Glossary
Comprehensive glossary of filmmaking terms, concepts, and techniques.
Showing 41 terms
A
4Aerial Shot
A shot captured from an airborne platform -- drone, helicopter, or aircraft -- above the ground.
Ambient Light
The non-directional background light present in an environment from all surrounding sources combined.
Aperture
The opening in a lens through which light passes, controlling exposure and depth of field.
Available Light
All light already present in a location -- natural or artificial -- used without adding any film lighting equipment.
B
3Background
The area of the frame furthest from the camera, behind the primary subject, establishing environment and spatial depth.
Bounce
A lighting technique in which light is directed onto a reflective surface and allowed to reflect back onto the subject, producing soft, diffuse illumination.
Bounce Board
A reflective panel used to redirect and soften available or artificial light onto a subject.
C
3Catchlight
A small specular highlight reflected in a subject's eye from a light source, which gives the eyes depth, life, and vitality on camera.
Composition
The deliberate arrangement of visual elements within a film frame to guide attention, convey meaning, and create aesthetic impact.
Contrast
The ratio between the brightest and darkest areas of an image, determined by lighting ratios and scene tonal range.
D
3Day-for-Night Shot
A cinematographic technique in which daytime footage is processed or graded to simulate nighttime lighting conditions.
Depth of Field
The range of distance within a scene that appears acceptably sharp in a recorded image.
Depth of Focus
The range of distances the camera's image plane can shift while keeping a focused subject acceptably sharp.
F
5F-Stop
A numerical scale that indicates a camera lens's aperture setting, controlling the amount of light passing through the lens to the film or sensor.
Film Grain
The visible texture in photochemical film images caused by silver halide crystals in the emulsion.
Film Noir
A style of crime and thriller cinema characterised by chiaroscuro lighting, moral ambiguity, femme fatales, and cynical worldviews.
Fish-Eye Lens
An extreme wide angle lens with a very short focal length that produces strong barrel distortion and a curved, spherical field of view.
Foreground
The area of the frame closest to the camera, in front of the main subject, used to create depth, frame the scene, or add visual context.
L
2Lens
An optical instrument mounted on the camera that focuses light onto the sensor and determines field of view.
Local 600
The International Cinematographers Guild, the IATSE local union representing directors of photography, camera operators, focus pullers, and other camera department crew in the United States.
M
2Magic Hour
The brief period after sunset or before sunrise when the sky provides soft, diffuse, warm-toned natural light.
Mise-en-Scène
Everything visible within a film frame — actors, sets, lighting, costume, and camera position — as a unified expressive whole.
N
2Naturalism
A visual and narrative approach that represents the world as it objectively appears, avoiding stylisation, artifice, or dramatic exaggeration.
Non-Diegetic Sound
Sound that exists outside the story world and is audible only to the audience, not to the characters on screen.
P
2Pan
A controlled horizontal rotation of the camera on its vertical axis, used to follow action or reveal space within a scene.
Production Design
The visual world of a film — sets, locations, props, and environments — conceived and overseen by the production designer.
R
3Rack Focus
A deliberate shift of focus from one subject to another within a single shot, drawing the viewer's attention from one plane of depth to another.
Racking Focus
A technique that shifts the focus point from one subject to another during a single unbroken shot.
Rembrandt Lighting
A portrait lighting pattern producing a small triangle of light on the shadow side of the face beneath the eye.
S
5Screenlife
A filmmaking format in which the entire narrative is depicted through the screen of a computer, phone, or other digital device.
Shallow Depth of Field
A narrow focus plane that keeps the subject sharp while rendering the background and foreground as soft blur.
Shutter Speed
The duration of time the camera's shutter stays open for each frame, controlling exposure and motion blur.
Soft Focus
A lens or filter technique that reduces image sharpness and spreads highlights, creating a dreamy, romantic quality.
Sound
All audio elements in a film, including dialogue, music, effects, and ambience, forming the complete audio track.