| A | B |
|---|
| Establishing Shot (ES)/Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)/Extreme Long Shot (ELS)/Very Wide Shot (VWS)/Very Long Shot (VLS) | “Opening image of a program or scene. Used to establish a setting or sense of place. Shot is captured very far away from the subject." |
| Wide Shot (WS)/Long Shot (LS)/Full Shot (FS) | "Captures all of the subject, this shot generally establishes the size of the subject relative to place (for example a person from head to toe)." |
| Medium Shot (MS) Medium Two Shot/Medium Close Up (MCU) | “Defines any camera perspective between long shot and close up. This shot captures half of the subject, generally seen from waist to head for a person." |
| Close Up (CU) | "This shot focuses in closely on the subject. Used most frequently with people during interviews." |
| Aerial Shot/Bird’s Eye View/High Angle Shot | “A shot filmed from high above the subject. It can diminish or lessen the subject as if being looked down on.” |
| Eye Level | “A shot at the subject from eye level. The shot establishes balance and equality.” |
| Low Angle | "A shot that is just below the subject, looking up at them. This shot is used to make subjects look larger and more powerful, for example the President is usually shot from a low angle." |
| Oblique Angle | “A shot filmed with the frame angled off center or tilted. Often used in horror movies. Generally used to create the feeling of imbalance." |
| Point of View Shot (POV) | “Shot perspective whereby the video camera assumes a subject's view and thus the viewers see what the subject sees.” |
| Cut Away/Insert | “Shot other than the principal action (but peripherally related)" |
| Over the Shoulder (OTS) | “View of the primary subject with the back of another person's shoulder and head in the foreground." |
| Reaction Shot (Noddy) | “Cutaway view showing someone's or something's response to primary action/subject.” |
| Two Shot | “A camera view including two subjects." |
| Three Shot | “Camera view including three subjects." |
| Tripod | “A three-legged piece of equipment that is used to steady camera shots.” |
| Handheld | “Used in reality and documentary productions." |
| Pan | “Horizontal camera pivot." |
| Tilt | “Vertical camcorder rotation (up and down) from a single axis." |
| Zoom | “Variance of focal length from wide-angle to telephoto." |
| Track (Truck) | “Lateral camcorder movement that travels with a moving subject. The camcorder should maintain a regulated distance from the subject.” |
| Dolly | “Camera movement toward or away from a subject. Effect may appear same as zooming." |
| Pedestal | “A camera move vertically lowering or raising the camcorder." |
| Boom | “Camera move above or below subject with the aid of a balanced ‘boom arm'." |
| Rule of Thirds | “Composition theory based on dividing the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally and the placement of the main subject along those lines.” |
| Leading Lines | “Leading lines are lines within an image that leads the eye to another point in the image." |
| Horizontal lines | “Lines that are calm and denote stability. The horizon is the most common." |
| Vertical lines | “Lines that denote height." |
| Diagonal lines | “Lines that are dynamic and they create energy and motion in the image. A diagonal line can bring life to a boring image. If there is no natural diagonal line in the image you can easily create one by tilting the camera so the line appears to be vertical." |
| Curved lines | “Lines that have a kind of beauty and charm. A curved line in an image could be made of a river or a winding road.” |
| Lead Room | “The idea here is that viewers want to see where a moving object is going--not where it has been. " |
| Head Room | “Space between the top of a subject's head and a monitor's upper-screen edge. Too much headroom makes the subject appear to fall out of the frame.” |
| Nose Room | “The distance between the subject and the edge of the frame in the direction the subject is looking. Also called ‘look room.’” |
| Natural Frames | “Where items being photographed are used as internal frames. These photographed frames can be natural such as trees." |
| Balance | “There are basically two types of balance in photography. The first is formal balance (symmetrical), the second is informal (asymmetrical)." |
| 180 Degree Rule | “An imaginary line drawn between two subjects or along a line of motion to maintain continuity of screen direction. Crossing it from one shot to the next creates an error in continuity.” |
| Extreme Close Up (ECU) | "Goes in even closer to the subject than the Close-Up Shot and is used to focus on details or to make a more interesting shot." |
