This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described.

Basic definitions of terms

;

180-degree rule Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the shor ...

:A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within a scene are all shot with the camera on one side of the two actors so that a coherent spatial relationship and

eyeline match An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. An eyeline match begins with a character looking at so ...

are maintained. ;Airborne shot :A shot taken from an aerial device, generally while moving. This technique has gained popularity in recent years due to the popularity and growing availability of drones. ;Arc :A dolly shot where the camera moves in an arc along a circular or elliptical radius in relation to the subject ("arc left" or "arc right") ; Backlighting (lighting design) :The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera. ;Bridging shot :A shot used to cover a jump in time or place or other discontinuity. Examples are a clock face showing advancing time, falling calendar pages, railroad wheels, newspaper headlines and seasonal changes. Bridge shots are also used to avoid jump cuts when inserting a pick-up. ;

Camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

:The point of view or viewing position adopted by the camera with respect to its subject. Most common types are :* High-angle shot (the camera is higher than its subject) :* Low-angle shot (the camera is lower than its subject) ;

Close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, photography, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot (filmmaking), shot that tightly film frame, frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard s ...

: A frame depicting the human head or an object of similar size. ;Cut : An editorial transition signified by the immediate replacement of one shot with another. ;

Cross-cutting Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultan ...

:Cutting between different events occurring simultaneously in different locations. Especially in narrative filmmaking, cross-cutting is traditionally used to build suspense or to suggest a thematic relationship between two sets of actions. ; Continuity editing :An editorial style that preserves the illusion of undisrupted time and space across editorial transitions (especially cuts). ;

Deep focus Deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image, or how much of it appears sharp and clear. In deep focus, the foreground, middle ground, and b ...

:A technique in which objects in the extreme foreground and objects in the extreme background are kept equally in focus. ; Dissolve :An editorial transition overlapping a fade in and a fade out in such a way that one image gradually disappears while another simultaneously emerges. This transition generally suggest a longer period of narrative elapses than is suggested by cuts. ; Camera Dolly :A wheeled cart or similar device upon which a movie camera is mounted to give it smooth, horizontal mobility. ;Dollying or Dolly shot :A shot in which the camera moves horizontally either toward or away from its subject, or right or left in relation to the subject. Traditionally dolly shots are filmed from a camera dolly but the same motion may also be performed with a

Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...

, gimbal, etc. A dolly shot is generally described in terms of "dollying in" or "dollying out". Also known as

trucking Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...

in and out, or right and left. ; Dolly zoom :A powerful and dramatic effect produced by simultaneously trucking in or out while synchronously zooming out or in. ;

Editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

:The selection and organization of shots into a series, usually in the interest of creating larger cinematic units. Adding music is also a great way to make it more cinematic ;

Ellipsis (linguistics) In linguistics, ellipsis (from el, ἔλλειψις, ''élleipsis'' 'omission') or an elliptical construction is the omission from a clause of one or more words that are nevertheless understood in the context of the remaining elements. There a ...

:A term referring to "chunks" of time left out of a narrative, signaled in filmmaking by editorial transitions ;

Establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...

:A shot, often a long shot, usually placed at the beginning of a scene to establish the general location of the specific action to follow. This shot is also known as an Extreme Long Shot. ;

Eyeline match An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. An eyeline match begins with a character looking at so ...

:A type of continuity editorial match involving two or more, sequential shots in which the preceding shot contains an agent (a person, animal, etc.) gazing in the direction of some unseen, off-screen vision, and following shot(s) contains an image presumed by the spectator to be the object of the agent's gaze. This technique is an important consideration in dialogues where actors are talking to each other. (Contrast with Over the shoulder shot; See also 180 degree rule) ;Extreme close-up :A shot framed so closely as to show only a portion of the face or of some object. ;Extreme long shot :A shot in which the human figure would be extremely insignificant compared to its surroundings. :A panoramic view photographed from a considerable distance and made up essentially of landscape or distant background. ;Fade in/out :An editorial transition in which the image either gradually appears out of ("fade in") or gradually fades into ("fade out") a black screen. ; Fill light :An auxiliary light placed to the side of the subject that softens shadows and illuminates areas not lit by the key light (see "key light"). ; Flashback :A scene or sequence inserted into a scene set in the narrative present that images some event set in the past. ; Flash forward :A scene or sequence inserted into a scene set in the narrative present that images some event set in the future. ;Focus :The optical clarity or precision of an image relative to normal human vision. Focus in photographic images is usually expressed in terms of depth. ;Framing :The placement of subjects and other visual content with respect to the boundaries of the image. ;Hand-held shot :A shot where the camera is hand-carried, either with or without a

. If done without a steadicam, the effect is a shaky image which conveys an amateurish or urgent affect. ; Inter-title :A piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e. inter-) the photographed action at various points. Most commonly used in silent movies to convey elements of dialogue and other commentary. ;Iris in/out :An editorial transition popular during the silent period utilizing a diaphragm placed in front of the lens and which, when opened (iris in) or closed (iris out), functions like a fade in or fade out. A partially opened iris can also be used to focus attention on a detail of the scene in the manner of

vignetting In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation toward the periphery compared to the image center. The word '' vignette'', from the same root as ''vine'', originally referred to a decorative bord ...

. ;

Jump cut A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subj ...

:An editorial transition between two shots in which the illusion of temporal continuity is radically disrupted. ;Key light :The main light on a subject, usually placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera-subject axis. In high-key lighting, the key light provides all or most of the light in the scene. In low-key lighting, the key light provides much less of the total illumination. ; Long shot :A shot in which the human figure would be relatively insignificant compared to its surroundings. ; Master shot :A shot, often a medium shot or longer, which shows all the important action in a scene. In editing, the master can be used to a greater or lesser extent as the 'skeleton' of the edit, which is fleshed out by replacing parts of the master with tighter coverage such as

closeup A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...

s and cutaways. ;Match cut :One of various editorial devices used to preserve a sense of spatio-temporal integrity or continuity between cuts. ;Medium close-up :A shot depicting the human figure from approximately the chest up. ;Medium shot :A shot depicting the human figure from approximately the waist up. ; Mise en scène :Everything that has been placed in front of or is revealed by the camera while shooting. ; Over the shoulder shot :A shot where the camera is placed above the back of the shoulder and head of a subject. This shot is most commonly used to present conversational back and forth between two subjects. With the camera placed behind one character, the shot then frames the sequence from the perspective of that character ;Pan :A shot in which the camera is made to pivot horizontally left or right (about its vertical axis) while filming. Pans are always described in terms of "panning left" or "panning right". It is incorrect to discuss pans in terms of vertical, "up"/"down" movement, which is properly called tilting. ;

Point of view shot A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positi ...

:(Often abbreviated as 'POV'). A shot which shows an image from the specific point of view of a character in the film. ;

Racking focus A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers t ...

:A shot employing shallow focus in which the focal distance changes so that the background is gradually brought into focus while the foreground is gradually taken out of focus or visa versa. ;Reverse angle :In a dialogue scene, a shot of the second participant understood as the opposing or "reverse" view of the shot showing the first participant. ;Scene :A unit of narration generally composed of a series of shots that takes place in a single location and concerns a central action. ;Shot :* 1.) The image produced by a motion picture camera from the time it begins shooting until the time it stops shooting. :* 2.) (in an edited film) the uninterrupted record of time and space depicted between editorial transitions. ;Static Frame :The camera focus and angle stay completely still, usually with a locked off tripod, and the scene continues motion. Not to be confused with a still frame where the scene is also static or frozen. ;

:A lightweight, highly-mobile camera transportation and stabilization device developed by inventor / cinematographer Garrett Brown which permits hand-held filming with an image steadiness comparable to tracking or dolly shots. The device involves 1.) a vest redistributing the weight of the camera to the hips of the cameraman and, 2.) a spring-loaded arm working to minimize the effects of camera movement. A video tap simultaneously frees the camera operator from the eyepiece, who is then free to travel through any walkable terrain while filming. ;Story board :A series of drawings and captions (sometimes resembling a comic strip) that shows the planned shot divisions and camera movements of the film. ;Tilt :A shot in which the camera is made to pivot vertically up or down (about its horizontal transverse axis) while filming. ;

Tracking shot A tracking shot is any Shot (filmmaking), shot where the film camera, camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly ...

/traveling shot :A shot in which the camera moves alongside or parallel to its subject. Traditionally tracking shots are filmed while the camera is mounted on a track dolly and rolled on dedicated tracks comparable to railroad tracks, In recent years, however, parallel camera moves performed with a

, gimbal, etc. may also be called a tracking shot. Tracking shots often "follow" a subject while it is in motion: for instance, a person walking on a sidewalk seen from the perspective of somebody walking on a parallel path several feet away. Shots taken from moving vehicles that run parallel to another moving object are also referred to as tracking or traveling shots. A tracking shot may also be curved, moving around its subject in a semi-circular rotation, known specifically as an arc or arc shot. ;Truck :Truck-right, truck-left, truck-in, truck-out (see

Dolly shot A tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly that is then placed on rails � ...

) ; Two shot : A shot in which the frame encompasses two people, typically but not exclusively a medium shot. ; Whip pan :A type of pan shot in which the camera pans so quickly that the resulting image is badly blurred. It is sometimes used as an editorial transition and is also known as a ''swish pan'' or "flash pan." ; Whip zoom :An unusually quick but continuous zoom in or out. ; Wipe :An optical editorial transition in which an image appears to be pushed or "wiped" to one aside of the screen to make way for the next. ; Zoom :A shot taken from a stationary position using a special

zoom lens A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (see prime lens). A true zoom lens, also called a parfocal lens, is one t ...

that magnifies or de-magnifies the center of the image. This creates an illusion that the camera is moving toward or away from its subject by making the subject more or less prominent in the frame. Not to be confused with ''dollying'' in which the camera itself actually physically moves closer to or further away from its subject.

Cinematography

Movement and expression

Movement can be used extensively by film makers to make meaning. It is how a scene is put together to produce an image. A famous example of this, which uses "dance" extensively to communicate meaning and emotion, is the film,

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

. Provided in this alphabetised list of film techniques used in

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...

. There are a variety of expressions: *

Aerial perspective Aerial perspective, or atmospheric perspective, refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its b ...

Aerial shot Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art *Aerial silk ...

American shot "American shot" or "cowboy shot" is a translation of a phrase from French film criticism, '','' and refers to a medium-long ("knee") film shot of a group of characters, who are arranged so that all are visible to the camera. The usual arrangeme ...

Angle of view The angle of view is the decisive variable for the visual perception of the size or projection of the size of an object. Angle of view and perception of size The perceived size of an object depends on the size of the image projected onto the ...

* Bird's eye shot *

Bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a d ...

* Boom shot * B-roll *

* Camera coverage * Camera dolly *

Camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmak ...

Camera tracking In visual effects, match moving is a technique that allows the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage with correct position, scale, orientation, and motion relative to the photographed objects in the shot. The term is used loos ...

Crane shot Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...

* Dolly zoom * Dutch angle *

Film frame In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a frame is one of the many '' still images'' which compose the complete '' moving picture''. The term is derived from the historical development of film stock, in which the sequenti ...

Filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...

* Follow shot * Forced perspective * Freeze-frame shot * Full frame *

Full shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surrou ...

Hanging miniature Hanging miniature is an in-camera special effect similar to a matte shot where a model, rather than a painting, is placed in the foreground and the action takes place in the background. It is thus a specific form of forced perspective. Desc ...

Head shot A head shot or headshot is a modern (usually digital) portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, the 'about us page' of a cor ...

* High-angle shot * Long shot *

Long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate bl ...

* Low-angle shot * Master shot * Medium shot *

Money shot A money shot is a moving or stationary visual element of a film, video, television broadcast, or print publication that is disproportionately expensive to produce or is perceived as essential to the overall importance or revenue-generating poten ...

Multiple-camera setup The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneou ...

One shot (music video) This is a list of one-shot music videos filmed in one long take by a single camera or manufactured to give the impression it was. One of the most famous music video directors for this genre is Michel Gondry, who has done many of his videos in th ...

* Over the shoulder shot *

Panning (camera) In cinematography and photography panning means swivelling a still or video camera horizontally from a fixed position. This motion is similar to the motion of a person when they turn their head on their neck from left to right. In the resulting ...

Rack focusing A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers to ...

Reaction shot In film production, cinematography and video production, a reaction shot is a shot which cuts away from the main scene in order to show the reaction of a character to it, a basic unit of film grammar. A reaction shot usually implies the display of ...

Shot (filmmaking) In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and mo ...

Shot reverse shot Shot/reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character (a or ). Since the characters are ...

Single-camera setup The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinem ...

SnorriCam A SnorriCam (also chestcam, body mount/bodymount, or bodycam) is a camera device used in filmmaking that is rigged to the body of the actor, with the camera facing the actor directly so that they appear in a fixed position in the center of the ...

* Stalker vision *

Tilt (camera) Tilting is a cinematographic technique in which the camera stays in a fixed position but rotates up/down in a vertical plane. Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone raising or lowering their head to look up or down. It i ...

Top-down perspective A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...

* Trunk shot * Two shot *

Video production Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...

* Walk and talk * Whip pan *

Worm's-eye view A worm's-eye view is a view of an object from below, as though the observer were a worm; the opposite of a bird's-eye view. It can be used to look up to something to make an object look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels childlike ...

Lighting technique and aesthetics

Background light A background light is used to illuminate the background area of a set. The background light will also provide separation between the subject and the background. Many lighting setups follow a three-point lighting or four-point lighting setup. Fou ...

ing *

Cameo lighting Cameo lighting in film is a spotlight that accentuates a single person and maybe a few props in a scene Scene (from Greek σκηνή ''skēnḗ'') may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Scene (subculture), a youth subculture fro ...

* Fill light * Flood lighting *

High-key lighting High-key lighting is a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal w ...

* Key lighting * Lens flare *

Low-key lighting Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It is a necessary element in creating a chiaroscuro effect. Traditional photographic lighting ( three-point lighting) uses a key light, a fill light and a back light ...

Mood lighting Mood lighting is igniting or illumination, designed to create a temporary state of mind or feeling. Effects of lighting on humans Field studies have shown in office settings that blue-enriched lighting over the course of several weeks can lead ...

Rembrandt lighting Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography and cinematography; it is also used in contrast with butterfly lighting It can be achieved using one light and a reflector, or two lights, and is p ...

Stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

* Soft light To achieve the results mentioned above, a Lighting Director may use a number or combination of Video Lights. These may include the Redhead or Open-face unit, The Fresnel Light, which gives you a little more control over the spill, or The Dedolight, which provides a more efficient light output and a beam which is easier to control.

Editing and transitional devices

* A-roll * B-roll *

* Cutaway * Dissolve *

* Fast cutting * Flashback *

Insert Insert may refer to: *Insert (advertising) *Insert (composites) *Insert (effects processing) *Insert (filmmaking) *Insert key on a computer keyboard, used to switch between insert mode and overtype mode *Insert (molecular biology) *Insert (SQL) *Fi ...

* J cut ("Split edit") *

* Keying * L cut ("Split edit") * Master shot * Match cut * Montage *

* Screen direction * Sequence shot *

Smash cut A smash cut is a technique in film and other moving picture media where one scene abruptly cuts to another for aesthetic, narrative, or emotional purpose. To this end, the smash cut usually occurs at a crucial moment in a scene where a cut would ...

Slow cutting Slow cutting is a film editing technique which uses shots of long duration. Though it depends on context, it is estimated that any shot longer than about fifteen seconds will seem rather slow to many modern-day viewers, especially those who ar ...

Split screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing), dividing graphics into adjacent parts * Split screen (video production), the visible division of the screen * ''Split Screen'' (TV series), 1997–2001 * Split-Screen Level, a bug in the vid ...

SMPTE timecode SMPTE timecode ( or ) is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a timecode. The system is defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification. SMPTE revised ...

* Wipe

Special effects (FX)

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pic ...

for movie history * Bluescreen/

Chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

Bullet time Bullet time (also known as frozen moment, dead time, flow motion or time slice) is a visual effect or visual impression of detaching the time and space of a camera (or viewer) from those of its visible subject. It is a depth enhanced simulation of ...

Computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

Digital compositing Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. It is the digital analogue of optical film compositing. Mathematics The basic operation us ...

Optical effects Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously c ...

Stereoscopy Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image i ...

for 3D technical details *

Stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

* Stop trick

Sound

Sound is used extensively in filmmaking to enhance presentation, and is distinguished into diegetic and non-diegetic sound: *Diegetic sound is heard by both the characters and audience. Also called "literal sound" or "actual sound". Examples include **Voices of characters; **Sounds made by objects in the story, e.g. heart beats of a person ** Source music, represented as coming from instruments in the story space. **Basic sound effects, e.g. dog barking, car passing; as it is in the scene **Music coming from reproduction devices such as record players, radios, tape players etc. * Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside the story space, i.e. its source is neither visible on the screen, nor has been implied to be present in the action. Also called "non-literal sound" or "commentary sound". Examples include: **Narrator's commentary; **Sound effects added for dramatic effect; **Mood music **

Film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

Sound effects

In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point, without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process, applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, the segregations between recordings of dialogue, music, and sound effects can be quite distinct, and it is important to understand that in such contexts, dialogue, and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, though the processes applied to them, such as

reverberation Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and no ...

, often are. Necessary incidental units of sound, footsteps, keys, a polishing sound, are created in the foley studio.

Techniques in interactive movies

New techniques currently being developed in

interactive movie Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", bu ...

s, introduce an extra dimension into the experience of viewing movies, by allowing the viewer to change the course of the movie. In traditional linear movies, the author can carefully construct the plot, roles, and characters to achieve a specific effect on the audience.

Interactivity Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

, however, introduces non-linearity into the movie, such that the author no longer has complete control over the story, but must now share control with the viewer. There is an inevitable trade-off between the desire of the viewer for freedom to experience the movie in different ways, and the desire of the author to employ specialized techniques to control the presentation of the story.

Computer technology Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

is required to create the illusion of freedom for the viewer, while providing familiar, as well as, new cinematic techniques to the author.

References

External links

Interactive Movies
a
FilmSound.orgCinematic Technique Blog

Audiovisual Compendium of Film Terminology
{{Film crew Filmmaking