Television Drama Terminology

Camera shots

Establishing shot
sets up/establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.

Master shot
film recording of a dramatised scene from start to finish from an angle that keeps all the players in view. 

Close-up
Where the camera tightly frames a person or objects features

Mid-shotA shot taken at a medium distance

Long shot
shows the entire object or human figure

Wide shot
Camera is positioned to observe the most action in the performance

Two-shot
two people can be seen together

Aerial shot
shot taken from a height such as a plane,helicopter or a person on top of a building

Point of view shot
Shows what the character can see

Over the shoulder shot 
shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.   

Angle

High angle
When the camera looks down on the subject

Low angle
camera is positioned low on the vertical axis, a low angle is anywhere below eye line looking up.

Canted angle
A camera angle that is deliberately slanted to one side.

Movement

Pan
When the camera is being moved on a vertical or horizontal axis. Usually to film a panorama.

Tilt
When a camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical or 'tilting' plane. This camera movement is similar in a way of someone nodding their head.

Track
When a camera is following a character or object. Such as the camera following a moving car. It can be moved with a camera dolly, handheld camera operator or on a tripod.

Dolly
A dolly is a wheeled platform that pushed along rails for a smooth camera movement.

Crane
When a shot is being taken while the camera is mounted on a crane or jib. This allows for a shot from above to view a whole scene.

Steadicam
A steadicam is a type of camera stabiliser which helps for a smooth shot even when moving quickly or over an uneven surfaces.

Hand-held
When a camera is shooting while being operated by a cameraman as he is holding it in his hands as apposed to being on a tripod or any other base. This allows for a greater freedom of motion.

Zoom
When the zoom effect is used on a camera to get a clearer view of a target in the distance.

Reverse zoom
A reverse zoom is when the camera is zoomed out to get a clearer view of an object.

Composition

Framing
Framing is the presentation of visual elements in an image. This is to make a target the centre of attention to the audience.

Rule of thirds
This is a guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images. This helps to place objects in the right place for a tidy and ordered shot.

Depth of field
Depth of field is a characteristic of a camera that can be used to enhance the image composition of the photo. Depth of field means the sharp area surrounding the point of focus.

Editing

(Includes transition of image and sound - continuity and non-continuity systems)

Shot/Reverse Shot

Shot/Reverse Shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

Eyeline Match

An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system, it is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on screen is seeing.

Graphic Match

A graphic match is a cut in film editing between either two different objects, two different space or two different compositions in  which objects in the two shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of action and linking the two shots metaphorically.

Action Match

An action match (match on action) refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.

Jump Cut

A cut in movie editing that represents a momentary omission in a continuous shot, creating and effect of discontinuity or acceleration.

Crosscutting

Crosscutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a crosscut the camera will cut away from one action to another action which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is no always the case.

Parallel Editing

Parallel editing is a technique whereby cutting occurs between two or more related actions occurring at the same time i two separate locations or different points in time.

Cutaway

A cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut.

Insert

An insert shot is a shot of part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot. Inserts core action already covered from the master shot but emphasise a different aspect of that action due to the different framing.

Other transitions 

Dissolve
an act or instance of moving gradually from one image or scene in a film to another.

Fade-in
an image is made to appear gradually.

Fade-out
an image is made to disappear gradually.

Wipe
which an existing picture seems to be wiped out by a new one.

Superimposition 
to put one image on top of another so that both can be seen

Long take 
an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace, usually lasting several minutes 

Camera shots

Establishing shot
sets up/establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.

Master shot
film recording of a dramatised scene from start to finish from an angle that keeps all the players in view. 

Close-up
Where the camera tightly frames a person or objects features

Mid-shot
A shot taken at a medium distance

Long shot
Shows the entire object or human figure

Wide shot
Camera is positioned to observe the most action in the performance

Two-shot
Two people can be seen together

Aerial shot
Shot taken from a height such as a plane,helicopter or a person on top of a building

Point of view shot
Shows what the character can see

Over the shoulder shot 
Shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.   

Angle

High angle
When the camera looks down on the subject

Low angle
Camera is positioned low on the vertical axis, a low angle is anywhere below eye line looking up.

Canted angle
A camera angle that is deliberately slanted to one side.

Sound

Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound

Diegetic is the sound that is heard in the scene and non-diegetic is the opposite.

Synchronous/asynchronous sound

Synchronous is occurring or existing at the same time and asynchronous is the opposite.

Sound effects

A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, film, or other broadcast production.

Sound Motif

Is a short musical idea.

Sound Bridge

Sound bridges are one of the most common transitions in the continuity editing style, one that stresses the connection between both scenes since their mood (suggested by the music) is still the same.

Dialogue 

The words that are being said from the people in the scene

Voiceover

A voice that tells you what is going on in the scene.

Mode of address/ direct address

Modes of address can be defined as the ways in which relations between addresser and addressee are constructed in a text.

Sound Mixing

In sound recording and reproduction, audio mixing or mixdown is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, for instance 2-channel stereo.

Sound perspective

Sound perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound. Clues to the distance of the source include the volume of the sound and the balance with other sounds, the frequency range (high frequencies may be lost at a distance), and the amount of echo and reverberation.

Soundtrack

The music accompanies a film.

Score

Notation used by musicians.

Incidental Music

Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical.

Themes and Stings

A sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in broadcasting and films as a form of punctuation. Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the intro, during title sequence and/or ending credits.

Ambient Sound

Ambient music is a genre of music and includes forms of music that put an emphasis on tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm.

Mise-en-Scene

Product Design

Overall look of a filmed event and it is one of the key creative roles in the creation if motion pictures and television. 

Location

In media, the locations are the areas in which filming goes on and film sets are shot.

Studio

The studio is an alternative name for a film or television production company.

Set costume Design

The setting of a scene and the objects (props) visible in a scene. Set design can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood, which has physical, social, psychological, emotional, economic and cultural significance in film.

Costume and Make up

Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters. And the Make up establishes the time period, reveal character traits and signal changes in character.

Properties

Lighting

The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting can influence an audience’s understanding of characters, actions, themes and mood.

Colour Design

Early films were shot in black and white but the cinema soon included color images. These images were initially painted or stencilled onto the film but by the 1930s filmmakers were able to include colour sequences in their films. Apart from the added realism or glamor that a color image could provide, colour is also used to create aesthetic patterns and to establish character or emotion in narrative cinema.