Film Writing Guide

Film Writing: Sample Analysis

Introductory Note

The analysis below discusses the opening moments of the science fiction movie Ex Machina in order to make an argument about the film's underlying purpose. The text of the analysis is formatted normally. Editor's commentary, which will occasionally interrupt the piece to discuss the author's rhetorical strategies, is written in brackets in an italic font with a bold "Ed.:" identifier. See the examples below:

The text of the analysis looks like this.

[Ed.: The editor's commentary looks like this.]

Frustrated Communication in Ex Machina’s Opening Sequence

Alex Garland’s 2015 science fiction film Ex Machina follows a young programmer’s attempts to determine whether or not an android possesses a consciousness complicated enough to pass as human. The film is celebrated for its thought-provoking depiction of the anxiety over whether a nonhuman entity could mimic or exceed human abilities, but analyzing the early sections of the film, before artificial intelligence is even introduced, reveals a compelling examination of humans’ inability to articulate their thoughts and feelings. In its opening sequence, Ex Machina establishes that it’s not only about the difficulty of creating a machine that can effectively talk to humans, but about human beings who struggle to find ways to communicate with each other in an increasingly digital world.

[Ed.: The piece's opening introduces the film with a plot summary that doesn't give away too much and a brief summary of the critical conversation that has centered around the film. Then, however, it deviates from this conversation by suggesting that Ex Machina has things to say about humanity before non-human characters even appear. Off to a great start.]

The film’s first establishing shots set the action in a busy modern office. A woman sits at a computer, absorbed in her screen. The camera looks at her through a glass wall, one of many in the shot. The reflections of passersby reflected in the glass and the workspace’s dim blue light make it difficult to determine how many rooms are depicted. The camera cuts to a few different young men typing on their phones, their bodies partially concealed both by people walking between them and the camera and by the stylized modern furniture that surrounds them. The fourth shot peeks over a computer monitor at a blonde man working with headphones in. A slight zoom toward his face suggests that this is an important character, and the cut to a point-of-view shot looking at his computer screen confirms this. We later learn that this is Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a young programmer whose perspective the film follows.

The rest of the sequence cuts between shots from Caleb’s P.O.V. and reaction shots of his face, as he receives and processes the news that he has won first prize in a staff competition. Shocked, Caleb dives for his cellphone and texts several people the news. Several people immediately respond with congratulatory messages, and after a moment the woman from the opening shot runs in to give him a hug. At this point, the other people in the room look up, smile, and start clapping, while Caleb smiles disbelievingly—perhaps even anxiously—and the camera subtly zooms in a bit closer. Throughout the entire sequence, there is no sound other than ambient electronic music that gets slightly louder and more textured as the sequence progresses. A jump cut to an aerial view of a glacial landscape ends the sequence and indicates that Caleb is very quickly transported into a very unfamiliar setting, implying that he will have difficulty adjusting to this sudden change in circumstances.

[Ed.: These paragraphs are mostly descriptive. They give readers the information they will need to understand the argument the piece is about to offer. While passages like this can risk becoming boring if they dwell on unimportant details, the author wisely limits herself to two paragraphs and maintains a driving pace through her prose style choices (like an almost exclusive reliance on active verbs).]

Without any audible dialogue or traditional expository setup of the main characters, this opening sequence sets viewers up to make sense of Ex Machina’s visual style and its exploration of the ways that technology can both enhance and limit human communication. The choice to make the dialogue inaudible suggests that in-person conversations have no significance. Human-to-human conversations are most productive in this sequence when they are mediated by technology. Caleb’s first response when he hears his good news is to text his friends rather than tell the people sitting around him, and he makes no move to take his headphones out when the in-person celebration finally breaks out. Everyone in the building is on their phones, looking at screens, or has headphones in, and the camera is looking at screens through Caleb’s viewpoint for at least half of the sequence. 

Rather than simply muting the specific conversations that Caleb has with his coworkers, the ambient soundtrack replaces all the noise that a crowded building in the middle of a workday would ordinarily have. This silence sets the uneasy tone that characterizes the rest of the film, which is as much a horror-thriller as a piece of science fiction. Viewers get the sense that all the sounds that humans make as they walk around and talk to each other are being intentionally filtered out by some presence, replaced with a quiet electronic beat that marks the pacing of the sequence, slowly building to a faster tempo. Perhaps the sound of people is irrelevant: only the visual data matters here. Silence is frequently used in the rest of the film as a source of tension, with viewers acutely aware that it could be broken at any moment. Part of the horror of the research bunker, which will soon become the film’s primary setting, is its silence, particularly during sequences of Caleb sneaking into restricted areas and being startled by a sudden noise.

The visual style of this opening sequence reinforces the eeriness of the muted humans and electronic soundtrack. Prominent use of shallow focus to depict a workspace that is constructed out of glass doors and walls makes it difficult to discern how large the space really is. The viewer is thus spatially disoriented in each new setting. This layering of glass and mirrors, doubling some images and obscuring others, is used later in the film when Caleb meets the artificial being Ava (Alicia Vikander), who is not allowed to leave her glass-walled living quarters in the research bunker. The similarity of these spaces visually reinforces the film’s late revelation that Caleb has been manipulated by Nathan Bates (Oscar Isaac), the troubled genius who creates Ava.

[Ed.: In these paragraphs, the author cites the information about the scene she's provided to make her argument. Because she's already teased the argument in the introduction and provided an account of her evidence, it doesn't strike us as unreasonable or far-fetched here. Instead, it appears that we've naturally arrived at the same incisive, fascinating points that she has.]

A few other shots in the opening sequence more explicitly hint that Caleb is already under Nathan’s control before he ever arrives at the bunker. Shortly after the P.O.V shot of Caleb reading the email notification that he won the prize, we cut to a few other P.O.V. shots, this time from the perspective of cameras in Caleb’s phone and desktop computer. These cameras are not just looking at Caleb, but appear to be scanning him, as the screen flashes in different color lenses and small points appear around Caleb’s mouth, eyes, and nostrils, tracking the smallest expressions that cross his face. These small details indicate that Caleb is more a part of this digital space than he realizes, and also foreshadow the later revelation that Nathan is actively using data collected by computers and webcams to manipulate Caleb and others. The shots from the cameras’ perspectives also make use of a subtle fisheye lens, suggesting both the wide scope of Nathan’s surveillance capacities and the slightly distorted worldview that motivates this unethical activity.

[Ed.: This paragraph uses additional details to reinforce the piece's main argument. While this move may not be as essential as the one in the preceding paragraphs, it does help create the impression that the author is noticing deliberate patterns in the film's cinematography, rather than picking out isolated coincidences to make her points.]

Taken together, the details of Ex Machina’s stylized opening sequence lay the groundwork for the film’s long exploration of the relationship between human communication and technology. The sequence, and the film, ultimately suggests that we need to develop and use new technologies thoughtfully, or else the thing that makes us most human—our ability to connect through language—might be destroyed by our innovations. All of the aural and visual cues in the opening sequence establish a world in which humans are utterly reliant on technology and yet totally unaware of the nefarious uses to which a brilliant but unethical person could put it.

Author's Note: Thanks to my literature students whose in-class contributions sharpened my thinking on this scene.

[Ed.: The piece concludes by tying the main themes of the opening sequence to those of the entire film. In doing this, the conclusion makes an argument for the essay's own relevance: we need to pay attention to the essay's points so that we can achieve a rich understanding of the movie. The piece's final sentence makes a chilling final impression by alluding to the danger that might loom if we do not understand the movie. This is the only the place in the piece where the author explicitly references how badly we might be hurt by ignorance, and it's all the more powerful for this solitary quality. A pithy, charming note follows, acknowledging that the author's work was informed by others' input (as most good writing is). Beautifully done.]

Writing About Film: Terminology and Starting Prompts

Writing about what makes a film good or bad involves a similar analytical skillset as writing about literature. However, because film is a medium that is newer and more collaborative than literature, and because film production involves very different technologies, film writing requires its own unique vocabulary. The following terminology guide is not comprehensive, but it provides a strong foundation for making sense of what you see on the screen. 

Types of Shots

A shot is any continuous stretch of film occurring between cuts or edits. 

The camera’s point of view automatically tells you something about how a film’s creators intend viewers to perceive a setting or subject. Below are terms to describe a subject’s spatial relationship to the camera.  

• Close-up: The camera is a very short distance away from the subject. This is used to depict detail. Close-ups of faces are common (usually to show an important expression or reaction), but the term also applies when the camera is very close to any body part or object. 
• Medium Shot: The camera is a middle distance away from the subject, focusing on the subject while still conveying contextual or background information. If the subject is a person, the shot typically encompasses their head and shoulders. This is often used in dialogue scenes. 
• Long Shot: The camera is a long distance from any identifiable subject, or is encompassing an overall view of a setting or scene. Long shots are often used at the beginning of new scenes as establishing shots that orient the viewer in a new setting. If the subject of the shot is a person, their whole body is usually visible.
• High-Angle Shot: The camera looks down on a subject. Often used to make the subject appear powerless, vulnerable, or overwhelmed by their surroundings.
• Low-Angle Shot: The camera looks up at a subject. Often used to make the subject appear powerful or threatening, or otherwise increase their sense of importance. 
• Reverse Shot: The camera cuts from one shot to show the opposite view of the previous shot. This is often used in dialogue sequences to track who is speaking and put the viewer in the place of the interlocutor. 
• Point of View Shot: The camera sees what a particular character sees.
• Static Shot: The camera is stationary for the entire length of the shot, performing none of the movements discussed in the next section.
• Dynamic Shot: At some point in the course of the shot, the camera performs one of the movements discussed in the next section.  

Camera Movement 

Dynamic shots can make use of several different types of camera movement. Below is a short list of the most common moves.

• Zoom: The camera stays stationary, but the lens adjusts to move the viewer closer to or farther away from the initial shot
• Pan: The camera stays stationary but rotates horizontally
• Tilt: The camera stays stationary but rotates vertically
• Dolly Shot: The entire camera moves to change the initial shot
• Tracking Shot: The camera follows a single subject or object as they/it move(s) out of the initial shot

Shot Composition

Many decisions go into the construction of a shot beyond the camera’s position and movement.

• Mise-en-scène: This theory, which literally means “placing on stage,” assumes that everything that is placed before the camera was intentionally put there and can be read for meaning. Analyzing a shot for its mise-en-scéne involves looking at the background setting, acting style, lighting, props, costuming, and choreography of the scene. 
• Focus: Refers to the depth of field of a shot, or how many layers of a shot the viewer can easily perceive. 
• Deep focus shots make use of wide angle lenses so that the foreground, middle ground, and background of a shot can all be easily seen.
• Shallow focus shots make use of narrow lenses so that only one layer of the shot can be made out. Other layers remain blurry.
• Linear Composition: Shots composed largely of horizontal and vertical lines generally give the impression of stability. Shots composed largely of diagonal lines give the impression of stress, tension, or uncertainty.

Cuts & Other Postproduction Transitions

A cut is a break between two shots. After filmmakers have gathered sufficient raw film, in postproduction they choose which shots will make up the finished product, and how to best transition between them. The term “cutting” comes from the old process of physically slicing rolls of film. Much of this editing process happens digitally today, but we still use the same terminology. Below is a short list of some common types of postproduction edits. 

• Jump Cut: A sudden or otherwise startling cut that provides a strong contrast to the previous shot. 
• Fade In / Out: A shot gradually appears from a blank screen, or a shot gradually disappears into a blank screen
• Dissolve Edit: A transition in which the old shot fades out while the new shot fades in. 
• Montage: Several disparate shots are overlapped in editing so that they appear on-screen at the same time or in sequence.
• Pacing: If a sequence makes use of a lot of cuts in a short span of time, it’s considered fast-paced and usually conveys the feeling that there’s a lot of action happening. On the other hand, if a shot is not broken by a cut for a long stretch of time, this can slowly build tension as the audience anxiously waits for a cut. A shift between fast- and slow-paced sequences often marks an important narrative or tonal shift. 

Starting Places for Writing on Film

• Describe a shot, sequence, or scene that stands out to you. Sometimes just writing a good, detailed description will indicate an argument about how the filmmakers wanted us to see something in the world. 
• Who are the filmmakers, and how does the film you’re analyzing fit into their career? Think of the directors, writers, actors, cinematographers, musical score composers—everyone involved in the making of this film, and choose the career of one to contextualize the film in. Is it typical of their other work, or a notable break in some way?
• Is the film often considered to be part of a wider historical or filmic movement? How does it film illustrate or complicate a certain theory, style, or genre?
• When was the film made? How did that historical moment influence the production of the film? Were the filmmakers responding to a specific historic event? How does their depiction of that event encourage viewers to think of that event, and in turn of their present historical moment?
• What technology was used to create this film? Does the film innovate any new uses of camera or editing technology? If so, how did this innovation influence future filmmakers

Film Analysis

What this handout is about

This handout provides a brief definition of film analysis compared to literary analysis, provides an introduction to common types of film analysis, and offers strategies and resources for approaching assignments.

What is film analysis, and how does it differ from literary analysis?

Film analysis is the process in which film is analyzed in terms of semiotics, narrative structure, cultural context, and mise-en-scene, among other approaches. If these terms are new to you, don’t worry—they’ll be explained in the next section.

Analyzing film, like analyzing literature (fiction texts, etc.), is a form of rhetorical analysis—critically analyzing and evaluating discourse, including words, phrases, and images. Having a clear argument and supporting evidence is every bit as critical to film analysis as to other forms of academic writing.

Unlike literature, film incorporates audiovisual elements and therefore introduces a new dimension to analysis. Ultimately, however, analysis of film is not too different. Think of all the things that make up a scene in a film: the actors, the lighting, the angles, the colors. All of these things may be absent in literature, but they are deliberate choices on the part of the director, producer, or screenwriter—as are the words chosen by the author of a work of literature. Furthermore, literature and film incorporate similar elements. They both have plots, characters, dialogue, settings, symbolism, and, just as the elements of literature can be analyzed for their intent and effect, these elements can be analyzed the same way in film.

Different types of film analysis

Listed here are common approaches to film analysis, but this is by no means an exhaustive list, and you may have discussed other approaches in class. As with any other assignment, make sure you understand your professor’s expectations. This guide is best used to understand prompts or, in the case of more open-ended assignments, consider the different ways to analyze film.

Keep in mind that any of the elements of film can be analyzed, oftentimes in tandem. A single film analysis essay may simultaneously include all of the following approaches and more. As Jacques Aumont and Michel Marie propose in Analysis of Film, there is no correct, universal way to write film analysis.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the analysis of meaning behind signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors, analogies, and symbolism.

This doesn’t necessarily need to be something dramatic; think about how you extrapolate information from the smallest signs in your day to day life. For instance, what characteristics can tell you about someone’s personality? Something as simple as someone’s appearance can reveal information about them. Mismatched shoes and bedhead might be a sign of carelessness (or something crazy happened that morning!), while an immaculate dress shirt and tie would suggest that the person is prim and proper. Continuing in that vein:

·   What might you be able to infer about characters from small hints?

·   How are these hints (signs) used to construct characters? How do they relate to the relative role of those characters, or the relationships between multiple characters?

Symbols denote concepts (liberty, peace, etc.) and feelings (hate, love, etc.) that they often have nothing to do with. They are used liberally in both literature and film, and finding them uses a similar process. Ask yourself:

·   What objects or images are repeated in multiple instances?

o    In Frozen Elsa’s gloves appear in multiple scenes.

·   In what context do they appear?

o    Her gloves are first given to her by her father to restrain her magic. She continues to wear them throughout the coronation scene, before finally, in the Let It Go sequence, she throws them away.

Again, the method of semiotic analysis in film is similar to that of literature. Think about the deeper meaning behind objects or actions.

·   What might Elsa’s gloves represent?

o    Elsa’s gloves represent fear of her magic and, by extension, herself. Though she attempts to contain her magic by hiding her hands within gloves and denying part of her identity, she eventually abandons the gloves in a quest for self-acceptance.

Narrative structure analysis

Narrative structure analysis is the analysis of the story elements, including plot structure, character motivations, and theme. Like the dramatic structure of literature (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution), film has what is known as the Three-Act Structure: “Act One: Setup, Act Two: Confrontation, and Act Three: Resolution.” Narrative structure analysis breaks the story of the film into these three elements and might consider questions like:

·   How does the story follow or deviate from typical structures?

·   What is the effect of following or deviating from this structure?

·   What is the theme of the film, and how is that theme constructed?

Consider again the example of Frozen. You can use symbolism and narrative structure in conjunction by placing the symbolic objects/events in the context of the narrative structure. For instance, the first appearance of the gloves is in Act One, while their abandoning takes place in Act Two; thus, the story progresses in such a way that demonstrates Elsa’s personal growth. By the time of Act Three, the Resolution, her aversion to touch (a product of fearing her own magic) is gone, reflecting a theme of self-acceptance.

Contextual analysis

Contextual analysis is analysis of the film as part of a broader context. Think about the culture, time, and place of the film’s creation. What might the film say about the culture that created it? What were/are the social and political concerns of the time period? Or, like researching the author of a novel, you might consider the director, producer, and other people vital to the making of the film. What is the place of this film in the director’s career? Does it align with his usual style of directing, or does it move in a new direction? Other examples of contextual approaches might be analyzing the film in terms of a civil rights or feminist movement.

For example, Frozen is often linked to the LGBTQ social movement. You might agree or disagree with this interpretation, and, using evidence from the film, support your argument.

Some other questions to consider:

·   How does the meaning of the film change when seen outside of its culture?

·   What characteristics distinguishes the film as being of its particular culture?

Mise-en-scene analysis

Mise-en-scene analysis is analysis of the arrangement of compositional elements in film—essentially, the analysis of audiovisual elements that most distinctly separate film analysis from literary analysis. Remember that the important part of a mise-en-scene analysis is not just identifying the elements of a scene, but explaining the significance behind them.

·   What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?

·   How does the film attempt to achieve its goal by the way it looks, and does it succeed?

Audiovisual elements that can be analyzed include (but are not limited to): props and costumes, setting, lighting, camera angles, frames, special effects, choreography, music, color values, depth, placement of characters, etc. Mise-en-scene is typically the most foreign part of writing film analysis because the other components discussed are common to literary analysis, while mise-en-scene deals with elements unique to film. Using specific film terminology bolsters credibility, but you should also consider your audience. If your essay is meant to be accessible to non-specialist readers, explain what terms mean. The Resources section of this handout has links to sites that describe mise-en-scene elements in detail.

Rewatching the film and creating screen captures (still images) of certain scenes can help with detailed analysis of colors, positioning of actors, placement of objects, etc. Listening to the soundtrack can also be helpful, especially when placed in the context of particular scenes.

Some example questions:

·   How is the lighting used to construct mood? Does the mood shift at any point during the film, and how is that shift in mood created?

·   What does the setting say about certain characters? How are props used to reveal aspects of their personality?

·   What songs were used, and why were they chosen? Are there any messages in the lyrics that pertain to the theme?

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing film analysis is similar to writing literary analysis or any argumentative essay in other disciplines: Consider the assignment and prompts, formulate a thesis (see the Brainstorming Handout and Thesis Statement Handout for help crafting a nuanced argument), compile evidence to prove your thesis, and lay out your argument in the essay. Your evidence may be different from what you are used to. Whereas in the English essay you use textual evidence and quotes, in a film analysis essay, you might also include audiovisual elements to bolster your argument.

When describing a sequence in a film, use the present tense, like you would write in the literary present when describing events of a novel, i.e. not “Elsa took off her gloves,” but “Elsa takes off her gloves.” When quoting dialogue from a film, if between multiple characters, use block quotes: Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin. However, conventions are flexible, so ask your professor if you are unsure. It may also help to follow the formatting of the script, if you can find it. For example:

ELSA: But she won’t remember I have powers?
KING: It’s for the best.

You do not need to use quotation marks for blocked-off dialogue, but for shorter quotations in the main text, quotation marks should be double quotes (“…”).

Here are some tips for approaching film analysis:

·   Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Focus your argument by choosing a specific issue to assess.

·   Review your materials. Rewatch the film for nuances that you may have missed in the first viewing. With your thesis in mind, take notes as you watch. Finding a screenplay of the movie may be helpful, but keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).

·   Develop a thesis and an outline, organizing your evidence so that it supports your argument. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment—make sure that your thesis answers what the prompt asks, and check with your professor if you are unsure.

·   Move beyond only describing the audiovisual elements of the film by considering the significance of your evidence. Demonstrate understanding of not just what film elements are, but why and to what effect they are being used. For more help on using your evidence effectively, see ‘Using Evidence In An Argument’ in the Evidence Handout.

Resources

New York Film Academy Glossary
Movie Outline Glossary
Movie Script Database
Citation Practices: Film and Television

Works Consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Ways to Write About Film

What kind of film writing are you working on?  There are many ways to do scholarly writing about film.  Some include:

• formal analysis
• film history
• ideological analysis
• Mise en scene
• auteur
• national cinema and cultural studies

Try some of the resources below to learn more about the kind of writing you're doing.

• Visual Rhetoric / Literacy: Writing About Film -- Duke University

This handout discusses ways to approach film as a visual medium. It offers suggestions for focus,
prewriting tips, and guidance on how to think critically about a medium many of us think of as popular
entertainment.

• How to Write About Film- University of Colorado

Two page handout describing the Movie Review, Theoretical Essay, and Critical Essay include one page glossary of film terms

• Writing about Film - Hunter College

A printable four page guide developed by the Writing Center at Hunter College

• Writing About Film created by Robin Franson Pruter

Interactive page with links paper topics that involve character or theme, mise en scene, story structure, or genre, and sample essays

• Yale Film Studies Film-Analysis Web Site 2.0

The Film Analysis Guide was developed to meet the needs of those who are interested in becoming familiar with the vocabulary of film studies and the techniques of cinema.

How to Write About Film: The Movie Review, The Theoretical Essay, and The Critical Essay

The Movie Review

The movie review is the most popular form of film analysis. Movie reviews often appear in newspapers and are tailored for the widest possible audiences, generally, to recommend or discourage the viewing of a film. Unless otherwise directed, writing about film in higher education strays away from the movie review.

The Theoretical Essay

The theoretical essay can discuss “the relation of film and reality, on the political or ideological foundations of the movie industry, or on how film narrative is unlike literary narrative” (Corrigan 11). The theoretical essay generally requires that the writer has a good understanding of film history, film theory, or filmic technicalities. Typically these essays attempt to explain “some of the larger and more complex structures of the cinema and how we understand them” (11). The essays that you submit for your film classes may be highly theoretical, but more often, they are a combination of the theoretical essay and the critical essay.

The Critical Essay

Within the critical essay, you may want to discuss “key themes and elements of the plot, but a lengthy retelling of the story of the of the film is neither needed or acceptable” (Corrigan 13). Instead, you want to focus on the subtleties or complexities of the film that may have eluded you during the first screening. A good critical essay will focus on a specific sequence, character, or a technical choice of the director or cinematographer and analyze HOW one or all of those factors contribute to your interpretation of the film.

FILM ESSAYS EITHER NEED TO BE CRITICAL OR THEORETICAL.

Writing about film may start with your personal reaction, but it is imperative that you incorporate other aspects of the film such as, “its place in film history, its cultural background, and its formal strategies” (Corrigan 17) to produce dynamic and original analysis.

TECHNICAL FILM TERMINOLOGY

[Ask how each of these choices/effects contribute to the film’s composition] 

THEMES: Deals with representation, including the film’s topic and characters.

NARRATIVE: The narrative is divided into two parts – the story and the plot.

THE STORY: All of the events that are presented to the viewer.

THE PLOT: The arrangement of those events in a certain order.

CHARACTERS: Actors play different roles in films as major and minor characters.

POINT OF VIEW: Involves promoting perspective via the camera’s focus/angle.

MISE-EN-SCENE: A French term that roughly translates to “what is put in the scene” (Golden 51). The scene is the setting, which is either on site or in a studio.

COMPOSITION: Overall texture of the film. Color. Angles. Editing. Lighting.

THE SHOT: A single image on the screen before a cut to another image.

FRAMING: How the object(s) – (Characters included) is/are positioned within a shot.

LONG SHOT: Objects appear smaller as if the viewer is at a distance. Often emphasizes distance and/or uncertainty.

CLOSE-UP OR CLOSE SHOT: Object or subject takes up about 80 percent of frame.

MEDIUM SHOT: In between the previous two. Typically shot is waist up; human may take up about half the screen space.

FOCUS: Shots can be crisp or blurry. Consider why a specific focus is chosen.

SOFT FOCUS: A shot that is slightly out of focus – blurry images = disorientation.

RACK FOCUS: One image goes out of focus and another comes into focus.

DEEP FOCUS: Objects in the background and the foreground are both in focus.

LOW ANGLE: Camera is below subject aimed upward. Typically implies strength and power.

HIGH ANGLE: Camera is above the subject. Implies weakness, submissiveness, and powerlessness.

DUTCH ANGLE: Aka as “canted,” the Dutch angle positions the camera at a 45-degree angle to show a slanted shot.

THE PAN: The pan is when the camera pivots/moves along the horizontal axis.

THE TILT: Camera pivots/moves along the vertical axis.

ZOOM: “The focal length of the lens changes, thus making the object appear to move closer or further away” (Golden 13).

TRACKING/DOLLY SHOTS: Anytime the camera is moving, but the focal length of lens remains the same.

DIEGETIC SOUND: Sound comes from within the film. In other words, it is the real world noise within the film.

NONDIEGETIC SOUND: Sound intended for the audience. Scores, music, and sound effects are all nondiegetic.

THE FADE: Image slowly dissolves to black. Suggests transition or time passing.

THE DISSOLVE: Two pictures are blended. 

THE CROSSCUT: Parallel editing. Events occurring in different places happening at the same time. 

HIGH-KEY LIGHTING: Everything is illuminated. Bright. Lacks shadows.

LOW-KEY LIGHTING: “Darkness, shadows, and patches of bright key light” (Golden 16).

NEUTRAL LIGHTING: In between.

FRONT LIGHTING: Hard light in front of actor or object. No shadow.