Moving Image Arts Glossary
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Fade out
Editing transition where an image gradually fades out. Fading to and from black usually means that time has passed.
Fade up
Editing transition where an image gradually fades in.
Filming - Close-up
This includes head and shoulders only, so you can easily see the expression on the face.
Filming - Extreme Close-up
This shows just above the eyebrows to just below the mouth, or even closer. The audience sees what the person is thinking or feeling. It can also make them seem threatening.
Filming - Framing
Deciding where to put the camera and what angle to film the subject from can be one of the most artistic and creative sides to filming. In documentary work, the most important thing to consider is ensuring the viewer understands what is going on in the picture, so most sequences begin with a wide shot to set the scene, and then move in for tighter shots only when relevant. In drama, more creativity with framing can be used to great effect. Spooky films often concentrate on close-up shots, so the viewer is robbed of their bearings, whilst epic films tend to use more majestic wide shots. It is worth investigating how often film producers frame shots, and particularly, how they edit differently framed shots together to build up dramatic sequences. See the "Analysing film sequences" section on the Teaching and Learning using Digital Video CD-ROM for more details. When filming the same action from a number of different angles for editing into one sequence, it is worth ensuring you film the action at least once on a wide shot. When editing, the wide shot acts as insurance when done of the other shots quite "fit" a particular part of the sequence, the wide shot can carry the action. If filming with a camera set to manual focus, decide roughly how to frame the shot, then zoom in to the subject as far as your lens will allow before focusing. This ensures the sharpest possible focus, and you can then zoom back out and frame the shot.
Filming - Long shot/Wide shot
Here, people appear small in the landscape. This is often used at the start of a film as an "establishing shot" so that the audience knows where everything is happening. It can also be used to make a person look small or isolated.
Filming - Medium Close-up
This is from chest to head.
Filming - Mid shot
This includes a person from about their waist to their head. You can easily recognize an individual but you can also see what they are doing with their hands.
Filming - Point of View shot
See a shot from a character's point of view.
Filming - Reaction Shot
This shows a character's expression as they react to something.
Framing
Deciding where to put the camera and what angle to film the subject from can be one of the most artistic and creative sides to filming. In documentary work, the most important thing to consider is ensuring the viewer understands what is going on in the picture, so most sequences begin with a wide shot to set the scene, and then move in for tighter shots only when relevant. In drama, more creativity with framing can be used to great effect. Spooky films often concentrate on close-up shots, so the viewer is robbed of their bearings, whilst epic films tend to use more majestic wide shots. It is worth investigating how often film producers frame shots, and particularly, how they edit differently framed shots together to build up dramatic sequences. See the "Analysing film sequences" section on the Teaching and Learning using Digital Video CD-ROM for more details. When filming the same action from a number of different angles for editing into one sequence, it is worth ensuring you film the action at least once on a wide shot. When editing, the wide shot acts as insurance when done of the other shots quite "fit" a particular part of the sequence, the wide shot can carry the action. If filming with a camera set to manual focus, decide roughly how to frame the shot, then zoom in to the subject as far as your lens will allow before focusing. This ensures the sharpest possible focus, and you can then zoom back out and frame the shot.