Glossary
Comprehensive glossary of filmmaking terms, concepts, and techniques.
Showing 25 terms
C
2Camera
The device that captures light and records it as a sequence of still images forming a motion picture.
Close-Up
A shot framed tightly on a subject's face or a specific object, filling most of the frame.
D
4Deep Focus
A cinematographic technique in which all planes of the image — near, mid, and far — are in sharp focus simultaneously.
Deep Focus Shot
A shot in which subjects at very different distances from the camera are all rendered in sharp focus simultaneously.
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.
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.
Focus
The precise optical alignment that renders a subject at a specific distance as sharp in the recorded image.
Focus Puller
The first assistant camera operator responsible for maintaining precise focus on the subject throughout every shot, operating the focus ring of the lens during filming.
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.
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
2Shallow Depth of Field
A narrow focus plane that keeps the subject sharp while rendering the background and foreground as soft blur.
Soft Focus
A lens or filter technique that reduces image sharpness and spreads highlights, creating a dreamy, romantic quality.
T
2T-Stop
A calibrated measurement of a lens's actual light transmission, accounting for internal glass losses, used in cinema to ensure accurate exposure matching across different lenses.
Telephoto Lens
A long focal length lens that magnifies distant subjects and compresses apparent depth between planes.