Media Communication Terms
Ambient light: The natural light surrounding the subject, usually
understood to be soft.
Analog: A process that replicates naturally occuring phenomenon, such as sound waves.
Anamorphic lens: A camera lens that squeezes a wide image to conform to the dimensions of standard frame width. The anamorphic lens on the projector then unsqueezes the image.
Animation: Methods by which inanimate objects (including created images) are made to move on the screen, giving the appearance of life.
Aspect ratio: The ratio of the width to the height of the film or television image. The formerly standard ACADEMY APERTURE is 1.33:1.
Asynchronous sound: Sound that does not operate in unison with the visual image.
Audio: Produced sound (either stand-alone or as a soundtrack for film or video.
Auteur theory: Proposes that one person, usually the director, has artistic responsibility for a film and reveals a personal worldview through the tensions between style, theme, and the conditions of production.
Backlight: The main source of light behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera. Also known as a "kicker."
Binaural sound: Sound reproduction that replicates how we actually hear from all directions.
Blue screen: A process of combining images using a color cancelling background, usually blue. Similar to CHROMAKEY
Boom: A travelling arm for suspending a microphone above the action and outside the frame.
Boom shot: A camera shot using a device that goes up and down along the vertical axis.
Bridge: Sounds or music used to link two scenes.
Return to Index
Camera angle: The angle at which the camera is pointed at the subject: Low (below) and High (above) refer to where the camera is in relation to the subject. Tilted or canted angles frame the subject askew.
Chiaroscuro lighting: The technique of using light and shadow in pictorial representation. Pronounced "kyahro-skooro."
Chromakey: An electronic television technique similar to BLUE SCREEN, which allows for the melding of separate images.
Cinema verite: A form of documentary that proposed to record life as it is, with little interference from the filmmaker. Most notably associated with Frederick Wiseman (see High School as an example). MTV's The Real World is another example.
Close up (CU): A shot that usually includes only the face of the subject, but also used to refer to any close shot.
Codes: In semiotics, the rules and sets of identifiabe elements htat permit us to "understand" a message, such as language or visual images.
Compact disk (CD): Digital medium used to preserve and market sound and music.
Connotation: The suggestive or associative meaning of an expression (word, visual image, sign) that extends beyond the strict literal definition, as opposed to DENOTATION.
Continuity: (1) Making sure that details in one shot match details in other related shots. (2) A term used to refer to incidental writing that links elements of a broadcast schedule, such as ids and promotions.
Contrast: The quality of lighting of a scene. High-contrast lighting shows a stark f\difference between black and whites; low contrast mainly emphasizes the mid-range greys.
Crane shot: A shot taken from a device similar to a "cherry picker."
Cross-cutting: Intermingling the shots from two or more scenes to suggest PARALLEL ACTION.
Cross fade: In audio, overlapping FADE UP and FADE DOWN.
Cut: In film and television, an instantaneous switch from one visual image to another.
Cutaway: A shot inserted in a scene to show action at another location, usualy brief, and most often use to cover breaks in the primary shot.
Return to Index
Day for night: The practice of using filters to shot night scenes during the day.
Deep focus: A camera technique in which objects very near the camera as well as those far away are in focus.
Denotation: The strict leteral definition of an expression, as opposed to CONNOTATION.
Depth of field: The range of distances from the camera a which the subject is in focus.
Diagesis: The DENOTATIVE material of the narrative that includes not only the narration (story) itself, but also the fictional space and time dimensions implied by the narrative.
Diagetic sound: Sound that is produced by the narrative such as dialogue, as opposed to non-diagetic sound such as background mood music.
Digital: A process that converts naturally occuring phenomena into binary code that can then be used to reconstruct that phenomenon.
Digital Video Disk (DVD): Technology that preserves and markets video/film productions with high resolution in both sound and picture. Compatible with CDs.
Dissolve: The superimposition of a FADE OUT over a FADE IN. Sometimes refered to as a lap dissolve in film.
Docudrama: Semifictionalized versions of historical events, usually associated with made-for-television movies and miniseries.
Documentary: A term with a wide latitude of meaning used to refer to productions that use "real" stories and footage, as opposed to FICTION. The term was first popularized by the Canadian-British filmmker John Grierson in the 1930s.
Dolly shot: A shot taken from a dolly moving towards and/or away from the subject. As opposed to a ZOOM SHOT using a variable focal length lens to get closer or further away from the subject.
Dramatic time: (1) The time involved in the unfolding of the entire narrative, including those actions not portrayed. (2) The condensed time reflected in dramatic writing.
Dub: (1) To rerecord dialogue in a language other than the original. (2) To record or replace dialogue after the film has been shot, as in ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement).
Editing: The sequencing of images, done through splicing film in post-production or combining video images at the time of production or in post-producion.
Emulsion: The thin coating of chemicals mounted on the filmstock that reacts to light.
Establishing shot (ES): Generally a long shot that shows the audience the general location of the scene that follows as a means of orientation for the viewer.
Return to Index
Fade in: The screen is dark and the image comes to full illumination. A transitional device used at the beginning of films and television programs or any narrative unit.
Fade on/fade off: In sound, actual movement towards or away from the microphone to create the illusion of motion to and from the center of the action.
Fade out: The screen is at full illumination and than reduces illumination to dark. Opposite of FADE IN. Used at the end of films and television programs or any narrative unit.
Fade up/fade down: Use of a volume control (potentiometer or fade) to raise (up) or lower (down) the volume electronically.
Fiction: Productions based on imagined characters, relationships and events. Does not purport to be "real" or use "real" footage, as opposed to DOCUMENTARY.
Fill (Filler) light: An auxillary light, usually from the side of the subject, that can soten shadows and can illuminate areas not covered by the KEY LIGHT.
Film: A transparent base covered with a chemical solution that reacts to exposure to light which can then be made permanent, or "fixed."
Film production: The process of using FILM for the recording of visual images.
Film noir: French term now used to refer to a film with a gritty urban setting that deal mainly with dark or violent passions in a downbeat way.
Filter: (1) An electronic device used to alter the quality of sound, such as a telephone filter. (2) A device placed in front of a lens to alter the quality of light.
Flashback: A SCENE or SEQUENCE that is inserted into a production in "present" time that presents visually events in the past. It may be an entire production, such as the television series The Wonder Years or the film Little Big Man.
Flash-forward: A SCENE or SEQUENCE that is inserted into a production in "present" time that presents visually events in the future. Opposite of flashback, see Twelve Monkeys as an example.
Flat lighting: (1) In film, low contrast lighting. (2) In video, refers to fully illuminated sets, such as news and talk shows.
Focal length: The length of the lens. TELEPHOTO lenses are long, WIDE-ANGLE lenses are short.
Focus: The sharpness of the image. Also refers to the range of distances from the camera in which a subject will be in focus.
Focus pull: To refocus during a shot, for example a rack focus in which focus shifts from foreground to background, or visa versa.
Foley: Sound effects recorded live in post-production ona specially constructed stage called a "Foley stage."
Follow shot: A shot that follows the movement of the subject, either as a TRACKING SHOT or a ZOOM.
Frame: (1) A single image on film. (2) The compositional unit of film/video design.
Freeze frame: A shot that gives the illusion of a still photograph.
Full shot (FS): A shot that includes teh full body of the subject.
Gaffer: The chief electrician on the set. The assistant is called the "best boy."
Genre: Archtypal patterns of films or television shows, such as Westerns, action films or situation comedies.
High Definition Television (HDTV): A video process with extremely high RESOLUTION and the aspect ratio of WIDESCREEN.
Holography: A system of photography that uses laser lights to simulate three-dimensional space.
Return to Index
ID: Announcement of radio or television station call letters.
Image: (1) A single specifc picture. (2) Generically, the visuals as opposed to the sound (AUDIO). (3) A visual trope (symbol or repetitive pattern).
Insert, insert shot: A shot that reveals specific and relevant information, usually in detail.
Jump cut: A cut that occurs within a scene to condense action.
Key light: The main light on the subject. Usually placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera-subject axis.
Kinescope: A film recording of a video program directly from a television screen. Used in early television before the invention of videotape.
Laughtrack: Laughter, applause and other audience reactions added to a sound track, usually in post-production.
Lens: A device for bending or altering light rays (optical lens) or electromagnetic emissions (magnetic lens).
Letterboxing: In video, the use of black bands at the top and bottom of the frame to recreate the ASPECT RATIO of a WIDE SCREEN film.
Lighting: Deliberate manipulation of real or aritificial light for the aesthetic purposes in shooting film and video visual images.
Long shot (LS): Camera shot that shows the full figure and background/foreground. Often used as an ESTABLISHING SHOT.
Looping: A post-production process that attempts to match dialogue to previously shot footage. Today done by Automatic Dialogue Replacement (ADR).
Return to Index
McGuffin: Term coined by alfred Hitchcock that refers to a device or plot element that catches the viewer's attention or drives the logic of the plot, although it may be ultimately irrelevant to the action.
Made-for television movie: refers to films made according to television conventions (especially commercial breaks) for first run on television.
Master shot: A shot that encompasses the entire scene, usually a long shot. Used in editing the scene with more detailed shots in MONTAGE editing.
Match cut: A cut in which the two shots joined are linked by visual, aural or metaphorical parallelism, as in an eye-line match in which the image of character is followed by what that character is looking at.
Medium shot (MS): A shot intermediate in distance between a CLOSE UP and a FULL SHOT.
Mise en scene: Literally, the "putting-in-the scene." Refers to all that takes place at the time of shooting, including the direction of actors, placement of cameras. choice of lens, set design, lighting, costumes, etc.
Mixing: (1) In film and video, the merging of sound and visual tracks. (2) In sound recording, the merging of various tracks to achieve an aesthetic whole.
Monaural sound (Mono): Sound that emanates from one sound source in front of the listener.
Montage: (1) Simply, EDITING. (2) According to Eisenstein, the notion that adjacent images (A & B) relate to each in sucha way as to create a meaning (C) that is not actually recorded on film. (3) Dynamic cutting: the combination of details that creates a whole event in the mind of the viewer.
Return to Index
Narration: Spoken description or analysis of action.
Narrative: Story; the linear chronological structure of the story.
On-mike/off mike: Position of the subject in terms of the PRESENCE of the voice. Indicates the location of the speaker in relation to the action.
Optical: In film, an operation accomplished in the laboratory rather than on the set or in the cutting room. For example, dissolves and wipes.
Over-the-shoulder shot (OS): A shot used in dialogue scenes and interviews in which the speaker is seen from behind and "over-the-shoulder" of the person speaking to the subject. Part of the back of the head and shoulder of the non-speaking particpant will be in the frame.
Pan: Movement of the camera left to right (or visa versa) on a pivot point. Often confused with a TRACKING SHOT.
Pan-and-scan: The technique of reframing in order to permit a WIDE SCREEN film to be shown on video with standard aspect ration of 1.33:1.
Parallel action: A dervice in narrative in whichtwo scenes are observed using CROSS CUTTING.
Pixillation: A technique of ANIMATION in whichreal objects, people or events are photographed in such a way that the illusion of continuous natural motion is altered.
Point of view (POV): (1) A gneric term that refers to the framing perspective of the artist. (2) A shot that assumes the view of a character.
Process shot: In film, any shot that requires technology beyond the camera, such as REAR PROJECTION and OPTICALS.
Promo: A "house ad" for a radio or television station, usually prmoting programs.
Return to Index
Rack focus: A technique that uses shallow DEPTH OF FIELD to direct attention of the view from one subject to another by shifting the focus plane.
Reaction shot: A shot that cuts away fromthe main scene or speaker to show a character's reaction.
Real time: (1) The actual time of the event, as in live television. (2) The actual time (length) of the production.
Rear projection: A process in which a background scene is projected onto a screen behind the actors so it appears they are in that location.
Resolution: The ability of a lens to define visual detail.
Reverberation: Reflected sounds that provide an aural indication of the physical surrounding, such as the echo of a canyon. Also known as "reverb."
Reverse angle: (1) In dialogue scenes, a SHOT of the second participant, as in a REACTION SHOT. (2) A SHOT from the opposite side of a subject.
Scene: A complete unit of film narration, usually a series of SHOTS (or a SHOT) that takes place in one location in one time period or that deals with one action.
Score: The music for a media production.
Segue: Originally the joining of two sounds with no break, used generically for any transition.
Sequence: A basic unit of film structure that consists of one or more scenes that form a natural unit. Analogous to an act in a play.
Serial: A continuing story told in episodes.
Series: Episodes of a production that have continuing characters and locations without plot connections.
Shot: The continuous operation of the camera, with no interruptions.
Return to Index
Soft focus: Use of filters, special lenses, or vaseline to soften points of delineation, usually for a romantic effect.
Sound effects (SFX): All sounds other than voice or music.
Sound recording: The recording of sound on a medium (tape, disk or film. Sound can be recorded elecgronically (ANALOG and DIGITAL) or as an OPTICAL process.
Special effects (EFX; FX) A broad term referring to many types of shots and processes that are distinguished from simple camera recording.
Split screen: Two or more distinct images within the frame.
Sterophonic sound (Stereo): Sound that emanates from two sound sources in front of the listener.
Stock shot: A library shot which is from a collection, usually of historical or geographic specificity.
Storyboard: A series of still images and captions that show planned shot divisions and camera movements.
Surround sound: Sound recording process that offers the listener multiple sound sources from front, back and side that replicates BINAURAL SOUND. Most closely linked to Dolby Laboratories.
Swish pan: Rapid vertical movement that replicates what the eye sees in when the head turns quickly.
Synchronous sound: (1) Sound that is recorded simultaneously with the visuals. (2) Sound that emanates from the sound sources in the frame.
Return to Index
Telephoto lens: A lens with a long focal length that acts like a telescope. It has a very narrow angle of view and flattens depth perception.
Tilt shot: The camera moves up and down on a fixed pivot. As opposed to a CRANE shot.
Tracking shot: Generally, any shot in which the camera moves from one point to another along the horizontal axis. Also called a truck or a "travelling" shot.
Transition: Any device that links two SHOTS that indicates a change in time and/or place, such as DISSOLVE. Usually links two scenes.
Treatment: A general description of a film or television epispode, written in third person narrative.
Video: An electronic process by which a signal is recorded on a medium (tape or disk) that can reproduce visual and sound images.
Video production: The use of VIDEO to create and/or record visual and sound images.
Wide angle lens: A lens with a broad angle of view. It increases the illusion of depth.
Widescreen: Any process that produces visuals with an ASPECT RATIO of more than 1.66:1. Used in theatrical releases and the proposed standards for HDTV.
Zoom: (1) Lens with a variable focal length. (2) A shot in which the focal length changes, thus creating the illusion of movement to and from the subject.
Return to Index
Revised: 17 August 2000