Film Studies key terms

A camera that remains in a fixed position rather than moving through the scene.

A camera stabilising system worn by an operator that reduces the effect of their body movements, allowing smooth moving shots.

A question divided into linked parts that move from a short identification to explanation and extended exploration.

A simplified, familiar image of a group that attributes particular characteristics or behaviours to its members.

All the events in a narrative world, including earlier events and events that spectators infer, considered in chronological order.

An immediate transition from one shot to another, without a fade or dissolve.

Watching or listening to content delivered over the internet as it plays, without first downloading the complete file.

The Hollywood organisation of filmmaking around powerful studios that brought together contracted performers, creative staff and production facilities.

Recurring formal choices or concerns that make a filmmaker’s work recognisable.

A narrower category within a broader genre, with more specific conventions, such as vampire horror within horror.

The domination of a group through force or control, denying its members freedom and power.

Challenging or undermining an established expectation, belief or convention.

To undermine or overturn an established expectation, such as a stereotype about how a character should behave.

A small-gauge film format associated with amateur home movies; its recognisable appearance can evoke personal memory and nostalgia.

An effect that places one image over another so that both are visible.

An object, image or sound that carries a meaning beyond its literal role.

An arrangement within a shot in which the two sides appear balanced around a central axis.

A composition in which elements are balanced on either side of the frame, often suggesting order or control.

The matching of sound and image in time, so that sounds coincide with the actions that appear to produce them, such as speech matching mouth movements.

Recorded sound played in time with the film image, so that sounds such as speech match the action seen on screen.

A film with recorded, synchronised speech, particularly associated with the transition from silent cinema in the late 1920s.

The technologies available when a film is made and how they influence its production and, sometimes, its story.

A film genre centred on young people’s experiences, often exploring identity, peer pressure, relationships and conflict with adults.

A central idea explored by a film, such as belonging, temptation or family loyalty.

A way of understanding narrative through three broad phases: setup, confrontation and resolution.

A shot containing three characters within the same frame.

A colour-film process that recorded separate colour information on three strips of black-and-white film and used dye transfer to create the colour image.