This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described.

Basic definitions of terms

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180-degree rule In filmmaking, the 180-degree rule is a guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. The rule states that the camera should be kept on one side of an imaginary axis be ...

:A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within a scene are all shot with the camera on one side of the two actors so that a coherent spatial relationship and eyeline match are maintained. ;Airborne shot :A shot taken from an aerial device, generally while moving. This technique has gained popularity in recent years due to the popularity and growing availability of drones. ;Arc :A dolly shot where the camera moves in an arc along a circular or elliptical radius in relation to the subject ("arc left" or "arc right") ; Backlighting (lighting design) :The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera. ;Bridging shot :A shot used to cover a jump in time or place or other discontinuity. Examples are a clock face showing advancing time, falling calendar pages, railroad wheels, newspaper headlines and seasonal changes. Bridge shots are also used to avoid jump cuts when inserting a pick-up. ;

Camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

:The point of view or viewing position adopted by the camera with respect to its subject. Most common types are :* High-angle shot (the camera is higher than its subject) :* Low-angle shot (the camera is lower than its subject) ;

Close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

: A frame depicting the human head or an object of similar size. ;Cut : An editorial transition signified by the immediate replacement of one shot with another. ;

Cross-cutting Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simulta ...

:Cutting between different events occurring simultaneously in different locations. Especially in narrative filmmaking, cross-cutting is traditionally used to build suspense or to suggest a thematic relationship between two sets of actions. ; Continuity editing :An editorial style that preserves the illusion of undisrupted time and space across editorial transitions (especially cuts). ;

Deep focus Deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus (optics), focus in an image, or how much of it appears sharp and clear. In deep focus, the foreground, midd ...

:A technique in which objects in the extreme foreground and objects in the extreme background are kept equally in focus. ; Dissolve :An editorial transition overlapping a fade in and a fade out in such a way that one image gradually disappears while another simultaneously emerges. This transition generally suggest a longer period of narrative elapses than is suggested by cuts. ; Camera dolly :A wheeled cart or similar device upon which a movie camera is mounted to give it smooth, horizontal mobility. ;Dollying or Dolly shot :A shot in which the camera moves horizontally either toward or away from its subject, or right or left in relation to the subject. Traditionally dolly shots are filmed from a camera dolly but the same motion may also be performed with a Steadicam,

gimbal A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...

, etc. A dolly shot is generally described in terms of "dollying in" or "dollying out". Also known as

trucking Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ...

in and out, or right and left. ;

Dolly zoom A dolly zoom (also known as a Hitchcock shot, ''Vertigo'' shot, ''Jaws'' effect, or Zolly shot) is an in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception. The effect is achieved by Zooming (filmmaking), zooming a zoom lens to a ...

:A powerful and dramatic effect produced by simultaneously trucking in or out while synchronously zooming out or in. ;

Editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

:The selection and organization of shots into a series, usually in the interest of creating larger cinematic units. Adding music is also a great way to make it more cinematic ;

Ellipsis (linguistics) In linguistics, ellipsis () or an elliptical construction is the omission from a clause of one or more words that are nevertheless understood in the context of the remaining elements. There are numerous distinct types of ellipsis acknowledged in ...

:A term referring to "chunks" of time left out of a narrative, signaled in filmmaking by editorial transitions ;

Establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...

:A shot, often a long shot, usually placed at the beginning of a scene to establish the general location of the specific action to follow. This shot is also known as an Extreme Long Shot. ; Eyeline match :A type of continuity editorial match involving two or more, sequential shots in which the preceding shot contains an agent (a person, animal, etc.) gazing in the direction of some unseen, off-screen vision, and following shot(s) contains an image presumed by the spectator to be the object of the agent's gaze. This technique is an important consideration in dialogues where actors are talking to each other. (Contrast with Over the shoulder shot; See also

180 degree rule In filmmaking, the 180-degree rule is a guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. The rule states that the camera should be kept on one side of an imaginary axis be ...

) ;Extreme close-up :A shot framed so closely as to show only a portion of the face or of some object. ;Extreme long shot :A shot in which the human figure would be extremely insignificant compared to its surroundings. :A panoramic view photographed from a considerable distance and made up essentially of landscape or distant background. ;Fade in/out :An editorial transition in which the image either gradually appears out of ("fade in") or gradually fades into ("fade out") a black screen. ; Fill light :An auxiliary light placed to the side of the subject that softens shadows and illuminates areas not lit by the key light (see "key light"). ; Flashback :A scene or sequence inserted into a scene set in the narrative present that images some event set in the past. ;

Flashforward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

:A scene or sequence inserted into a scene set in the narrative present that images some event set in the future. ;Focus :The optical clarity or precision of an image relative to normal human vision. Focus in photographic images is usually expressed in terms of depth. ;Framing :The placement of subjects and other visual content with respect to the boundaries of the image. ;Hand-held shot :A shot where the camera is hand-carried, either with or without a Steadicam. If done without a steadicam, the effect is a shaky image which conveys an amateurish or urgent affect. ; Inter-title :A piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e. inter-) the photographed action at various points. Most commonly used in silent movies to convey elements of dialogue and other commentary. ;Iris in/out :An editorial transition popular during the silent period utilizing a diaphragm placed in front of the lens and which, when opened (iris in) or closed (iris out), functions like a fade in or fade out. A partially opened iris can also be used to focus attention on a detail of the scene in the manner of vignetting. ;

Jump cut A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing that breaks a single continuous sequential shot of a subject into two parts, with a piece of footage removed to create the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positioning on the subjec ...

:An editorial transition between two shots in which the illusion of temporal continuity is radically disrupted. ;Key light :The main light on a subject, usually placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera-subject axis. In high-key lighting, the key light provides all or most of the light in the scene. In low-key lighting, the key light provides much less of the total illumination. ;

Long shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...

:A shot in which the human figure would be relatively insignificant compared to its surroundings. ; Master shot :A shot, often a medium shot or longer, which shows all the important action in a scene. In editing, the master can be used to a greater or lesser extent as the 'skeleton' of the edit, which is fleshed out by replacing parts of the master with tighter coverage such as closeups and cutaways. ;Match cut :One of various editorial devices used to preserve a sense of spatio-temporal integrity or continuity between cuts. ;Medium close-up :A shot depicting the human figure from approximately the chest up. ;Medium shot :A shot depicting the human figure from approximately the waist up. ; Mise en scène :Everything that has been placed in front of or is revealed by the camera while shooting. ; Over the shoulder shot :A shot where the camera is placed above the back of the shoulder and head of a subject. This shot is most commonly used to present conversational back and forth between two subjects. With the camera placed behind one character, the shot then frames the sequence from the perspective of that character ;Pan :A shot in which the camera is made to pivot horizontally left or right (about its vertical axis) while filming. Pans are always described in terms of "panning left" or "panning right". It is incorrect to discuss pans in terms of vertical, "up"/"down" movement, which is properly called tilting. ; Point of view shot :(Often abbreviated as 'POV'). A shot which shows an image from the specific point of view of a character in the film. ; Racking focus :A shot employing shallow focus in which the focal distance changes so that the background is gradually brought into focus while the foreground is gradually taken out of focus or visa versa. ;Reverse angle :In a dialogue scene, a shot of the second participant understood as the opposing or "reverse" view of the shot showing the first participant. ;Scene :A unit of narration generally composed of a series of shots that takes place in a single location and concerns a central action. ;Shot :* 1.) The image produced by a motion picture camera from the time it begins shooting until the time it stops shooting. :* 2.) (in an edited film) the uninterrupted record of time and space depicted between editorial transitions. ;Static Frame :The camera focus and angle stay completely still, usually with a locked off tripod, and the scene continues motion. Not to be confused with a still frame where the scene is also static or frozen. ; Steadicam :A lightweight, highly-mobile camera transportation and stabilization device developed by inventor / cinematographer Garrett Brown which permits hand-held filming with an image steadiness comparable to tracking or dolly shots. The device involves 1.) a vest redistributing the weight of the camera to the hips of the cameraman and, 2.) a spring-loaded arm working to minimize the effects of camera movement. A video tap simultaneously frees the camera operator from the eyepiece, who is then free to travel through any walkable terrain while filming. ;Story board :A series of drawings and captions (sometimes resembling a comic strip) that shows the planned shot divisions and camera movements of the film. ;Tilt :A shot in which the camera is made to pivot vertically up or down (about its horizontal transverse axis) while filming. ;

Tracking shot In cinematography, a tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. Mostly the camera’s position is parallel to the character, creating a sideway motion, tracking the chara ...

/traveling shot :A shot in which the camera moves alongside or parallel to its subject. Traditionally tracking shots are filmed while the camera is mounted on a track dolly and rolled on dedicated tracks comparable to railroad tracks, In recent years, however, parallel camera moves performed with a Steadicam,

, etc. may also be called a tracking shot. Tracking shots often "follow" a subject while it is in motion: for instance, a person walking on a sidewalk seen from the perspective of somebody walking on a parallel path several feet away. Shots taken from moving vehicles that run parallel to another moving object are also referred to as tracking or traveling shots. A tracking shot may also be curved, moving around its subject in a semi-circular rotation, known specifically as an arc or arc shot. ;Truck :Truck-right, truck-left, truck-in, truck-out (see Dolly shot) ; Two shot : A shot in which the frame encompasses two people, typically but not exclusively a medium shot. ; Whip pan :A type of pan shot in which the camera pans so quickly that the resulting image is badly blurred. It is sometimes used as an editorial transition and is also known as a ''swish pan'' or "flash pan." ; Whip zoom :An unusually quick but continuous zoom in or out. ; Wipe :An optical editorial transition in which an image appears to be pushed or "wiped" to one aside of the screen to make way for the next. ; Zoom :A shot taken from a stationary position using a special zoom lens that magnifies or de-magnifies the center of the image. This creates an illusion that the camera is moving toward or away from its subject by making the subject more or less prominent in the frame. Not to be confused with ''dollying'' in which the camera itself actually physically moves closer to or further away from its subject.

Cinematography

Movement and expression

Movement can be used extensively by film makers to make meaning. It is how a scene is put together to produce an image. A famous example of this, which uses "dance" extensively to communicate meaning and emotion, is the film,

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

. Provided in this alphabetised list of film techniques used in

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. There are a variety of expressions: *

Aerial perspective Aerial perspective, or atmospheric perspective, is the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its backgro ...

* Aerial shot * American shot *

Angle of view In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term '' field of view''. It is important to distinguish the angle of view from the ...

* Bird's eye shot *

Bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective (graphical), perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downward. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photog ...

* Boom shot * B-roll *

* Camera coverage * Camera dolly * Camera operator * Camera tracking *

* Crane shot *

* Dutch angle *

* Film frame *

Filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

* Follow shot * Forced perspective * Freeze-frame shot * Full frame *

Full shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...

* Hanging miniature * Head shot * High-angle shot *

Long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take, continuous shot, or oner) is Shot (filmmaking), shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera mov ...

* Low-angle shot * Master shot * Medium shot * Money shot *

Multiple-camera setup The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking, television production and video production. Several cameras—either film cameras, film or professional video cameras—are ...

* One shot (music video) * Over the shoulder shot * Panning (camera) * Point of view shot * Rack focusing * Reaction shot *

Shot (filmmaking) In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of film frame, frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a Film, movie where Camera angle, angles, Film transition, transitions and Cut (tra ...

Shot reverse shot Shot/reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character (a or ). Since the characters ar ...

Single-camera setup In filmmaking, television production and video production, the single-camera setup or single-camera mode of production (also known as portable single crew, portable single camera or single-cam) is a method in which all of the various shots and c ...

* SnorriCam * Stalker vision * Tilt (camera) * Top-down perspective *

* Trunk shot * Two shot *

Video production Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard drives, SSDs, ...

Walk and talk Walk and talk is a storytelling technique used in filmmaking and television production in which a number of characters have a conversation while walking somewhere. Walk and talk often involves a walking character who is then joined by another cha ...

* Whip pan * Worm's-eye view

Lighting technique and aesthetics

* Background lighting * Cameo lighting * Fill light * Flood lighting * High-key lighting * Key lighting * Lens flare * Low-key lighting * Mood lighting * Rembrandt lighting *

Stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

* Soft light To achieve the results mentioned above, a Lighting Director may use a number or combination of Video Lights. These may include the Redhead or Open-face unit, The Fresnel Light, which gives you a little more control over the spill, or The Dedolight, which provides a more efficient light output and a beam which is easier to control.

Editing and transitional devices

* A-roll * B-roll *

* Cutaway * Dissolve *

Fast cutting Fast cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shot (filming), shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less). It can be used to quickly convey much information, or to imply either energy or chaos. Fast cutting i ...

* Flashback * Insert * J cut ("split edit") *

* Keying *

L cut In film editing, an L cut is a variant of a split edit technique in which the audio from the preceding scene overlaps the picture from the following scene, so that the audio cuts after the picture, and continues playing over the beginning of th ...

("split edit") * Master shot *

Match cut In film, a match cut is a cut from one shot to another in which the composition of the two shots are matched by the action or subject and subject matter. For example, in a duel a shot can go from a long shot on both contestants via a cut to a ...

* Montage * Point of view shot * Screen direction * Sequence shot * Smash cut *

Slow cutting Slow cutting is a film editing technique characterized by frequent lengthy shots. Though it depends on context, it is estimated that any shot longer than about fifteen seconds will seem rather slow to many modern-day viewers, especially those wh ...

* Split screen * SMPTE timecode *

* Wipe

Special effects (FX)

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, sometimes called Computer-generated imagery, CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional Computer-generated imagery, computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian coor ...

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...

for movie history * Bluescreen/

Chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...

* Bullet time *

Computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...

* Digital compositing * Optical effects *

Stereoscopy Stereoscopy, also called stereoscopics or stereo imaging, is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any ster ...

for 3D technical details *

Stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

* Stop trick

Sound

Sound is used extensively in filmmaking to enhance presentation, and is distinguished into diegetic and non-diegetic sound: *Diegetic sound is heard by both the characters and audience. Also called "literal sound" or "actual sound". Examples include **Voices of characters; **Sounds made by objects in the story, e.g. heart beats of a person ** Source music, represented as coming from instruments in the story space. **Basic sound effects, e.g. dog barking, car passing; as it is in the scene **Music coming from reproduction devices such as record players, radios, tape players etc. * Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside the story space, i.e. its source is neither visible on the screen, nor has been implied to be present in the action. Also called "non-literal sound" or "commentary sound". Examples include: **Narrator's commentary; **Sound effects added for dramatic effect; **Mood music **

Film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

Sound effects

In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point, without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process, applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, the segregations between recordings of dialogue, music, and sound effects can be quite distinct, and it is important to understand that in such contexts, dialogue, and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, though the processes applied to them, such as

reverberation In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflection (physics), reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then de ...

flanging Flanging is an audio signal processing, audio effect produced by mixing two identical audio signal, signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a ...

, often are. Necessary incidental units of sound, footsteps, keys, a polishing sound, are created in a Foley studio.

Techniques in interactive movies

New techniques currently being developed in interactive movies, introduce an extra dimension into the experience of viewing movies, by allowing the viewer to change the course of the movie. In traditional linear movies, the author can carefully construct the plot, roles, and characters to achieve a specific effect on the audience.

Interactivity Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but ...

, however, introduces non-linearity into the movie, such that the author no longer has complete control over the story, but must now share control with the viewer. There is an inevitable trade-off between the desire of the viewer for freedom to experience the movie in different ways, and the desire of the author to employ specialized techniques to control the presentation of the story. Computer technology is required to create the illusion of freedom for the viewer, while providing familiar, as well as, new cinematic techniques to the author.

References

External links

Interactive Movies
a
FilmSound.orgCinematic Technique Blog

Audiovisual Compendium of Film Terminology
{{Film crew Filmmaking