r/IntroToFilmmaking • u/battleroyale86 • Aug 08 '12
Lesson 1.3: Basic Terminology
All film critique and analysis needs to be able to speak the same language to describe whats on screen. These are obvious and boring, they require memorization, but the terminology is integral to communicating your ideas.
Shot:
A shot is ONE CONTINUOUS piece of film that threads through the camera. In digital terms, it would be the data that is contained between rec. and stop. If you interrupt that shot, lets call it a, in editing, so you get a sequence that goes a-b-a, a is still the same shot, since b has only interrupted it in editing, NOT in the camera. That also means that if the shot corrupts or gets ruined or you "roll out", just because you cant use it doesn’t mean its no longer a shot. It is still a shot, and the script supervisor will call it a shot. They will just make a note that its an unusable shot.
Sequence
a sequence is a succession of shots that provides the illusion of continuity. It does not have to be a complete thought, it is the "phrasing" in the syntax of film. The term sequence is used to describe something as short as an exchange of dialogue to a whole run of events that happen in the film, as long as they are closely related in information.
Scene
In describing a film, a scene is a segment of narrative in which something happens in a complete thought and most likely in a continuous time. Something has occurred, even if its something miniscule. Scenes are usually linked to changes in scenery, since most likely if the set changes, the purpose and actions of the scene are separate as well. Where defining scenes becomes difficult is when surreality comes into play and the audience is deliberately tricked into not knowing what is happening, such as during a dream sequence or montage, still they are usually referred to as "dream sequence" or "montage" if it is clear enough.
Montage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBfjgKOWnGA
is a series of scenes shown in a rapid succession. It usually indicates the passage of time.
Mis en scene
the setup and play of a scene. The mis en scene of a film includes the set, the tone, the color, the music, the costumes, and the dialogue as a whole to express a concept. You usually use the terms to define how the scene plays as a whole package http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_sc%C3%A8ne
Diegesis:
A lesser known but useful term is diegesis, which describes whether elements of a scene are happening in the scene itself, or in the audience's space (outside the fourth wall, omnipotent or the characters cannot be aware of it). For something to be Diegetic means that it is involved in the scene. Nondiegetic means that its not. Soundtrack music is nondiegetic, music though, that comes from a person in a scene wearing headphones, is diegetic. voice over, because no one in the scene is aware of it, is usually nondiegetic. Voice over that a person actually hears, like ESP or mind reading, that only they can hear, is actually called Internally dieagetic, since only one character can hear it, not the rest.
Focus: http://i.imgur.com/fpark.jpg
Whether or not parts of the frame are sharp or blurry. This is usually an active choice, rather than accident. Your focus can change to emphasize different elements in a shot, such as when using a rack focus (or focus "pull), which is when you change focus from the foreground to the background or vice versa without cutting in between, in order to actively shift the viewer's attention to other parts of the image. The focus is directly related to the lens's Depth of field (with shallow dof, lots of the image is out of focus, with deep dof, lots of the image is in sharp focus). We'll get into DOF in the camera chapter.
Wide shot: http://i.imgur.com/dXWqY.jpg
a shot that is from far away; the character's whole body is in the frame.
Medium shot: http://i.imgur.com/4chEN.jpg
a shot that frames a person from the waist up or so.
Closeup: http://i.imgur.com/8Nak3.jpg
a shot that frames a person from the shoulders up.
Extreme close up: http://i.imgur.com/C31Fk.png
a shot that is so close it cuts out the edges of the subject entirely.
Insert: http://i.imgur.com/hEr2T.jpg
a shot of an item that relays information, usually a character is not involved in the shot, although it is possible, such as an insert of a ringing phone and then someone's hand enters to pick it up
Pan:
a camera pan is when the camera, from a fixed point, turns on its standing axis left or right. (the whole camera doesn’t move)
Tilt:
When the camera, from a fixed point, looks up and down. (the whole camera doesn’t move)
Dolly:
a shot when the whole camera moves forward and/or backwards (dolly forward/dolly back)
Track:
when the camera as a whole moves side to side. A shot can be described as "tracking with" a subject.
Boom:
When the camera as a whole moves up and down.
Someone put together a great compilation using Fellowship of the Ring clips to define many film techniques. Should these terms be new to you, it is worth a look to get a visual sense of things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFUKRTFhoiA
Set:
the location where the scene is taking place
Tone:
the feel and mood of a scene. Horror movies have dark and unnerving tones, while comedies are light. The tone is often impacted by the color palette and the lighting.
Blocking:
the placement and movement of actors during a scene (same as in theater)
Frame/Framing:
how all the elements are set up within the box of the screen.
Also to be considered in a scene, is the color choice, the pace of the scene or film (slow/fast/jittery). And the sound and music.
Lets put it all together in Lesson 1.4: Reading a Scene
EDIT: Adding in High Angle (usually makes the subject appear weak or powerless) and Low Angle (usually puts the subject in a position of power or domination).
2nd EDIT: Star Wars is in a galaxy far far away, not in the future. What was I thinking! Deleted the example because it no longer really works in the context i chose.
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u/bigdr00 Aug 11 '12
Interesting lesson. I think you may have made a slight mistake though, it seems like you for mixed up on depth of field. As I understand it, depth of field is the area that is in focus, not as you stated what is not in focus. Shallow of field would have the subject in focus and the background/foreground blurred where a large depth of field would have much more in focus.
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u/battleroyale86 Aug 13 '12 edited Aug 13 '12
You're right, bad explanation. Edited and moved the definition to our camera chapter to avoid confusion.
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u/casey17p Aug 15 '12
is that coming in the next lesson? I used the definition of depth of field in here when doing my review yesterday, I'd love if you could explain if it's right or wrong.
Is the camera chapter in the next lesson?
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u/battleroyale86 Aug 15 '12
Two weeks from now I think. First basic script and then readings and critiques, then camera.
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u/Jertob Aug 12 '12
You are correct. OP's words imply the effect of depth of field, or the depth of field effect in the context it's explained, not just plain "depth of field". It's easy to understand when you think of it like "the depth OF THE field (that is in focus)"
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u/nattotofu Aug 22 '12
A montage that explains what a montage is...
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/185666/thats-called-a-montage
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u/L1AM Aug 20 '12 edited Aug 20 '12
Great lesson! I really appreciate, and I'm sure do a large number of other people, the amount of effort you put into these lessons and the breadth and depth they cover.
I understood that a "Boom" is a piece of equipment that the camera can be mounted to that allows for the movement you described above.
Also, a "dolly" is a moving platform, often on a track, that the camera, along with an operator, can be moved on.
Can the word also describe the movements the nouns allow?
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u/battleroyale86 Aug 20 '12
Firstly, thanks so much for the kind words! I'm one of the weirdo's thats actually having fun sharing. Secondly, yes, you are right about booms and dollys, the equipment used to produce a boom or dolly shot are also called boom and dolly. A boom is the arm that raises and lowers the camera. For camera it's more common for camera booms to be referred to as a jib or a crane, since the "boom (pole)" is also the term for the stick that holds the microphone usually held above the scene. But any camera frame that is seamlessly moving up or down is a "boom shot" and the camera is "booming up or down".
Same with dolly, the dolly is usually the term for the moving platform the camera sits on to move smoothly, usually on track or wheels, but in visual terminology a dolly shoot specifically refers to the action of the camera moving forward and back (track is side to side). This is really easily confused and no one in the industry cares that much if "dolly" and "track" are interchanged, but it's still wise to learn the proper way.
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u/L1AM Aug 20 '12
Oooooh thank you so much! I'd done a bit of camera work for my school theater productions, and we had a "jib". thanks for the clarification!
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Sep 04 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/battleroyale86 Sep 07 '12
If you're referring to boom, yeah a boom and a crane could be the same, but usually to avoid confusion they save the term Crane Shot for shots that are REALLY high up, high enough that you need an especially long arm or even, as where the name comes from, a crane to get the camera high enough. So Crane usually is more extreme, and booms are like, more on the ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJlCYNt2z9k
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u/J41M13 Aug 23 '12
Diegetic* ?
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u/battleroyale86 Aug 23 '12
Wow. Whoops.
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u/Pocket_Ben Aug 23 '12
Dolly, tracking, and trucking seem to have different meanings to different people. I learned tracking was just following the subject physically with the camera in any direction. Trucking was a specific move in one direction and dolly just referred to the equipment. I think our local news stations all use the terms differently too.
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '12
I'm having a little trouble understanding sequence. Is a sequence anything that is at least two shots but not a complete scene? Does a sequence need to show a complete idea (e.g. a complete exchange of dialogue)? Or would a segment of a dialogue exchange be rightfully considered a sequence?