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| Also called a bird's-eye view. Taken from an aircraft or a very high crane, this shot photographs a scene from directly overhead. |
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| When the lights for a shot derive from the rear of the set, creating highlights on the subject and separating the subject from the background, thus increasing the appearance of three-dimensionality. |
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| Is the discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. |
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| Shows the full head and sometimes the shoulders. It is close enough to show subtle facial expressions clearly. |
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| A shot taken from a cane, which resembles a huge mechanical arm. The crane carries the camera and the cinematographer and can move in virtually any direction. |
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| A technique of photography that permits all distance planes to remain clearly in focus, from close up to far out. |
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| A shot taken by a camera fixed to a wheeled support. The dolly permits the cinematographer to make noiseless (and smooth) moving shots. Tracks are laid on the set to permit a smoother movement of the camera. |
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| Shows only a part of a character's face. It fills the screen with the details of a subject. |
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| Also called the extreme wide shot. Shows a broad view of the surroundings around the character and coveys scale, distance, and geographic location. |
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| A shot that is made from the observer's eye level and usually implies that the observer's attitude is neutral to the subject being photographed. |
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| Part of the three-point system of lighting. Secondary lights that are used to augment the key light - the main source of illumination in a shot. Fill lights soften the harshness of the key light, revealing details that would otherwise be obscured in shadow. |
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| A lamp that produces soft (diffuse) light |
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| A lamp that produces hard, mirrorlike light |
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| Frontal angles (avoiding them) |
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| The frontal angle tends to flatten the three dimensionality of facial features and environments. Angling the shot produces more depth. |
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| A shot taken with a moving camera that is often deliberately shaky, suggesting documentary footage in an uncontrolled setting. |
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| A shot in which the subject is photographed from above. |
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| Lighting that produces an image with very little contrast between darks and lights. |
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| Part of the three-point lighting system. The main source of illumination for a shot. |
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| The relationship and balance between illumination and shadow - the balance between key flight and fill light. |
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| Also called wide shot or the full body shot. We see the character's full body (almost filling the frame but with some area above and below also visible) and some of the surroundings. |
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| A shot in which the subject is photographed from below. |
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| Lighting that creates strong contrasts; sharp, deep shadows; and an overall gloomy atmosphere. |
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| Shows a character from the middle of the chest to the top of the head. |
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| Shows a character from the waist up. The medium shot is the most frequently used type of shot because it replicates the human experience of proximity without intimacy. |
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| Also known as medium wide shot or the two-shot. Shows a character usually cut off across the legs above or below the knees. It is wide enough to show the physical setting in which the action is taking place, yet it is close enough to shot facial expression. This very essential shot permits the director to have two characters or more characters in conversation. |
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| Also known as a Dutch-angle shot or a tilt-shot. A shot photographed by a titled camera. When the image is projected on the screen, the subject itself seems tilted; this technique can create the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance of off-kilter. |
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| Also known as the axis of action. The 180-degree rule is the basic means by which filmmakers orient the viewer and ensure a sense of the cinematic space in which the action occurs. The system has two basic assumptions: 1. the action within a scene will always advance along a straight line 2. the camera will remain consistently on one side of that action. |
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| A shot of two people, with the camera placed just behind the shoulder of one character and facing the opposite character. |
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| Short for panorama, this is a revolving horizontal movement of the camera from left to right or vice versa |
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| Any shot that is taken from the vantage point of a character in the film, showing what the character sees. |
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| A board that is used to reflect light on a subject that is being filmed. |
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| Rule of thirds divides the frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The points where the vertical and horizontal lines across aesthetically pleasing spots to place subjects or to have perspective lines converge. It is usually best to avoid placing horizon lines exactly in the middle of a frame, but to place the horizon either above or below center, approximately one-third or two-thirds up the height of the frame. |
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| Is the level and height of the camera in relation to the subject being photographed. |
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| A camera suspended from an articulated arm that is attached to a vest strapped to the cameraman's body, permitting him to remain steady during "handheld" shots. The steadicam removes jumpiness and is now often used for smooth, fast, and intimate camera movement. |
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| A shot photographed by a tilted camera. |
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| During the Hollywood big studio era, cinematographers developed the technique of three-point lighting, which is still widely practiced throughout the world. With three-point lighting, the key light is the primary source of illumination. This light creates the dominant of an image - that area that first attracts our eye because it contains the most compelling contrast, usually of light and shadow. Generally, the dominant is also the area of greatest dramatic interest, the shot's focal point of action, either physically or psychologically. Fill lights, which are less intense than the key, soften the harshness of the main light source, revealing details that would otherwise be hidden by shadow. The backlights separate the foreground figures from their setting, heightening the illusion of three-dimensional depth in the image. Three-point methods tend to be most expressive with low-key lighting. |
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| A shot that is taken when a dolly runs on tracks |
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| A medium shot featuring two actors. |
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| A shot in which the image is magnified by movement of the camera's lens only, without the camera itself moving. |
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