is to move, place, and tweak any of the various pieces of film equipment used for the support of camera and lighting units, or devices used to block light, among other duties. A special dolly grip may be used to rig the dolly tracks and push or pull the dolly or camera during the recording of a shot.

Handheld – Operating the motion picture camera while it is supported in the hands or propped upon the shoulder of the camera operator. The human body acts as the key support device for the camera and is responsible for all movement achieved by the camera during the recording process.

Hard Light – A quality of light defined by the presence of strong, parallel rays being emitted by the light source. Well-defined, dark shadows are created by hard light.

Head – The common film term for the beginning of a shot, especially during the post-production editing process.

Headroom – The free space at the top of the recorded frame above the head of the subject. Any object may have headroom. Too much headroom will waste valuable space in the frame, and not enough may cause your subject to appear cut off or truncated at the top.

High-Angle Shot – Any shot where the camera records the action from a vertical position higher than most objects being recorded. Example: The camera, looking out of the third-floor window of an apartment house, records a car pulling into the driveway down below.

High Definition (HD) – A reference to the increased image quality and wider frame size (16:9) of the digital video format, compared to the standard-definition format used for television in the 20th century. The increase in vertical line resolution per frame (720 or 1080) increases the sharpness and color intensity of the playback image. All HD formats use square pixels.

High-Key Lighting – A lighting style in which a low contrast ratio exists between the brightly lit areas and the dark areas of the frame. Overall, even lighting gives proper exposure to most of the set and characters within it. There are no real dark shadow regions and no real overly bright regions.

HMI – A film lighting fixture in which the internal lamp burns in such a way as to emit light that matches daylight/sunlight in color temperature (5500–6000 degrees Kelvin).

Hood Mount – A device used to mount a tripod head and camera to the hood of a motor vehicle such that the occupants of the vehicle may be recorded while the vehicle is in motion. Often, a large suction cup is employed to help to secure the camera rig to the hood.

Horizon Line – The distant line that cuts across a film frame horizontally. It is used to help to establish the scope of the film space and define the top and bottom of the film world.

Incoming Picture – At a cut point, there is one shot ending and another beginning. The shot that is beginning after the cut point is the incoming picture.

Insert Shot – Any shot inserted into a scene that is not part of the main coverage but relates to the story unfolding.

Interior – In film terms, any shot that has to take place inside.

Inter-Title – A title card or opaque graphic that appears on the screen to convey written information.

Iris – In motion picture equipment terms, the iris refers to the aperture or flexible opening of the camera lens that controls how much or how little light is used to expose the image inside the camera. Some modern video cameras use an electronic iris that controls the amount of light automatically. Most high-end HD and emulsion film lenses use an iris of sliding metal blades that overlap to make the aperture smaller or wider. A marked ring on the lens barrel can manually control the size of the opening.

J-Cut – A particular kind of split edit where the outgoing and incoming video and audio tracks are offset in their actual cut points. The audio tracks cut first and the video tracks cut a few moments later. Also referred to as sound leading picture. The clip segments around this edit will take on a “J” shape. See also Split Edit, Lapping, Sound Bridge.

Jib Arm – A piece of motion picture camera support equipment that allows the camera to move around a central fulcrum point, left/right/up/down/diagonally. It may be mounted onto tripod legs or on a dolly.

Jump Cut – An anomaly of the edited film when two very similar shots of the same subject are cut together and played. A “jump” in space or time appears to have occurred, which often interrupts the viewer’s appreciation of the story.

Jump the Line/Cross the Line – Based on the concept inherent to the action line or 180-degree rule, this expression refers to moving the camera across the line and recording coverage for a scene that will not match the established screen direction when edited together.

Key Light – The main light source around which the remaining lighting plan is built. Traditionally, on film sets, it is the brightest light that helps to illuminate and expose the face of the main subject of the shot.

Kicker Light – Any light that hits the talent from a 3/4 backside placement. It often rims just one side of the hair, shoulder, or jawline.

Lapping (picture and sound) – The practice of editing where corresponding outgoing picture and sound tracks are not cut straight, but are staggered so that one is longer and the other is shorter. The same treatment must therefore be given to the incoming picture and sound tracks. See Split Edit, L-Cut.

L-Cut – A particular kind of split edit where the outgoing and incoming video and audio tracks are offset in their actual cut points. The video tracks cut first and the audio tracks cut a few moments later. Also referred to as picture leading sound. The clip segments around this edit will take on an “L” shape. See also Split Edit, Lapping, Sound Bridge.

Legs – An alternative name for a camera tripod.

Lens Axis – In motion picture camera terms, the central path cutting through the middle of the circular glass found in the camera’s lens. Light traveling parallel to the lens axis is collected by the lens and brought into the camera that is exposing the recording medium. You can trace an imaginary straight line out of the camera’s lens (like a laser pointer) and have it fall on the subject being recorded. That subject is now placed along the axis of the lens.

Light Meter – A device designed to read and measure the quantity of light falling on a scene or being emitted from it. Often used to help to set the level of exposure on the film set and, consequently, the setting on the camera’s iris.

Line of Attention – The imaginary line that connects a subject’s gaze to the object of interest viewed by that subject. Example: A man, standing in the entryway of an apartment building, looks at the nameplate on the door buzzer. The “line” would be traced from the man’s eyes to the nameplate on the wall. The next shot may be a close-up of the nameplate itself, giving the audience an answer to the question, “What is he looking at?” See also Sight Line.

Locked Off – The description of a shot where the tripod head pan and tilt controls are locked tight so that there will be no movement of the camera. If there were a need to make adjustments to the frame during shooting, the pan and tilt locks would be loosened slightly for smooth movement.

Log – Generally, all shots are written down while shooting. This list is called a shooting log. During the creation of an editing project, shots that are going to be used from original sources are also logged. After the entire sequence is completed, an edit decision list (an edit log) can also be created to keep track of the shots used and the timecodes associated with their clip segments.

Long Shot/Wide Shot – When photographing a standing human subject, his or her entire body is visible within the frame and a large amount of the surrounding environment is also visible around him or her.

Look Room/Looking Room/Nose Room – When photographing a person, it is the space between his or her face and the furthest edge of the film frame. If a person is positioned frame left and is looking across empty space at frame right, then that empty space is considered the look room or nose room.

Looping (audio recording) – An audio post-production process in which actors re-record better-quality dialogue performance in a controlled studio. This new, clean audio track is then edited into the motion picture and appears in sync with the original picture.

Low-Angle Shot – Any shot where the camera records the action from a vertical position lower than most objects being recorded. Example: The camera, on a city sidewalk, points up to the tenth floor of an office building to record two men suspended with rigging cleaning the windows.

Lower Third – A title or graphic that appears as a superimposed visual element across the bottom lower third of the screen. Usually used to identify a person or place in a factual news piece or a documentary interview.

Low-Key Lighting – A lighting style in which a large contrast ratio exist between the brightly lit areas and the dark areas of the frame. Example: Film noir used low-key lighting to create deep, dark shadows and single-source key lighting for exposure of the principal subjects of importance.

Mastering – The process of creating the final version of an edited program or film that looks and sounds the best and will be used to create other copies for distribution.

Match Dissolve – A dissolve between two shots whose visual elements are compositionally similar. Shape, color, mass, or brightness of the outgoing shot will dissolve into visually similar shape, color, mass, or brightness of the incoming shot.

Matching Shots/Reciprocating Imagery/Answering Shots – When shooting coverage for a scene, each camera set-up favoring each character being covered should be very similar if not identical. You should match the framing, camera height, focal length, lighting, etc. When edited together, the matching shots will balance one another and keep the information presented about each character consistent.

Medium Shot – When photographing a standing human subject, the bottom of the frame will cut off the person around the waist.

Middle Ground – The zone within the depth of a filmed frame where, typically, the majority of the important visual action will take place. Objects in the middle ground may be obscured by other objects in the foreground, but middle-ground objects may then also obscure objects far away from the camera in the background.

Monocular Vision (camera lens) – A visual system in which only one lens takes in and records all data. The 3D aspect of human binocular vision is not present in the monocular vision of the film or video camera.

Montagev (1) The French word for editing; (2) a series of edits that show an event or events that happen over time but are condensed into a brief episode of screen time and usually edited to music; (3) a sequence of edited film clips that generates a new meaning for the viewer based on the juxtaposition of the individual shots’ contents.

MOS – A term applied to shots recorded without sound. It should be noted on the clap slate and on the camera report and camera log. Although originating in the early days of sync sound emulsion film production, it may be used on any project where a camera records the visual images and a separate device records the audio signal. The post-production team know not to search for a sync sound clip that corresponds to that MOS picture clip.

Motivated Light – Light, seen on a film set, that appears to be coming from a light source within the film’s pretend world.

Natural Light – Any light that is made by a non-manmade sources such as the sun or fire.

Natural Sound (NATS) – Audio ambience or background sounds recorded on the film set at the time of the picture being recorded.

Natural Wipe – Any large visual element that can move across and obscure the frame while recording a shot on a film set or location. This object naturally wipes the frame and blocks the view of the main subject or object of interest.

Negative Space – An artistic concept wherein unoccupied or empty space within a composition or arrangement of objects also has mass, weight, and importance, and is worth attention. Used to help to balance actual objects within the frame.

Neutral-Density (ND) Filter – A device that reduces the amount of light entering a camera (density), but does not alter the color temperature of that light (neutral). It is either a glass filter that you can apply to the front of the camera lens or, with many video cameras, a setting within the camera’s electronics that replicates the reduced light effect of neutral-density glass lens filters.

Noddy – Any reaction shot of a person used as a cutaway. Most often associated with news interviews and some documentary pieces, these shots of heads nodding are usually recorded after the main interview and are edited in to cover up audio edits.

Normal Lens – A camera lens whose focal length closely replicates what the field of view and perspective might be on certain objects if those same objects were seen with human eyes.

Objective Shooting – A style of filmmaking where the subjects never address the existence of the camera. The camera is a neutral observer, not actively participating in the recorded event but simply acting as a viewer of the event for the benefit of the audience.

Outgoing Picture – At a cut point, there is one shot ending and another beginning. The shot that is ending prior to the cut point is the outgoing picture.

Overexposed – A state of an image where the bright regions contain no discernable visual data but appear as glowing white areas. The overall tonality of this image may also be lacking in true “black” values so that everything seems gray to white in luminance.

Overheads – Drawings or diagrams of the film set, as seen from above like a bird’s-eye view, that show the placement of the camera, lighting equipment, talent, and any set furnishings, etc. These overheads will act as a map for each department to place the necessary equipment in those roughed-out regions of the set.

Overlapping Action – While shooting coverage for a particular scene, certain actions made by the talent will have to be repeated from different camera angles and framings. When cutting the film together, the editor will benefit from having the talent making these repeated movements, or overlapping actions, in multiple shots so that when the cut is made, it can be made on the matching movement of the action across the two shots.

Over-the-Shoulder (OTS) Shot – A shot used in filmmaking where the back of a character’s head and one of his or her shoulders create an “L” shape in the left/bottom or right/bottom foreground and act as a “frame” for the full face of another character standing or seated in the middle ground opposite to the first character. This shot is often used when recording a dialogue scene between two people.

Overwrite – Mostly associated with video editing, this is an edit command that actually writes new frames of picture and/or sound over the top of, and replacing, existing video.

Pan – Short for “panoramic,” this is horizontal movement of the camera, from left to right or right to left, while it is recording action. If you are using a tripod for camera support, the pan is achieved by loosening the pan lock on the tripod head and using the pan handle to swivel the camera around the central pivot point of the tripod to follow the action or reveal the recorded environment.

Pan and Scan – A process used in standard-definition television broadcasting where an original widescreen motion picture image is cropped down to fit into a 4:3 aspect ratio window (the screen size of SDTV) and slid or panned left and right to help to maintain some degree of picture composition. If a widescreen image did not have the pan-and-scan treatment, it would have to have the letterbox treatment (black bars at the top and bottom) to show the entire widescreen aspect ratio inside the squarer 4:3 TV screen.

Pan Handle – A tripod head with a horizontal pivot axis allows for the panning action of the camera, either left or right. The pan handle is a stick or length of metal tubing that extends off the tripod head and allows the camera operator to control the rate of movement of the camera pan by physically pushing or pulling it around the central axis of the tripod.

Pedestal – A camera support device that has vertical boom and 360-degree freewheel capabilities. Most often used on the floor of a television studio.

Picture Lock – The phase of editing a motion picture where there will be no more additions to or subtractions from the picture track(s). The duration of the movie will no longer change. From this point forward, the remaining audio track construction and tweaking may take place.

Point of View (POV) – In filmmaking terms, any shot that takes on a subjective vantage point. The camera records exactly what one of the characters is seeing. The camera sits in place of the talent, and what it shows to the viewing audience is supposed to represent what the character is actually seeing in the story. It can help the audience to relate to that character because they are placed in that character’s position.

Point Source – A light source derived from a specific, localized instance of light generation/emission. A non-diffused light source.

Post-Production – The period of work on a motion picture project that occurs after all of the action is recorded with a camera (also known as production). Post-production can include picture and sound editing, title and graphics creation, motion effects rendering, color correction, musical scoring and mixing, etc.

Practical – A functional, on-set lighting fixture visible in the recorded shot’s frame that may actually help to illuminate the set for exposure. Example: A shot of a man sitting down at a desk at night. Upon the desk is a lamp whose light illuminates the face of the man.

Pre-Production – The period of work on a motion picture project that occurs prior to the start of principal photography (also known as production). Story development, script writing, storyboards, casting, etc. all happen during this phase.

Production – The period of work on a motion picture project that occurs while the scenes are being recorded on film or video. This could be as short as a single day for a commercial or music video or last several months for a feature film.

Proscenium Style – In theater as well as motion pictures, a way to stage the action such that it is seen from only one direction. The audience or, for the film, the camera view and record the action from only one angle.

Pulling Focus – Camera lenses that have manual controls for the focus will allow a camera assistant or camera operator to move the plane of critical focus closer to the camera, therefore shifting the distance of the zone that appears to be in sharp focus within the depth of the frame. This is often done to shift focus from an object further in the frame to one closer within the frame.

Punch-In – When two or more separate shots of differing frame sizes cover the same subject along the same camera axis. See also Axial Edit, Cut-In.

Pushing Focus – Camera lenses that have manual controls for the focus will allow a camera assistant or camera operator to move the plane of critical focus further away from the camera, therefore shifting the distance of the zone that appears to be in sharp focus within the depth of the frame. This is often done to shift focus from an object near in the frame to one further away within the frame.

Racking Focus – During the recording of a shot that has a shallow depth of field, the camera assistant or camera operator may need to shift focus from one subject in the frame to another. This shifting of planes of critical focus from one distance away from the camera to another is called racking focus.

Reaction Shot – A shot in a scene that comes after some action, event, or line of dialogue. The first shot is the catalyst for the reaction depicted in the second shot. It lets the viewer know how the other characters are reacting to the action, event, or dialogue just shown.

Reformat – Changing the shape, size, and sometimes frame rate of a motion picture so that it will play on different-sized screens or in different countries with different standards for motion picture display.

Reveal – Any time that the filmmaker shows new, important, or startling visual information on the screen through camera movement, talent blocking, or edited shots in post-production. The reveal of information is the pay-off after a suspenseful expectation has been established within the story.

Rim Light – Any light source whose rays rim or halo the edges of a subject or an object on the film set, often placed somewhere behind the subject but directed at him or her.

Room Tone – The sound of “silence” that is the underlying tone present in every room or environment where filming takes place. Most sound recordists will capture at least 30 seconds of room tone at every location where filming has occurred. Editors use this tone to fill in gaps of empty space on the audio tracks so it has a continuous level or tone throughout.

Rough Cut – An initial stage of program editing that usually comes just after the assembly stage. The story is roughed out during this construction phase of the edit.

Rule of Thirds – A commonly used guideline of film frame composition where an imaginary grid of lines falls across the frame, both vertically and horizontally, at the mark of thirds. Placing objects along these lines or at the cross points of two of these lines is considered part of the tried and true composition of film images.

Running Time – The actual time that an entire edited program or film takes to play through from start to finish.

Safe Action Area – Related to the domestic cutoff phenomenon, the safe action area is found on many camera viewfinders and is used to keep the important action composed more toward the inner region of the frame. This prevents important action from being cut off.

Scene – A segment of a motion picture that takes place at one location. A scene may be composed of many shots from different camera angles or just one shot from one camera set-up.

Screen Direction – The direction in which a subject moves across or out of the frame. Example: A person standing at the center of the frame suddenly walks out of frame left. The movement to the left is the established screen direction. When the next shot is cut together for the story, the same person should enter the frame from frame right, continuing his or her journey in the same screen direction – from right to left.

Sequence – A number of shots joined together that depict a particular action or event in a longer program. Sometimes likened to a scene, but a longer scene may have several key sequences play out within it.

Shooting Ratio – The amount of material that you shoot for a project compared to the amount of material that makes it into the final edit. Example: You shoot 14 takes of one actor saying a line, but only use one of those takes in the final movie. You have a 14:1 shooting ratio for that one line of dialogue.

Shot – One action or event that is recorded by one camera at one time. A shot is the smallest building block used to construct a motion picture.

Shot List – A list of shots, usually prepared by the director during pre-production, that acts as a guide for what shots are required for best coverage of a scene in a motion picture project. It should show the shot type and may follow a number and letter naming scheme (e.g., Scene 4, Shot C, or simply 4C).

Shot–Reverse–Shot – A term applied to an editing style where one shot of a particular type (e.g., medium close-up) is used on one character and then the same type of shot is edited next in the sequence to show the other character in the scene. You see the shot, “reverse” the camera angle, and see a matching shot of the other character.

Side Lighting – A method of applying light to a subject or film set where the lights come from the side, not above or below.

Sight Line – The imaginary line that traces the direction in which a subject is looking on screen.The sight line also establishes the line of action and sets up the 180-degree arc for shooting coverage of a scene. See also Line of Attention, 180-Degree Line.

Silhouette – A special way of exposing a shot where the brighter background is correct in its exposure but the subject (in the middle ground or foreground) is underexposed and appears as a black shape with no detail but the hard edge “cut out.”

Simple Shot – Any shot that only contains minor talent movement but uses no zoom, no tilt/pan, no camera dolly, and no booming actions. Locked-off framing.

Slate (noun) – The clapboard used to identify the shot being recorded. Often, the name of the production, director, and director of photography, the shooting scene, and the date are written on the slate.

State (verb) – Using the clapboard sticks to make a “clapping” sound, which serves as a synchronization point of picture and sound tracks during the editing process.

Slop Edit – An assembly edit done very early on in the editing process where speed of creation overrides the precision of the actual cut points. The general structure of the story is hastily assembled.

Slow Motion – Any treatment in film or video where the actual time taken for an event to occur is slowed down considerably so that it lasts longer in screen time and more detail of the action can be analyzed by the viewer.

Smash Cut – An abrupt and often jarring transition between two contrasting actions or moods that happen at different times and/or places.

Soft Light – Any light that has diffused, non-parallel rays. Strong shadows are very rare if you use soft light to illuminate the talent.

Sound Bridge – An audio treatment given to a cut point where either the sound of the outgoing shot continues underneath the new image of the incoming picture track or the new audio of the incoming shot begins to play before the picture of the outgoing shot leaves the screen.

Sound Design – The process of building audio tracks that act to augment and enhance the physical actions seen on the screen and the sounds from the environments in which the story’s action takes place. These sounds may be actual sounds or fabricated to generate a hyper-reality of the audio elements in a program.

Sound on Tape (SOT) – Most often associated with the spoken word from news reporters or documentary interviewees. SOTs are the sound bites.

Sound Recordist/Sound Mixer – The person on a film crew responsible for recording spoken dialogue, ambience, and room tone.

Sound Track – An audio track. A place in the motion media sequence where audio clips are edited.

Soundtrack – (1) A music performance recorded during production; (2) the entire mix of audio clips from a motion media sequence; (3) the collection of music and orchestral score played throughout a motion media piece that is sold separately for listening enjoyment.

Splice (noun) – The cut point where two shots are joined together at an edit point. The term originated when physical strips of film were actually taped or glued together.

Splice (verb) – To cut two shots together.

Splicer – In film, the footage is physically cut with a small machine called a splicer and the pictures are spliced together with glue or special transparent tape.

Split Edit – A transition between clips where the video tracks and audio tracks are offset and not cut at the same frame in time. Either the video tracks will last longer and play over the new incoming audio tracks or the new video tracks appear first and play over the continuing audio tracks from the outgoing shot. See also J-Cut, L-Cut, Lapping, Sound Bridge.

Spot – Slang for a television commercial advertisement.

Spreader – The three legs of a tripod are often attached to a spreader, a rubber or metal device to keep them from splaying too far apart while the heavy camera sits atop the tripod head. This three-branched brace allows for greater stability, especially as the tripod legs are spread further and further apart to get the camera lower to the ground.

Staging – The placement of set dressings and objects within the film set.

Standard Definition (SD) – A reference to the normal image quality and frame size of most televisions around the world during the 20th century. Limitations in broadcast bandwidth, among other technological reasons, required a low-resolution image (525-line NTSC or 576-line PAL) of the 4:3 aspect ratio for television reception in the home.

Start Frame – Any time that the camera needs to move to follow action, the camera should begin recording, stay stationary for a few moments while the action begins, and then start to move to follow the action. The start frame can be useful to the editor of the film so that the shot will have a static frame to start on at the beginning of the cut. Static frames cut to moving frames can be a jarring visual experience and this static start frame may help to prevent this.

Sticks – (1) An alternative name for a camera tripod; (2) the clapboard or slate used to mark the synchronization point of picture and sound being recorded.

Storyboards – Drawings often done during pre-production of a motion picture that represent the best guess of what the ultimate framing and movement of camera shots will be when the film goes into production. These comic book-like illustrations act as a template for the creative team when principal photography begins.

Straight Cut – An edit point where the picture track and the sound track(s) are cut and joined at the same moment in time. See also Butt-Cut.

Subjective Shooting – A style of filmmaking where the subjects address the camera straight into the lens (as in news broadcasting) or when the camera records exactly what a character is observing in a fictional narrative, as with the point-of-view shot.

Suite – A small room in which editing machines are kept and used. The actual editing of the program will often occur in this private, dark, quiet room so that the editor can stay focused on the footage and the sound elements without outside disturbances.

Superimposition – When an image of less than 100% opacity is placed on top of another image. This is like a dissolve that lasts for a longer time on screen.

Sync – Short for “synchronous” or “synchronized.” In film work, it refers to how the audio tracks play in corresponding time with the picture track. When you see a character’s mouth move, you hear the appropriate audio play at the exact same time.

Tail – The common film term for the end of a shot, especially during the post-production editing process.

Tail Slate – Often used while recording documentary footage, a tail slate is the process of identifying the shot and “clapping” the slate after the action has been recorded but before the camera stops rolling. The slate is physically held upside down to visually indicate a tail slate.

Take – Each action, event, or line of dialogue recorded in a shot may need to be repeated until its technical and creative aspects are done to the satisfaction of the filmmakers. Each of the times the camera rolls to record this repeated event is called a take. Takes are traditionally numbered, starting at one.

Taking Lens – The active lens on a motion picture or video camera that is actually collecting, focusing, and controlling the light for the recording of the image. On certain models of emulsion film motion picture cameras, there can be more than one lens mounted to the camera body. Most video cameras have only one lens, which would be the taking lens.

Talking Head – Any medium close-up shot or closer that frames one person’s head and shoulders. Usually associated with documentaries, news, and interview footage.

Three-Point Lighting Method – A basic but widely used lighting method where a key light is employed for main exposure on one side of the talent, a fill light for contrast control on the opposite side, and a back light for subject/background separation.

Tilt – The vertical movement of the camera, either down/up or up/down, while it is recording action. If you are using a tripod for camera support, the tilt is achieved by loosening the tilt lock on the tripod head and using the pan handle to swing the camera lens up or down to follow the vertical action or reveal the recorded environment.

Timecode – A counting scheme based on hours, minutes, seconds, and frames that is used to keep track of image and sound placement on video, digital media files, and editing software.

Tracking In/Trucking In – Moving the camera into the set, usually atop a dolly on tracks.

Tracks/Rail – Much like railroad tracks, these small-scale metal rails are used to smoothly roll a dolly across surfaces, either inside or outside, to get a moving shot.

Tripod – A three-legged device, often with telescoping legs, used to support and steady the camera for motion picture shooting. The camera attaches to a device capable of vertical and horizontal axis movement called the tripod head, which sits atop the balancing legs.

Tripod Head – The device, usually mounted on top of tripod legs, to which you attach the camera. The head may have panning and tilting functionality.

Tracking Out/Trucking Out – Pulling the camera out of the set, usually atop a dolly on tracks.

Tungsten Balance – Film and video cameras may be biased toward seeing the color temperature of tungsten lamps (also known as film lights) as “white” light. When they are set this way, they have a tungsten balance at approximately 3200 degrees Kelvin.

Two-Shot/2-Shot – Any shot that contains the bodies (or body parts) of two people.

Underexposed – A state of an image where the dark regions contain no discernible visual data but appear as deep black areas. The overall tonality of this image may also be lacking in true “white” values so that everything seems gray down to black in luminance.

Vanishing Point – A long-established technique in the visual arts where opposing diagonal lines converge at the horizon line to indicate the inclusion of a great distance in the image’s environment. It is an illusion used to help to represent 3D space on a 2D surface.

Varifocal Lens – Another name for a zoom lens. A lens that has multiple glass elements that allow it to catch light from various focal lengths or angles of view of a scene.

Video Format – A video combines recorded electronic voltage fluctuations or digital bit data that represent picture and sound information. Video cameras are manufactured to record that data onto a tape or memory card in a particular way. The shape, amount of data, frame rate, color information, etc. that get recorded are determined by the technologies inside the video camera. Examples include NTSC-525 line, PAL, HD-1080i, and HD-720p.

Visible Spectrum – The zone in electromagnetic energy waves that appears to our eyes and brains as colored light.

Voice-Over Narration – An edited program may require the voice of an unseen narrator who provides important information or commentary about the story that is unfolding. The voice is heard “over” the pictures and the natural sounds.

Voice Slate – A practice used at the head of a shot after the camera is rolling and before the director calls “Action.” Often, a camera assistant will verbally say the scene and take number so as to identify the audio data that may be recorded separately from the picture.

Whip Pan – An extremely quick panning action that will cause severe motion blur on the recorded image. Often used to exit a scene and then quickly begin another at a different time or place.

Wipe – An editing transition where an incoming shot’s image literally wipes the existing outgoing shot’s image from the screen.

Workflow – A plan or methodology that maps the flow of picture and sound data from production through numerous post-production phases and ultimately to a finished product that is distributed for viewing. Managing a clear digital media file workflow is very important to the efficient completion of any project.

Zoom Lens – A camera lens with a multiple glass lens element construction and telescoping barrel design, allowing it to gather light from a wide range or field of view and also from a very narrow (more magnified) field of view. The focal length of the lens is altered by changing the distances of the optical elements contained within the lens barrel itself. Most modern video cameras have built-in optical zoom lenses that can be adjusted from wide to telephoto with the touch of a button or a twist of the focal length ring on the lens barrel.