Deconstructing Film - Useful Terms

Many teachers and students enjoy discussing films and series during their exploration of
non-literary texts in the Language and Literature course. However, students must
understand there is another set of terms and ideas to discuss when looking at the
director’s choices. How do filmmakers use the camera, sound, and other elements to
influence the viewer?

Helpful links for film terminology:

● 15 Essential Camera Shots, Angles and Movements in Filmmaking

● Shots Explained in Detail-The Shot List
● Camera Framing
● Camera Angle
● Camera Movement
● Lighting Terms
● An old handout but still useful

CAMERA RANGE:

extreme long shot: shot of, e.g. a large crowd scene or a view of scenery as far as the
horizon

long shot: a view of a situation or setting from a distance

medium long shot: shows a group o f people in interaction with each other, e.g.a fight
scene, with part of their surroundings in the picture

full shot: a view of a figure's entire body in order to show action and/or a constellation
of characters

medium shot, mid shot, medium close shot: shows a subject down to his or her waist,
e.g. showing head and shoulders of two people in conversation

close-up: a full-screenshot of a subject's face, showing the finest nuances of

expression

extreme close-up (shot): a shot of a hand, eye, mouth or object in detail

POINT OF VIEW (VIEWPOINTS) (= the position from which the camera is filming)

establishing shot: often used at the beginning of a scene to indicate the location or
setting, it is usually a long shot taken from a neutral position

point-of-view shot, POV-shot: shows a scene from the perspective of a character

over-the-shoulder shot: often used in dialogue scenes, a frontal view of a dialogue

partner from the perspective of someone standing behind and slightly to the side of
the other partner, so that parts of both can be seen

reaction shot: short shot of a character's response to an action

insert (shot): a detail shot which quickly gives visual information necessary to
understand the meaning of a scene,for example a newspaper page, or a physical detail

reverse-angle shot: a shot from the opposite perspective, e.g. after an over-the-shoulder
shot

CAMERA ANGLES

aerial shot or high angle or overhead or bird’s eye: long or extreme long shot of the
ground from the air

high-angle: shot shows people or objects from \ above, i.e. higher than eye level

low-angle shot or below shot: shows people or objects from below, i.e. lower than eye level

Eye-level shot or straight-on angle: views a subject from the level of a person's eyes

CAMERA MOVEMENT (movement of the camera during a shot)

pan(ning shot): the camera pans (moves horizontally) from left to right or vice versa
across the picture

tilt (shot): the camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts down (moves downwards)
around a vertical line

tracking shot / trucking shot: the camera follows along next to or behind a moving object
or person
 zoom: the stationary camera appears to approach a subject by 'zooming in' ; or to move
farther away by 'zooming out'

EDITING / MONTAGE: (= the arrangement of shots in a structured sequence)

master shot: main shot of a whole scene taken by one camera in one position, which is
then intercut with other shots to add interest

cutaway shot: of something not shown by the master shot of a scene, but connected
to the main action in some way

flashback: a scene or sequence dealing with the past which is inserted into a film's
'present time'

flash-forward: a scene or sequence which looks into the future

match cut: two scenes connected by visual or aural parallelism, e.g. one door closing
and then another one opening

split screen: division of the screen to show two or more pictures at the same time

PUNCTUATION (= the way in which shots are linked)

Cut: a switch from one image or shot to another

jump-cut: (a) switching back and forth between two or more persons who are closely
involved with each other, e.g. in a conversation or a chase scene; (b) using cuts to
create an effect of moving rapidly towards a subject

fade-in: from a black screen or ground, the gradual emergence of an image, which
slowly becomes brighter until it reaches full strength

fade-out: the gradual disappearance of an image until the screen or ground is

completely black; a device used to end a scene

dissolve, dissolving shot or cross-fade: following a fade-out with a fade-in in order to

move slowly from one scene to the next
MISCELLANEOUS

backlighting: filming a person or event against a background of light, especially the

sun, which produces an idealized, sometimes romantic effect

background music: the music accompanying scenes

composition: the arrangement of people or things in a painting, photograph, film

scene, etc.

footage: piece of film or video.

 GRAPHIC ORGANIZER - DECONSTRUCTING FILM CLIPS

Graphic organizers can be a great way to break down film clips and organize your thinking. Unlike still images, film clips are multimodal texts
that require exploration of visual AND audio tracks. In addition to breaking down still images, students must think about sound, music,
graphics, and dialogue. Thus, films can be a powerful medium for students to showcase their non-literary text deconstruction skills.

SHOT TYPE:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Long shot (LS) shot from some distance –

shows full subject and perhaps to establish the scene so that viewers know where the film will take place
to show distance or separation between characters, or to show that a character is integrated with his or
surrounding scene as well her surrounding
to allow the viewer to decide where to look since there is so much on the screen to see

Establishing contains lots of landscape or

shot (ES) space of a scene; often a long
shot or a series of shots

Close-up shot image being shot takes up at

to direct the viewer's attention to a crucial clue in a detective story
(CS) least 80% of the frame to emphasize a facial expression or gesture
to force the viewer to look at only what the director intended

Extreme focuses on one feature – shows

close-up only a part of a body or an
object – no background shown

Medium shot in-between LS and CS; people

to show more setting and context than a close-up can, though it lacks the close-up's detail
(MS) are seen from the waist up to bring the viewer closer to the subject than the long shot does, though it cannot show the distance
and relationships between characters, or between characters and settings
FOCUS:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Soft focus the object is intentionally out

to help create a lighter mood in romantic films
of focus to make the image to blur an image slightly in order to communicate uncertainty
look softer or unclear

to force viewers to direct their attention where he or she wanted them to look
Rack focus focus shifts from one object to
to bring either the background or the foreground suddenly into focus
another in the same shot to to show the changing power and relationships that can occur within a single scene, but without having
direct the viewer’s attention to cut from his shot

Deep focus the foreground and

to give a greater sense of reality, since in real life we can choose what to look at
background are equally in to fill his or her frame with information and create interesting compositions.
focus

CAMERA ANGLES:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Low angle camera shoots the subject to make characters or subjects more powerful since size and strength can be exaggerated
(LA) from below

High angle camera shots from above the

(HA) subject (but not directly to make characters or subjects a little weaker and less in control
overhead)

Eye level (EL) camera is level with the key neutral shot
character’s eyes – 90-95% of if a director uses an eye-level shot of a character after setting him or her up with a series of high-
shots are from this angle angle shots, the director may be commenting on the growing strength or confidence of this character

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Slant angle shot is tilted or slanted on the to show an evil character or a dangerous situation
to create tension or peculiarity in an otherwise static or normal situation, thus implying danger or moral
horizontal line
uncertainty

Point of view camera takes perspective of

one character and moves as
that character does

CAMERA MOVEMENT:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Pan stationary camera moves left to introduce the setting used from the point of view of characters as they take in their surroundings or
or right (horizontally) situations

Tilt stationary camera moves up or to communicate distance, size, and strength

down (vertically) to show power

Zoom camera is stationary but the

lens moves closer to or farther to direct the audience's attention to a detail that the director does not want us to miss
away from the object

Dolly or camera itself moves with or

to engage the audience by inviting them to go with the action, become part of it, or even go behind it,
Tracking follows the action – on a track, instead of merely watching as it passes by
wheels, hand-held (steadicam)

LIGHTING:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

to create moods of suspicion, mystery, and danger.

Low-key dim lighting – scene is flooded
great for horror films, film noir, and detective movies, because things can be hidden or concealed in the
with shadows and darkness depth of shadows.

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High-key bright lighting – scene is great for romantic comedies, musicals, and costumed dramas
flooded with light characters and situations are seen without misunderstanding or threat

Neutral neither bright nor dim –

lighting is even throughout the
shot

Bottom or direct lighting from below or to create characters that may be evil, are hiding something, are morally ambiguous, or are conflicted
side lighting from one side in some way

Front or rear soft, direct lighting on face or

to show innocence or openness
lighting back of subject

SOUND:

Type What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Diegetic sounds that can be heard

to create immersive watching experience since the audience
logically by characters of the and the characters hear roughly the same thing
film

Internal sound can only be heard

diegetic within the mind of one to give information or clues directly to his or her audience without giving that same information to the
character (eg, internal characters
voice-over, thoughts)

Non-diegetic sound that is added to the film

– heard only by the viewer, not to create suspense, irony, or foreshadowing
the characters (eg, music,
sound effects)

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EDITING TECHNIQUES

Technique What is it? Effect – How does it affect our viewing?

Cut immediate change of shot from

one scene or subject to
another

Fade scene fades to black before

to denote the end of a scene
new shot or used within the same scene to show that some measure of time has passed

Flare scene lightens to complete

white before a new shot.

Dissolve one image fades into another

to make a connection between two objects or characters that the viewer might not have made without its use
Crosscutting shot cuts to an action that is
to show that events occurring in different spaces are happening simultaneously
happening simultaneously –
to create suspense
also called parallel editing to create linkages between characters, themes, or plots

Flashback shot moves into action that has

or happened previously OR to give the viewer important information about what has happened in the past
Flashforward ahead in time to add tension and be used as foreshadowing

Eye-line shot of a character looking; to reveal what the character is thinking and build intrigue
match then a cut to whatever he or to create empathy for or a connection to selected characters
she is looking at – may be

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 followed by a cut back for a
reaction shot

to heighten a motion, or convey the sheer intensity of a scene, allowing the audience to see
Slow motion action is slowed down and
the finer details we might have missed at normal speed
depicted as slower than reality to add emphasis to emotions, clarity to spectacles

Fast motion action is speeded up and to recreate the vintage look of old home movies
depicted as faster than reality to add a comedic element to the scene
to create a visceral and subjective presentation

Source: Adapted from Reading in the Dark by John Golden, published by National Council of Teachers of English (Illinois, 2001)