Basic Film Technique Glossary

Resource Description

BASIC FILM GLOSSARY

ACCELERATED MOTION: Means whereby movement in a shot is represented as taking place at greater speed than it did in reality. Also known as fast motion.

ASPECT RATIO: The height-to-width ratio of the projected screen image.

BACK LIGHTING: Lighting in which the main source of illumination is directed towards the camera, thus tending to throw the subject into silhouette.

CAMERA ANGLE: Angle of view on the subject as established by the position of the camera. HIGH ANGLE means that the camera is looking down on the subject. LOW ANGLE means that the camera is looking up at the subject.

CINEMASCOPE: 20th-Century Fox’s trade name for their widescreen process, employing an aspect ratio of 1:2.35. Commonly used to refer to similar widescreen processes.

CINEMA VERITE: A way of filming real-life scenes without elaborate equipment, playing down the technical and formal means of production (script, special lighting, etc.) and emphasizing the circumstantial reality of the scene. The term is applied to the documentary work of Jean Rouch, the Maysles, Richard Leacock and others.

CLOSE-UP: A shot in which a small detail or a face fills the frame, taken either by setting the camera close to the subject or by using a long focal-length lens. In relation to a human subject, close-up usually refers to a shot of the face alone although, of course, there may be close-ups of hands or feet, or any other part of the body.

COMPOSITION: The aesthetic arrangement of all the graphic elements within the screen image to achieve a desired distribution and balance of light, mass, shadow, color and movement.

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