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Video production terms you need to know
Explore our comprehensive glossary of video making and video production terms, designed to enhance your understanding and mastery of the art and science of making compelling videos.
Welcome to our comprehensive guide on video production terms.
This glossary is designed to help you navigate the complex world of video making with ease.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, understanding these essential video production terms will enhance your ability to create captivating and professional-quality content. Dive in and explore the key concepts and terminology that are fundamental to the art of video production.
Production terms
Camera terms
Lighting terms
Audio terms
Types of Shots terms (aka Camera Movement)
Post-production terms
Video Editing
Audio Editing
Pre-Production
Blocking
Blocking is an essential part of the pre-production planning process. Blocking is the precise staging and movement of actors within a scene, coordinated by the director.
Call Sheet
A document distributed to the cast and crew detailing the daily schedule, scenes to be filmed, and locations.
Continuity
Ensuring that visual and narrative elements remain consistent throughout a film or video. This includes maintaining the same positions, props, and wardrobe across different shots.
Director of Photography
The chief cinematographer responsible for the visual aspects of a film, including lighting, camera work, and shot composition.
Logline
A brief summary of a film or video project, usually one or two sentences, highlighting the main plot and hook.
Master Shot
A continuous shot that captures the entire scene from start to finish, serving as a reference for the action and dialogue.
Pre-production
The planning stage of video production, involving scriptwriting, storyboarding, casting, location scouting, and budgeting.
Scene
A continuous block of storytelling in a single location and time frame, often marked by a change in setting or time.
Script Supervisor
A crew member responsible for maintaining continuity, tracking script changes, and ensuring all scenes are correctly filmed.
Shot List
A detailed plan of all the shots needed for a scene or project, including descriptions, camera angles, and movements.
Storyboard
A visual representation of the scenes in a video, created with sketches or images to plan the shot sequence and composition.
Treatment
A detailed description of a film or video project, outlining the plot, characters, and key scenes, used for pitching and development.
Production
Camera Terms
Aerial Shot
A shot taken from a high vantage point, often using drones or helicopters, to provide a bird’s-eye view of the scene.
Camera Angle
The perspective from which the camera captures the scene, influencing the audience’s perception and emotional response.
Camera Movement
The motion of the camera during a shot, including panning, tilting, dollying, and tracking, used to add dynamism and focus.
Deep Focus
A cinematography technique where both the foreground and background are in sharp focus, allowing the viewer to see multiple layers of the scene.
Dolly Shot
A shot achieved by moving the camera along a track or wheeled platform, creating smooth, controlled motion.
Dutch Angle
A tilted camera shot that creates a sense of unease or tension, often used in dramatic or action scenes.
Gimbal
A pivoted support that allows the camera to remain stable while moving, providing smooth and steady shots.
Insert Shot
A close-up shot of a specific detail within a scene, often used to highlight important objects or actions.
Script Supervisor
A crew member responsible for maintaining continuity, tracking script changes, and ensuring all scenes are correctly filmed.
Lens Flare
A visual effect caused by light reflecting within the lens, creating bright spots or streaks on the image.
Low Angle Shot
A shot taken from a low position, looking up at the subject, often used to make the subject appear powerful or imposing.
Over-the-Shoulder Shot
A shot framed over a character’s shoulder, showing another character or action, commonly used in dialogue scenes.
POV (Point of View) Shot
A shot that shows the scene from a character’s perspective, immersing the audience in their viewpoint.
Rack Focus
A technique where the focus shifts from one subject to another within the same shot, directing the viewer’s attention.
Steadicam
A stabilizing mount for a camera that allows for smooth, fluid movement, often used for dynamic tracking shots.
Tilt
A vertical camera movement, pivoting up or down from a fixed position to reveal or follow action.
Tracking Shot
A shot that follows the subject as it moves, often achieved with a dolly or Steadicam for smooth motion.
Whip Pan
A fast panning movement that creates a blurred effect, often used to transition between scenes or emphasize rapid action.
Zoom
A camera function that changes the focal length to make the subject appear closer or farther away without moving the camera.
Zoom Lens
A camera lens with a variable focal length, allowing the operator to zoom in and out on a subject without changing the lens.
Lighting Terms
Gaffer
The chief electrician on a film set, responsible for the lighting setup and electrical distribution.
Key Light
The primary light source used to illuminate the subject, defining the overall lighting setup and creating shadows.
Three-Point Lighting
A lighting technique using three light sources: key light, fill light, and backlight, to create depth and dimension in the shot.
Audio Terms
Audio Mixing
The process of adjusting and combining individual audio tracks into a final version. This includes balancing levels, panning, and applying effects.
Boom Microphone
A directional microphone mounted on a boom pole, used to capture sound from a specific area while minimizing background noise.
Lavalier Microphone
A small, clip-on microphone used for hands-free audio recording, often attached to the subject’s clothing.
Shotgun Microphone
A highly directional microphone used to capture sound from a specific area while minimizing background noise.
Sync Sound
Audio recorded in sync with the video, ensuring that dialogue and sound effects match the on-screen action.
Types of Shots terms (aka Camera Movement)
A/B Roll
Footage from two separate cameras, often used to provide coverage from different angles or perspectives during editing.
B Roll
Supplementary footage used to enrich the main video. It often includes cutaways and additional visuals to support the story.
Close-Up
A tightly framed shot that focuses on a subject’s face or a specific detail. This shot is used to convey emotions or emphasize important elements.
Cutaway
A shot that interrupts the main action to show a related detail or reaction, often used to provide context or emphasize a point.
Establishing Shot
A wide shot that sets up the context for a scene by showing the relationship between the subjects and their environment.
Eye Level Shot
A shot taken at the subject’s eye level, creating a natural and relatable perspective.
Long Shot
A shot that captures the entire subject and their surroundings, providing context and showing the full scene.
Reverse Shot
A shot that shows the opposite perspective of the previous shot, often used in dialogue scenes to show both speakers.
Wide Shot
A shot that captures a broad view of the scene, showing the subject and its surroundings in full.
Post-Production
Video Editing
ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)
The process of re-recording dialogue in a studio to replace or improve the original audio recorded on set.
Chroma Key
A visual effects technique that involves filming a subject against a green or blue screen, which is later replaced with different background footage during editing.
Color Correction
The process of adjusting the color balance of footage to achieve natural and consistent colors across a video.
Color Grading
Enhancing or altering the color of a video to achieve a specific look or mood. This is often done in post-production.
Cross Dissolve
A transition effect where one shot gradually fades into another, often used to signify the passage of time or a change in location.
Editing
The process of selecting, arranging, and assembling video clips to create a coherent and engaging narrative.
J-Cut
A type of editing cut where the audio from the next scene starts before the video, creating a seamless audio transition.
Jump Cut
An abrupt transition between two shots that creates a jarring effect, often used to convey the passage of time or for stylistic purposes.
L-Cut
A type of editing cut where the audio from the current scene continues into the next scene, maintaining audio continuity.
Montage
A sequence of short shots edited together to condense time, convey information, or create an emotional impact.
Post-Production
The phase of video production that occurs after filming, including editing, sound design, visual effects, and color grading.
Rendering
The process of generating the final video file from edited footage, applying effects, transitions, and adjustments.
Rough Cut
An early version of the edited video, including the basic structure and sequence but lacking final polish and effects.
Superimpose
The process of layering one image over another, often used for titles, graphics, or visual effects.
Transition
An effect used to move from one shot to another, such as a cut, dissolve, or wipe.
VFX (Visual Effects)
Computer-generated imagery or digital effects added to a film or video to enhance or create elements that are not possible to capture in-camera.
Video Codec
A software or hardware method for compressing and decompressing video files, such as H.264 or HEVC.
Video Compression
The process of reducing the file size of a video by removing redundant data, balancing quality and storage needs.
Video Editing Software
Programs used to edit video footage, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve.
Audio Editing
Dub
The process of adding or replacing dialogue and sound effects in a film or video, often used for translations or corrections.
Foley
The art of creating and recording sound effects to enhance the audio track of a film or video, named after sound effects artist Jack Foley.
Sound Design
The process of creating the auditory elements of a film or video, including dialogue, sound effects, and music.
Sound Mixing
The blending of multiple audio tracks into a cohesive final mix, balancing levels, and applying effects.
Sweetening
The process of enhancing the audio track of a video, including adjusting levels, adding effects, and improving clarity.
Voice-over
Voice-over is narration or commentary added to a video, often recorded separately and synchronized with the visuals. This technique is commonly used in documentaries, instructional videos, and advertisements to provide additional information or context.