Close-up: A shot showing a face or object up close
Extreme close-up: A shot of a very small part, like an eye
Medium shot: A shot of a person from the waist up
Long shot (wide shot): A shot showing the whole person and their surroundings
Establishing shot: A wide shot showing where a scene takes place
Over-the-shoulder shot: A shot from behind one person looking at another
Point-of-view (POV) shot: A shot seen through a character's eyes
Pan: Turning the camera left or right from a fixed spot
Tilt: Moving the camera up or down from a fixed spot
Zoom: Changing the lens to get closer or farther
Dolly shot: Moving the camera on a wheeled cart
Tracking shot: The camera follows a subject as it moves
Crane shot: A camera on a crane moving high or low
Aerial shot: A shot from high in the air, often by drone
High angle: The camera looks down, making subjects seem small
Low angle: The camera looks up, making subjects seem powerful
Eye-level shot: The camera at the actor's eye height
Dutch angle: A tilted camera that makes a scene feel uneasy
Frame: One single image in a film
Frame rate: How many pictures are shown per second; film is usually 24
Cut: A change from one shot to another
Fade: A shot slowly changing to or from black
Dissolve: One shot slowly blending into another
Montage: A series of short shots joined to show time passing or ideas
Flashback: A scene showing an earlier time
Foreshadowing: A hint about what will happen later
Slow motion: Action shown slower than real life
Time-lapse: Many pictures over a long time shown quickly
Voice-over: A narrator's voice heard over the pictures
Soundtrack: The sound and music of a film
Score: The music composed for a film
Sound effects: Added sounds like footsteps or doors
Foley: Sound effects made live by artists, matched to the action
Dialogue (film): Spoken words between characters
Script (screenplay): The written story, dialogue and action of a film
Storyboard: A series of drawings planning each shot
Director: The person who leads the creative work on a film
Producer: The person who organizes money and the production
Screenwriter: The person who writes the script
Cinematographer: The person in charge of camera and lighting
Editor: The person who cuts shots together
Gaffer: The chief electrician on a film set
Best boy: The assistant to the gaffer or key grip
Grip: A crew member who moves and sets up equipment
Key grip: The head of the grip crew
Production designer: The person who plans the look of a film's sets
Costume designer: The person who plans actors' clothing
Stunt performer: A person trained to do dangerous action safely
Extra: An actor in the background with no lines
Clapperboard: A board snapped at the start of a take to match sound and picture
Take: One try of filming a shot
Scene (film): A part of the story in one place and time
Action!: What the director says to start filming
Cut! (director's call): What the director says to stop filming
Wrap: The end of filming
Special effects: Tricks made during filming, like explosions or makeup
Visual effects (VFX): Images added using computers after filming
CGI: Computer-generated imagery
Green screen: A green background replaced by another image after filming
Animation: Making still drawings or models appear to move
Stop motion: Photographing objects frame by frame as they are moved a little
Trailer: A short preview of a film
Genre: A type of film, such as comedy or adventure
Documentary: A film about real people and events
Premiere: The first public showing of a film
Oscars (Academy Awards): Annual awards for achievements in film, first given in 1929
Silent film: A film with no recorded dialogue, popular until the late 1920s
The Jazz Singer: 1927 film often called the first feature with synchronized talking
The Wizard of Oz (1939): A famous early Technicolor film
Walt Disney: Founder of an animation studio; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came out in 1937
Toy Story (1995): The first full-length computer-animated feature film

Free flashcards from Peabody at peabody.kids/flashcards/film-terms