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  • Writer's pictureCeleste

Filming Terminology


Either you're in the filmmaking mindset, or you're not. It goes back and forth, for me. If we have a shoot coming up, usually around two weeks prior to crunch time I will suddenly flip into the filmmaking mindset. The more time you spend among film people and the deeper you get into the filmmaking circuit the easier it comes to you, and there is a sure-fire way to tell if you are in the mindset or not. You start to think in this language:

Script

Audio

Casting

Crew Call

Audition Tape

INT

EXT

A/V

Pre-production

Beat

Storyboarding

Inciting Incident

Props

Key Grip

Gaffer

Talent

CO

DoP

Cinematographer

Producer

Director

Extras

Production Designer

Script Supervisor

Actor

Sound Engineer

Colourist Production

Equipment

Gimbal

Tripod

Slider

Boom Pole

DSLR

T3i

T4i

SL2

D-mark II

50 mm

85 mm

18-55 mm

24 mm

Telephoto

Recorder

Bezeless

Shotgun Mic

Condenser Mic

Cardioid Polar Pattern

Monitor

Rode

H1N

H4N

Tripod

Wide-angle

ND Filter

Wind Muff

5 in 1

Diffuser

Reflector

Dead Cat

Lens

Lens Cap

Crane

NTG

Dolly

Clapper Board

Continuity

Shots

Blocking

Pan

Zoom

A-Roll

B-Roll

Wild Track

OTS

Short Sighting

Look Room

F-Stop

HDR

ISO

White Balance

Depth of Field

Dynamic Range

Aperture

Full-Frame

Mirrorless

4K

8K

Pre Amp

Rule of Thirds

The 180

On Rehearsal

Background

Action

Back to Ones

Hot Set

Sparking

MOS

Decibels

Key Light

Rim Light

Fill Light

Catch Light

Broad Light

Short Light

Cross Lighting

Flat Lighting

Butterfly Lighting

Loop Lighting

Split Lighting

Rembrandt Lighting

Checkerboard Lighting

Broad Side

Short Side

High Key

Low Key

Drop Shadow

Halo Effect

Lamp Left/Right

Camera Left/Right

Talent Left/Right

On Set

Peaking

BTS

Rolling

Speeding

Green Screen

Kicker

Cinematic

Wrap

Ambient Sound

Post-production

ADR

Resolution

Pixels

Bit-rate

Pop Filter

Glitch

Digital Noise

Export

Render

Crossfade

Stabilizer

Hard Drive

Cut

Timeline

Aliasing

In Post

Hard Cut

Cold Open

Colour Grade

Anamorphic Crop

Foley

If you feel like you know what some of these words might mean, be advised (and beware) that the video world steals words and makes them mean something else entirely. And, these are only the words I've actually heard used and sort of understand what they mean. There are many more.

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