Period 5 - Week 1 - Glossary of Media Terms

Glossary of Media Terms

Composition – where objects are placed or arranged in a shot.

Rule of thirds – when looking at a shot imagine a grid over the top of it – the points of interest are often when the lines cross. In the picture, the lines cross where the tussle is going.

Again in the picture on the left, the points of interests occur when the lines cross. This is called the Golden Mean.

Framing – this is what you choose to include in the shot and what you leave out. What you leave out can be more important, as in thriller films there is a lot left out to increase the tension.

Extreme Long Shot (ELS) – the subject is not clearly visible but it shows the surroundings of the subject. It shows the audience where the action is going to be taking place and can be good if said action is going to be widespread.

Long Shot (LS) – In this shot the subject of the picture takes up almost all of the shot – the person’s feet are almost at the bottom and the head is almost at the top. It is most often used to show the character in their environment, for example in this picture you can see he is sitting on a bench in front of a wall, possibly in a public place.

Mid shot (MS) – this shot shows the subject in some detail while still allowing the audience to see some surroundings. It’s almost like having a conversation as you focus on the top half of their body as the bottom is irrelevant. It is a good shot to have someone speaking without too much emotion. This is often used when you see someone making an announcement like on the news, and also allows for hand movements and gestures.

A medium close up is half way between a mid shot and a close up, and it shows the face more clearly without getting uncomfortably close to the subject.

Close up (CU) - makes the face or a part of the subject take up most of the frame, and is useful for taking up most of the frame. It emphasises their emotional state and shares the feelings with the viewer.

Extreme Close Up (ECU) - used to get right in and show much more detail. There would have to be a specific reason to come in this close, for example reaction to dramatic scenes, or to show important detail on a subject.

Cutaway (CA) – A cutaway shot is one that is used to show something other than the current action. It could be a different subject or a close up of a different part of the subject. It is used as a buffer between shots or to add interest/information.

Two shot - A two shot is mostly used to show a relationship between two people, like in this picture. If you see two news presenters together then they are going to be co-hosts. If they are next to each other it normally implies that they will equally contribute to the scene.

It is a good way to follow interaction between people without getting distracted by their surroundings.

An Over the Shoulder shot is framed behind one person who is looking at the subject. The person who you see from behind normally takes up about 1/3 of the shot so you’re still able to see them clearly. It establishes the expression and feelings of the other person being looked at and quite often is cut from view to view during a conversation.

A Noddy Shot is common in interviews; it shows a person listening to the subject. It is also common in an interview to take videos of the listener nodding to keep the fluidity of the interview fairly clean.

Point of view shot – this is used to show what the subject can see and there is often a clear indication of this, for example in this picture, the biker’s hand.

Low angle shot – it is taken from below the subject looking up at it. It gives a scale of power, size or authority. It makes the viewer feel inferior.

High angle shot – it is taken from above the subject and gives them a sense of inferiority, it puts the viewer in a position of power and superiority.

A pan shot is used to show the subject moving along; it gives the viewer a sense of particular action and speed. It always tends to go from left to right and is mostly done on a tripod to give a smooth movement.

A tracking shot is a camera that moves on a dolly and follows the subject. Like a pan, it also gives a sense of moving with the action or the speed.

Tilt – a tilt is when the camera pans up and down on a particular shot, it gives a sense of size and height.

Dutch angle shot – it is not straight towards the subject, and it often gives a sense of chaos, insanity or things being out of the ordinary.

Arial shot – The camera is positioned in a plane or helicopter to get an extra long shot/high angle shot. It gives a sense of location, scale and size. 

Crane shot – The camera takes a high angle shot looking down on the subject. The crane can track, pan and tilt.