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Film analysis

Critical vocabulary

Camera Distance

Extreme Long shot Image of e.g. a view of scenery or a large group of people

Long shot Image of a complete character or characters in a particular

setting

Medium shot Image of a a person or several people e.g. from the waist up

Two person shot Image of two people, usually from the waist up

Close up Image of a person's face

Extreme close up Image of e.g. an eye, hand or other object in significant detail

Point of view

Establishing shot Often used at the beginning of a scene to identify a particular

place or setting

Point of view shot Shows the scene from the perspective of a particular
character

Reaction shot Short shot that details the reaction of a particular character

Camera Movement

Panning shot remaining fixed, the camera moves horizontally from left to
right, or vice versa

Tracking shot the camera moves alongside the subject, e.g. a running race

Zoom the camera moves in towards its subject, or out and away
from it

Camera angle

Overhead shot long or extreme long shot from the air looking downwards

High angle shot shows people or objects from above, e.g. higher than eye
level

Low angle shot shows people or objects from below eye level

Eye level shot shows people from the level of a person's eyes

© Mark Beverley, InThinking

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Punctuation

Cut a switch from one image or shot to another

Fade-in an image or shot appears gradually, becoming increasingly

brighter

Fade-out an image or shot gradually fades from light to dark

Dissolve the end of one image or shot moves seamlessly into another

Sound/Misc

Voiceover commentary is heard but the speaker is not in-shot

Ambient sound background music or noise within a particular scene

Diegtic sound music or sound that is produced visibly, on screen

Nondiegetic sound music or sound that does not occur within the screen space

Montage dissimilar shots edited together, making obvious their

discontinuity

© Mark Beverley, InThinking