Media Terms

Close Up - A shot showing a character from the neck up. Used to show facial expressions

Medium Shot - A shot showing a character from the waist up. Allows other characters to be in view, used for sociable shots.

Extreme Close Up - Focuses on a small detail eg. eye or hand.

Long Shot - A shot showing a character or setting from a distance.

High Angle Shot - A shot taken from above looking down. Makes audience feel powerful and the actors seem vulnerable.

Low Angle Shot - A shot taken from below, like the audience is being looked down on. Makes the audience feel vulnerable and the actors seem powerful.

Panning - Camera moves in an arc from a fixed point.

Tracking - The camera is on tracks and follows the action, often used only left and right.

Zoom - Camera moves in to a close up, used to focus attention on something such as detail or a characters reaction.

Diegetic Sound - Music/Sound effect that comes from the scene.

Non-Diegetic Sound - Music/Sound effect that is added to the film during editing.

Denotation - What you can see

Connotation - The implied meaning