Course / Reference

Glossary

A full alphabetical reference of every term covered across the course.

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A

ADR
Automated Dialogue Replacement — re-recording dialogue in post-production to sync over original production audio. See Sound.
Anamorphic
A lens format that optically squeezes a wide image onto a standard frame, unsqueezed on projection; associated with oval bokeh and horizontal flares. See Lenses.
Aperture
The adjustable lens opening controlling light and depth of field, measured in f-stops. See Exposure.
ASL (Average Shot Length)
A film's runtime divided by its shot count, used to quantify editing pace. See Editing.

B

Barn Doors
Metal flaps attached to a light fixture to shape and narrow its beam at the source. See Grip & Electric.
Best Boy
The second-in-command of the grip or electric department, under the key grip or gaffer respectively. See Grip & Electric.
Blocking
The planned physical positioning and movement of actors within a scene.
Bokeh
The aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas of an image, especially blurred points of light. See Lenses.
Bounce Light
Light reflected off a surface rather than fired directly at the subject, softening and redirecting a source. See Lighting.
Bit Depth
How many distinct tonal values each color channel can record; higher bit depth means smoother gradients and more grading latitude. See Resolution & Codecs.
Bitrate
The amount of data used per second of video, measured in Mbps; higher bitrate generally means less visible compression artifacting. See Resolution & Codecs.

C

Chroma Subsampling
Recording color information at lower resolution than brightness information, expressed as a ratio like 4:2:0 or 4:2:2. See Resolution & Codecs.
Circle of Confusion
The technical tolerance defining how blurred a point of light can be while still reading as "in focus." See Lenses.
Codec
The algorithm used to compress and decompress video data; distinct from a container (file format). See Resolution & Codecs.
Color Grading
The creative color pass applied to a finished film to establish a unified visual tone. See Color.
Color Temperature
The warm/cool cast of a light source, measured in Kelvin. See Color.
Container
A file format (e.g. .mov, .mp4) that wraps video, audio, and metadata streams, which may use any number of codecs. See Resolution & Codecs.
Continuity Editing
The dominant Hollywood editing system designed to make cuts feel invisible and spatially/temporally continuous. See Editing.
Coverage
The range of shots (wide, medium, close-up, reverse angles) filmed of a scene to give an editor flexibility in the cut. See Shot Sizes.
Crane Shot
A shot using a mechanical arm to lift the camera off the ground for sweeping movement. See Movement.
CRI (Color Rendering Index)
A measure of how accurately a light source reproduces color compared to natural daylight. See Grip & Electric.
Cross-Cutting
Alternating between two or more simultaneous scenes to build tension or connection. See Editing.
C-Stand
An adjustable grip stand with an arm and gobo head, used to hold flags, nets, or diffusion anywhere on set. See Grip & Electric.

D

Deep Focus
Keeping foreground, midground, and background all in sharp focus at once. See Lenses and Composition.
Depth of Field
The range of distance within a shot that appears acceptably sharp. See Lenses.
Diegetic
Sound or elements that exist within the story world itself. See Sound.
DIT (Digital Imaging Technician)
The crew member who manages camera settings, media backup, and on-set color pipeline for a production. See Resolution & Codecs.
Distro (Distribution Box)
Equipment that splits incoming electrical power into multiple circuits for individual fixtures. See Grip & Electric.
Dolly
A camera movement where the entire camera physically travels toward or away from the subject. See Movement.
Dolly Grip
The grip crew member who operates the camera dolly and lays/levels track. See Grip & Electric.
Dolly Zoom
Simultaneously dollying and zooming in opposite directions to distort background perspective while keeping the subject's size constant. See Movement.
Duvetyne
Heavy black fabric used to block spill light or create negative fill. See Grip & Electric.
Dutch Angle
A shot where the camera is deliberately tilted off the horizontal axis. See Angles.

E

Establishing Shot
Typically a wide/extreme wide shot used early in a scene to orient the audience in space. See Shot Sizes.
Eyeline Match
Editing convention where a character's look is followed by a shot of what/whom they're looking at. See Editing.

F

Fill Light
The secondary light used to soften shadows created by the key light. See Lighting.
Flag
A solid, opaque fabric frame used to block light entirely. See Grip & Electric.
Focal Length
The distance (in mm) that determines a lens's field of view and magnification. See Lenses.
Foley
Custom-recorded everyday sound effects performed in sync with picture. See Sound.
Frame Rate
How many individual frames are captured and displayed per second (fps); 24fps is the traditional cinematic standard. See Resolution & Codecs.

G

Gaffer
The chief lighting technician, heading the electric department and executing the cinematographer's lighting plan. See Grip & Electric.
Generator
A self-contained power source for set lighting, often chosen for quiet operation to avoid interfering with sound recording. See Grip & Electric.
Grip
The department (and its crew) responsible for supporting, shaping, and controlling light and camera equipment. See Grip & Electric.

H

Handheld
Camera operated while physically carried by the operator, producing natural shake. See Movement.
Headroom
The empty space above a subject's head within the frame. See Composition.
High-Key Lighting
Bright, low-contrast lighting with minimal shadow. See Lighting.
HFR (High Frame Rate)
Frame rates well above the 24fps standard (commonly 48–60fps+), producing smoother, hyper-real motion. See Resolution & Codecs.
Hyperfocal Distance
The focus distance beyond which everything to infinity appears sharp. See Lenses.

I

Incident Meter
A light meter measuring light falling onto the subject, rather than light reflected off it. See Exposure.
Insert Shot
A tight shot of an object or detail cut into a scene to convey specific information. See Shot Sizes.
Inverse Square Law
The physical principle that light intensity falls off with the square of the distance from its source. See Lighting.
ISO
A camera sensor's sensitivity to light. See Exposure.

J

Jump Cut
A cut between similar shots of the same subject with a visible, jarring gap in time or position. See Editing.

K

Key Grip
The head of the grip department, working closely with the cinematographer on camera support and light control. See Grip & Electric.
Key Light
The primary, brightest light source in a lighting setup. See Lighting.
Kuleshov Effect
A demonstration that meaning is constructed by the juxtaposition of shots rather than any single shot alone. See Editing.

L

Leading Lines
Lines within a frame that visually guide the eye toward the subject. See Composition.
Long Take ("Oner")
A single continuous shot sustained for an unusually long duration without cutting. See Movement.
Long-GOP
Interframe compression where frames reference preceding/following frames to save space (e.g. H.264), smaller but more demanding to edit. See Resolution & Codecs.
Low-Key Lighting
Strong contrast and deep shadow, associated with noir and thriller cinematography. See Lighting.
LUT (Look-Up Table)
A preset color transformation applied to footage during grading. See Color.

M

Master Shot
A wide, continuous take of an entire scene used as the editing backbone before coverage is added. See Shot Sizes.
Match Cut
A cut linking two shots through similar shape, motion, or composition. See Editing.
Mise-en-Scène
Everything placed and arranged within the frame — sets, props, actors, lighting, costume. See Composition.
Montage
A sequence of short shots edited together to condense time or build association. See Editing.
Motivated Light / Movement
Lighting or camera movement justified by a visible in-scene source or action. See Lighting and Movement.

N

ND Filter
A neutral density filter that reduces light entering the lens without altering color. See Exposure.
NTSC / PAL
Legacy broadcast television standards (29.97fps in North America, 25fps in much of Europe) whose frame rates still echo through delivery specs today. See Resolution & Codecs.
Negative Fill
Using a black flag or fabric to absorb ambient light and deepen shadows, rather than adding a fill light. See Grip & Electric.
Negative Space
Large areas of empty frame around a small subject, conveying isolation. See Composition.
Non-Diegetic
Sound added for the audience that characters cannot hear, such as a musical score. See Sound.
Noseroom / Lead Room
Space left in the direction a subject faces or moves. See Composition.

O

Objective / Subjective Camera
An outside-observer camera versus one representing a specific character's perception. See Angles.
Over-the-Shoulder (OTS)
A shot framed from behind one character's shoulder toward another. See Shot Sizes.
Overcranking
Shooting at a higher frame rate than playback, producing slow motion. See Resolution & Codecs.

P

Pan
Camera pivots horizontally from a fixed base. See Movement.
Pedestal
Camera moves vertically while remaining level. See Movement.
POV (Point-of-View)
A shot representing exactly what a character sees. See Angles.
Practical Light
An in-frame fixture that also genuinely lights the shot. See Lighting.
Prime Lens
A lens with a single, fixed focal length. See Lenses.
Proxy
A smaller, lower-bitrate copy of camera footage used for editing, later relinked to full-resolution originals for finishing. See Resolution & Codecs.

R

Rack Focus / Pull Focus
Shifting focus from one plane or subject to another within a single shot. See Lenses.
RAW
Minimally processed sensor data, offering maximum flexibility for exposure and color decisions after the fact. See Resolution & Codecs.
Rembrandt Lighting
A 45-degree portrait lighting pattern named for the painter, producing a small triangular highlight on the shadowed cheek. See Lighting.
Resolution
The number of pixels captured horizontally and vertically (e.g. HD, 4K, 8K). See Resolution & Codecs.
Rule of Thirds
Composing along a 3×3 grid rather than centering the subject. See Composition.

S

Shot List
A pre-planned, ordered list of every shot needed to film a scene. See Shot Sizes.
Shot/Reverse Shot
Cutting back and forth between two characters in conversation. See Editing.
Shutter Speed
How long the sensor is exposed to light per frame, affecting motion blur. See Exposure.
Steadicam
A body-worn stabilizing rig enabling smooth camera movement while walking or running. See Movement.
Storyboard
A sequence of drawings representing planned shots before filming.
Symmetry
Perfectly balanced, mirrored composition, often read as formal or unsettling. See Composition.
Synchresis
The perceptual fusion of a sound and image simply because they occur simultaneously. See Sound.

T

Teal & Orange
A common complementary color-grading style pushing skin tones orange and shadows teal. See Color.
Telephoto
A long focal length lens that narrows field of view and compresses background. See Lenses.
Three-Point Lighting
The foundational key/fill/back light setup. See Lighting.
Tie-In
A direct, licensed-electrician-only connection into a building's electrical panel to power a lighting rig. See Grip & Electric.
Tilt
Camera pivots vertically from a fixed base. See Movement.
Truck / Tracking Shot
Camera moves sideways, parallel to the subject's movement. See Movement.
180-Degree Rule
The continuity convention of keeping the camera on one side of the scene's axis of action. See Editing.

U

Undercranking
Shooting at a lower frame rate than playback, producing fast motion or time-lapse. See Resolution & Codecs.

W

White Balance
Camera calibration that corrects color casts so white objects render neutrally. See Color.
Wide-Angle Lens
A short focal length lens with a wide field of view and exaggerated depth. See Lenses.

Z

Zoom
Changing a lens's focal length to magnify the image without moving the camera. See Movement.

Further Reading

  1. Cinematography: Theory and Practice — Blain Brown. Contains an extensive glossary of professional cinematography terminology.
  2. American Cinematographer Manual — American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The industry-standard technical reference and glossary.