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Who Does What on a Film Set?

Production
“Production” is generally not considered a department as such, but rather as a series of functional groups. These include
the "front office" staff such as the Production Manager, the Production Coordinator, and their assistants; the accounting
staff; the various Assistant Directors; and sometimes the Locations Manager and their assistants. The Director is
considered to be a separate entity, not within the departmental structure.
• Producer
A film producer creates the conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, coordinates, supervises, and
controls matters such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. The producer is
involved throughout all phases of the film making process from development to completion of a project.
• Executive Producer
An executive producer is usually an investor in the project or just a credit that the filmmaker gave to someone
who paid for the credit. There may be multiple executive producers on a project, depending on the financing
arrangements.
• Production Manager
The production manager supervises the physical aspects of the production (not the creative aspects) including
personnel, technology, budget, and scheduling. It is the production manager's responsibility to make sure the
filming stays on schedule and within its budget. The PM also helps manage the day-to-day budget by managing
operating costs such as salaries, production costs, and everyday equipment rental costs. The PM often works
under the supervision of a line producer and directly supervises the Production Coordinator.
• Unit Manager
The unit manager fulfills the same role as the production manager but for secondary "unit" shooting. In some
functional structures, the unit manager subsumes the role of the Transport Coordinator.
• Production Coordinator
The Production Coordinator is the information nexus of the production, responsible for organizing all the
logistics from hiring crew, renting equipment, and booking talent. The PC is an integral part of film production.
• Post-production supervisor
Post Production Supervisors are responsible for the post production process, during which they maintain clarity
of information and good channels of communication between the Producer, Editor, Supervising Sound Editor,
the Facilities Companies (such as film labs, CGI studios and negative cutters) and the Production Accountant.
Although this is not a creative role, it is pivotal in ensuring that the film's Post Production budget is manageable
and achievable, and that all deadlines are met. Because large amounts of money are involved, and most of a
film's budget is spent during Production, the Post Production period can often be difficult and challenging.
• Director
The director is responsible for overseeing the creative aspects of a film, including controlling the content and
flow of the film's plot, directing the performances of actors, organizing and selecting the locations in which the
film will be shot, and managing technical details such as the positioning of cameras, the use of lighting, and the
timing and content of the film's soundtrack. Though the director wields a great deal of power, they are ultimately
subordinate to the film's producer or producers. Some directors, especially more established ones, take on many
of the roles of a producer, and the distinction between the two roles is sometimes blurred.
• First Assistant Director
The first assistant director (1st AD) assists the production manager and director. The ultimate aim of any 1st AD
is to ensure the film comes in on schedule while maintaining a working environment in which the director,
principal artists (actors) and crew can be focused on their work. They oversee day-to-day management of the
cast and crew scheduling, equipment, script, and set. A 1st AD may also be responsible for directing background
action for major shots or the entirety of relatively minor shots, at the director's discretion.
• Second Assistant Director
The second assistant director (2nd AD) is the chief assistant of the 1st AD and helps carry out those tasks
delegated to the 1st AD. The 2nd AD may also direct background action and extras in addition to helping the 1st
AD with scheduling, booking, etc. The 2nd AD is responsible for creating Call Sheets that let the crew know the
schedule and important details about the shooting day. In Canadian and British functional structures there are
3rd ADs and even Trainee ADs; in the American system there are 2nd 2nd ADs.
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• Production Assistant
A production assistant assists the first assistant director with set operations. Production assistants, almost
always referred to as PAs, also assist in the production office with general tasks.
• Script Supervisor
Also known as the "continuity person", the script supervisor keeps track of what parts of the script have been
filmed and makes notes of any deviations between what was actually filmed and what appeared in the script.
They make notes on every shot, and keep track of props, blocking, and other details to ensure continuity from
shot to shot and scene to scene. The Script Supervisor's notes are given to the Editor to expedite the editing
process. The script supervisor works very closely with the director on set.
• Stunt Coordinator
Where the film requires a stunt, and involves the use of stunt performers, the stunt coordinator will arrange the
casting and performance of the stunt, working closely with the director.
• Casting Director
Chooses the actors for the characters of the film by inviting the actors to a practice for the script called an
audition.
Additional production credits
Since the turn of the 21st century, several additional professionals are now routinely listed in the production credits on
most major motion pictures.
• Legal Counsel
Entertainment lawyers negotiate contracts, clear licensing rights for any intellectual property used in the film,
obtain tax credits from local governments, and take care of immigration paperwork when cast and/or crew cross
international borders to shoot on location.
• Accountant
Production accountants manage the money and ensure the production comes in on budget and everyone gets
paid. The industry is notorious for unusual accounting methods which are collectively labeled Hollywood
accounting.
• Insurance Broker
Due to the rising cost of computer-generated special effects, shooting on location, and A-list talent, major
motion picture budgets continue to set new records each decade. As a result, most investors will not commit to
financing a film unless an insurer can be found to protect them against the risk that the film ultimately cannot be
released as a result of a total catastrophe such as total loss of film negatives (or digital media), death of the
director or stars during production, natural disasters destroying the sets, and so on. Insurance brokers help
arrange for the insurance coverage that in turn makes a production financially feasible.

Art department
The art department in a major feature film can often number hundreds of people. Usually it is considered to include
several sub-departments: the art department proper, with its art director, set designers and draughtsmen; set
decoration, under the set decorator; props, under the propmaster; construction, headed by the construction coordinator;
scenic, headed by the key scenic artist; and special effects.
• Production Designer
Also known as the creative director, the production designer is responsible for creating the physical, visual
appearance of the film - settings, costumes, character makeup, all taken as a unit. The production designer works
closely with the director and the cinematographer to achieve the 'look' of the film.
Art
Within the overall Art Department is a sub-department, called the Art Department, which can be confusing. This consists
of the people who design the sets and create the graphic art.
• Art Director
The art director reports to the production designer, and more directly oversees artists and craftspeople, such as
the set designers, graphic artists, and illustrators who give form to the production design as it develops. The art
director works closely with the construction coordinator to oversee the aesthetic and textural details of sets as
they are realized.
• Assistant art director
The first, second and third assistant art directors carry out the instructions of the art director. Their work often
involves measuring locations, creating graphics and paper props, collecting information for the production
designer and drawing sets. Sometimes a set designer is also the first assistant art director. In this capacity, they
manage the work flow and act as the 'foreman' of the drawing office.
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• Set Designer
The set designer is the draftsman, often an architect, who realizes the structures or interior spaces called for by
the production designer.
• Illustrator
The illustrator illustrates visual representations of the designs to communicate the ideas imagined by the
production designer.
Sets
• Set Decorator
The set decorator is in charge of the decorating of a film set, which includes the furnishings and all the other
objects that will be seen in the film. They work closely with the production designer and coordinates with the art
director. In recognition of the set decorator's importance, the Academy Award for Art Direction is given jointly to
both the production designer and the set decorator.
• Buyer
The buyer is the number two person in the set department below the set decorator. The buyer locates, and then
purchases or rents the set dressing.
• Lead Man
The lead man is the foreman of the sets crew, often referred to as the “swing gang”. Also assists the set
decorator.
• Set Dresser
The set dressers apply and remove the "dressing", i.e., furniture, drapery, carpets—everything one would find in
a location, even doorknobs and wall sockets. Most of the swing gang's work occurs before and after the shooting
crew arrives but one set dresser remains with the shooting crew and is known as the on-set dresser. In some
countries, such as Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, the set dressing department is referred to as
dressing props department.
Props
• Props Master
The property master is in charge of finding and managing all the props that appear in the film. The property
master usually has several assistants.
• Propmaker
Propmaker, as the name implies, builds the props that are used for the film. Props builders are often technicians
skilled in construction, plastics casting, machining, and electronics.
• Armorer or Weapons master
The armorer is a specialized prop technician who deals with firearms. In most jurisdictions this requires special
training and licenses.
Construction
• Construction Coordinator
The construction coordinator oversees the construction of all the sets. The coordinator orders materials,
schedules the work, and supervises the often sizeable construction crew of carpenters, painters and labourers. In
some jurisdictions the construction coordinator is called the construction manager.
• Head Carpenter
The head carpenter is the foreman of a "gang" of carpenters and laborers.
Scenic
• Key Scenic
The key scenic artist is responsible for the surface treatments of the sets. This includes special paint treatments
such as aging and gilding, as well as simulating the appearance of wood, stone, brick, metal, stained glass--
anything called for by the production designer. The key scenic artist supervises the crew of painters, and is often
a master craftsperson. In the UK, the above responsibilities would normally be those of the head painter; the
[1]
scenic artist is responsible for producing artist painted backings.
Greens
• Greensman
The greensman is a specialised set dresser dealing with the artistic arrangement or landscape design of plant
material, sometimes real and sometimes artificial, and usually a combination of both. Depending on the scope of
the greens work in a film, the greensman may report to the art director or may report directly to the production
designer. If a significant amount of greens work is required in a film, then the Greens may be an identifiable sub-
department, with its own team - often of a size numbering double figures - and hierarchy (eg. Greensmaster,
Greens Supervisor, Foreperson, Leading Hand, Laborers). Specialists from other areas of the Art Dept. (eg.
Fabricators, Sculptors, Painters/Scenics) may also be drafted to work exclusively on Greens.
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Special Effects
This department oversees the mechanical effects—also called practical or physical effects—that create optical illusions
during live-action shooting. It is not to be confused with the visual effects department, which adds photographic effects
during filming to be altered later during post-production video editing.
• Special Effects Supervisor
The special effects supervisor instructs the special effects crew on how to design moving set elements and props
that will break, explode, burn, collapse and implode without destroying the film set. S/he is also responsible for
reproducing weather conditions and other on-camera "magic."
• Special effects assistant
The SFX assistants carry out the instructions of the special effects supervisor, building set pieces like breakaway
furniture and cities in miniature, lighting pyrotechnics, and setting up rigging equipment for stunts. They also
assist in prosthetic makeup.

Hair and make-up

Some actors or actresses have personal makeup artists or hair stylists.
• Make-up Artist
Make-up artists work with makeup, hair and special effects to create the characters look for anyone appearing
on screen. Their role is to manipulate an actor's on-screen appearance whether it makes them look more
youthful, larger, older, or in some cases monstrous. There are also body makeup artists who concentrate their
abilities on the body rather than the head.
• Hairdresser
The hair stylist is responsible for maintaining and styling the hair of anyone appearing on screen. They work in
conjunction with the makeup artist.

Costume Department
• Costume designer
The costume designer is responsible for all the clothing and costumes worn by all the actors that appear on
screen. They are also responsible for designing, planning, and organizing the construction of the garments down
to the fabric, colors, and sizes. The costume designer works closely with the director to understand and interpret
"character", and counsels with the production designer to achieve an overall tone of the film. In large
productions, the costume designer will usually have one or more assistant costume designers.
• Costume supervisor
The costume supervisor works closely with the designer. In addition to helping with the design of the costumes,
they manage the wardrobe workspace. They supervise construction or sourcing of garments, hiring and firing of
support staff, budget, paperwork, and department logistics. Also called the wardrobe supervisor. This term is
used less and less.
• Key costumer
The key costumer is employed on larger productions to manage the set costumers, and to handle the Star's
wardrobe needs.
• Costume standby
The Costume standby is present on set at all times. It is his/her responsibility to monitor the quality and
continuity of the actors and actresses costumes before and during takes. (S)he will also assist the actors and
actresses with dressing.
• Art finisher or Breakdown artist
An Art finisher may be employed during the pre-production setup to "break down" garments. This specialized
job includes making new clothing appear dirty, faded and worn. They are also known as breakdown artists.
• Costume Buyer
On large productions a buyer may be employed to source and purchase fabrics and garments. A buyer might also
be referred to as a shopper. This distinction is often made when the lead actor in a production has control over
their wardrobe, and they may personally hire this person.
• Cutter/fitter
A costume technician who fits or tailors costumes, usually on-set. They can also be called cutters, seamstresses
or tailors. Some celebrity actors have favorite cutters, and larger productions may hire several and have them on
set at the same time, particularly in period film projects that might have complicated or extremely expensive
extras wardrobe.
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Camera

A Camera operator filming a scene from the 1950 Hollywood film Julius Caesar starring Charlton Heston

• Cinematographer
The term cinematographer has been a point of contention for some time now. It is usually synonymous with
"director of photography", though some professionals insist this only applies when the director of photography
and camera operator are the same person.
• Director of Photography
The director of photography is the chief of the camera and lighting crew of the film. The DoP makes decisions on
lighting and framing of scenes in conjunction with the film's director. Typically, the director tells the DoP how
they want a shot to look, and the DoP chooses the correct aperture, filter, and lighting to achieve the desired
effect as per the directors requirements.
• Camera Operator
The camera operator uses the camera at the direction of the cinematographer, director of photography, or the
film director to capture the scenes on film. Generally, a cinematographer or director of photography does not
operate the camera, but sometimes these jobs may be combined.
• First Assistant Camera (Focus Puller)
The first assistant cameraman (1st AC) is responsible for keeping the camera in focus as it is shooting, as well as
building the camera at the beginning of the day and taking it apart at the end. They also thread the film when a
new magazine is loaded.
• Second Assistant Camera (Clapper Loader)
The second assistant cameraman (2nd AC) operates the clapperboard at the beginning of each take and loads the
raw film stock into the camera magazines between takes, if there is no additional specifically designated film
loader. The 2nd AC is also in charge of overseeing the meticulously kept notebooks that record when the film
stock is received, used, and sent to the lab for processing. Additionally, the 2nd AC oversees organization of
camera equipment and transport of the equipment from one shooting location to another.
• Loader
The loader is the designated film loader. They transfer motion picture film from the manufacturer's light-tight
canisters to the camera magazines for attachment to the camera by the 2nd AC. After exposure during filming,
the loader then removes the film from the magazines and places it back into the light-tight cans for transport to
the laboratory. It is the responsibility of the loader to manage the inventory of film and communicate with the
1st AC on the film usage and remaining stock throughout the day. On small production crews, this job is often
combined with the 2nd AC. With the prevalence of digital photography, this position is often eliminated.
• Camera Production Assistant (camera intern) (camera trainee)
Usually a volunteer or trainee in the camera department, the camera PA assists the crew with menial details
while learning the trade of the camera assistant, operator or cinematographer.
• Digital Imaging Technician (DIT)
On digital photography productions the digital imaging technician is responsible for the coordination of the
internal workings of the digital camera. Under the direction of the cinematographer or director of photography,
the DIT will make adjustments to the multitude of variables available in most professional digital cameras to
creatively or technically manipulate the resulting image. It may also be the responsibility of the DIT to archive
and manage the digital data, create compressed dailies from raw footage and prepare all digital images for post-
production.
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• Steadicam operator
A Steadicam operator is someone who is skilled at operating a Steadicam (trademark for a camera stabilization
rig). This person is usually one of the camera operators on the production.
• Motion Control Technician/Operator
This technician operates a motion control rig, which essentially is a 'camera robot' able to consistently repeat
[2]
camera moves for special effects uses.
Motion control rigs are typically rented with an experienced operator.

Production Sound
• Production Sound Mixer
The production sound mixer is head of the sound department on set, responsible for recording all sound during
filming. This involves the choice and deployment of microphones, operation of a sound recording device, and
sometimes the mixing of audio signals in real time.
• Boom Operator
The boom operator is an assistant to the production sound mixer, responsible for microphone placement and
movement during filming. The boom operator uses a boom pole, a long pole made of light aluminum or carbon
fiber that allows precise positioning of the microphone above or below the actors, just out of the camera's
frame. The boom operator may also place radio microphones and hidden set microphones. In France, the boom
operator is called the perchman.
• Utility Sound Technician
The utility sound technician has a dynamic role in the sound department, most typically pulling cables, but often
acting as an additional boom operator or mixer when required by complex filming circumstances. Not all films
employ a utility sound technician, but the increasing complexities of location sound recording in modern film
have made the job more prevalent. This role is sometimes credited as "cable man" or "python wrangler".

Grip
Grips are trained lighting and rigging technicians. Their main responsibility is to work closely with the electrical
department to put in the non-electrical components of lighting set-ups required for a shot, such as flags, overheads, and
bounces. On the sound stage, they move and adjust major set pieces when something needs to be moved to get a camera
into position. They may belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
• Key grip
The key grip is the chief grip on a set, and is the head of the set operations department. The key grip works with
the director of photography to help set up the set and to achieve correct lighting and blocking.
• Best boy (Grip)
The best boy grip is chief assistant to the key grip. They are also responsible for organizing the grip truck
throughout the day.
• Dolly grip
The grip in charge of operating the camera dollies and camera cranes is called the dolly grip. They place, level,
and move the dolly track, then push and pull the dolly, and usually a camera operator and camera assistant as
riders.
• Grips
Grips report to the Key Grip and are responsible for lifting heavy things and setting rigging points for lights.

Electrical
• Gaffer
The gaffer is the head of the electrical department, responsible for the design and execution of the electrical
distribution and lighting plan for a production. Sometimes the gaffer is credited as "Chief Lighting Technician".
• Best boy (Electrical)
The best boy electric is the chief assistant to the gaffer. He or she is not usually on set, but dealing with the
electric truck, rentals, manpower, and other logistics.
• Lighting Technician
Lighting technicians are involved with setting up and controlling lighting equipment.
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Locations
• Location Manager
Oversees the Locations Department and its staff, typically reporting directly to the Production Manager and/or
Assistant Director (or even Director and/or Executive Producer). Location Manager is responsible for final clearing (or
guaranteeing permission to use) a location for filming and must often assist Production/Finance Dept(s) in
maintaining budget management regarding actual location/permit fees as well as labor costs to production for
himself and the Locations Department at large.
• Assistant Location Manager
Works with the Location Manager and the various departments in arranging technical scouts for the essential staff
(grips, electric, camera, etc.) to see options which the Location Manager has selected for filming. The Assistant
Location Manager will be onset during the filming process to oversee the operation, whereas the Location Manager
continues preproduction from elsewhere (generally an office) on the upcoming locations. (Note: On most location-
based television shows, there will be two Assistant Location Managers that alternate episodes, allowing one to prep
an upcoming episode while the other is on set with the current one.)
• Location Scout
Does much of the actual research, footwork and photography to document location possibilities. Often the Location
Manager will do some scouting himself, as well as the Assistant Location Manager.
• Location Assistant
Hired by the Location Manager to be on-set before, during, and after the filming process. General responsibilities
include arriving first at the location to allow the set dressers into the set for preparation; maintaining the cleanliness
of the location areas during filming; fielding complaints from neighbors; and ultimately, at the end of the filming,
making sure it seems as though the film crew was never there. There is generally one to three assistants on a shoot at
any given time.
• Location Production Assistant
This position exists generally on larger budget productions. The Locations PA is the assistant who is almost never
onset, but instead is always "prepping" a location or "wrapping" a location. That is, when a location requires several
days of set up and breakdown prior and following the day(s) of filming. A location production assistant is what a set
production assistant is in Canada.

Editorial
• Film Editor
The film editor is the person who assembles the various shots into a coherent film, with the help of the director.
There are usually several assistant editors.
• Colorist
With a photochemical process, the color timer adjusts the color of the film via printer lights for greater
consistency in the film's colors. With a digital intermediate process, the colorist can use digital tools in
manipulating the image and has greater creative freedom in changing the aesthetic of a film.
• Negative Cutter
The negative cutter cuts and splices the negatives as directed by the film editor, and then provides the
assembled negative reels to the lab in order for prints (positives for projection) to be made.
• Telecine Colorist
In post production, a telecine colorist is responsible for a "grade" - that is a look that has been created with a
grading system, which adjusts brightness, contrast and color.

Visual Effects
Visual effects commonly refers to post-production alterations of the film's images, although the VFX crew works alongside
the special effects department for any on-set optical effects that need physical representation during filming (on camera.)
• Visual Effects Producer
The visual effects producer works with the visual effects supervisor to break down the script into storyboards,
and advises the director as to how s/he should approach the scenes. Together they determine which sequences
are to be shot as live action elements, which would work well in miniature, and which (if any) should be
computer generated.
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• Visual Effects Creative Director
VFX creative directors are very much like production designers, except they direct and supervise the creative
side of the film's visual effects. The position is particularly in demand for films with massive amounts of
computer generated imagery and scenes.
• Visual Effects Supervisor
The visual effects supervisor is in charge of the VFX crew, working with production and the film's director to
achieve the desired in-camera optical effects of the film.
• Visual Effects Editor
The visual effects editor incorporates visual effects into the current cuts of live action sequences, producing
multiple versions of each shot. Altered scenes are then evaluated by the visual effects supervisor and creative
director for aesthetic and technical direction, and by the producers for review and final editing.
• Compositor
A compositor is a visual effects artist responsible for compositing images from different sources such as video,
film, computer generated 3-D imagery, 2-D animations, matte paintings, photographs, and text.
• Roto, paint
These artists may rotoscope the footage, manually creating mattes for use in compositing. They may also paint
visual information into or out of a scene, such removing wires and rigs, logos, dust busting, scratch removal,
[3]
etc.
• Matte Painter
These artists draw/paint entire sets or extend portions of an existing set.

Information Technology
• System administrator
A system administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin, is a person employed to maintain and operate a
computer system and/or network.

Sound/Music
• Sound Designer
The sound designer, or "supervising sound editor", is in charge of the post-production sound of a movie.
Sometimes this may involve great creative license, and other times it may simply mean working with the director
and editor to balance the sound to their liking.
• Dialogue Editor
Responsible for assembling and editing all the dialog in the soundtrack.
• Sound Editor
Responsible for assembling and editing all the sound effects in the soundtrack.
• Re-recording Mixer
Balances all of the sounds prepared by the dialogue, music and effects editors, and finalizes the films audio track.
• Music Supervisor
The music supervisor, or "music director", works with the composer, mixers and editors to create and integrate
the film's music. In Hollywood, a music supervisor's primary responsibility is to act as liaison between the film
production and the recording industry, negotiating the use rights for all source music used in a film.
• Composer
The composer is responsible for writing the musical score for a film.
• Foley Artist
The foley artist is the person who creates many of the ambient or routine sound effects for a film.
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Glossary
Aerial Shot: A shot taken from a crane, plane, or helicopter. Not necessarily a moving shot.

Backlighting: The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera.

Bridging Shot: A shot used to cover a jump in time or place or other discontinuity. Examples are:
• falling calendar pages
• railroad wheels
• newspaper headlines
• seasonal changes

Camera Angle: The angle at which the camera is pointed at the subject:
• Low
• High
• Tilt

Cut: The splicing of 2 shots together. The film editor makes this cut at the editing stage of a film. Between
sequences the cut marks a rapid transition between one time and space and another, but depending on the
nature of the cut it will have different meanings.

Cross-cutting: Literally, cutting between different sets of action that can be occurring simultaneously or at
different times, (this term is used synonymously but somewhat incorrectly with parallel editing.) Cross-cutting
is used to build suspense, or to show the relationship between the different sets of action.

Jump cut: Cut where there is no match between the 2 spliced shots. Within a sequence, or more particularly a
scene, jump cuts give the effect of bad editing. The opposite of a match cut, the jump cut is an abrupt cut
between 2 shots that calls attention to itself because it does not match the shots seamlessly. It marks a
transition in time and space but is called a jump cut because it jars the sensibilities; it makes the spectator
jump and wonder where the narrative has got to. Jean-Luc Godard is undoubtedly one of the best exponents
of this use of the jump cut.

Continuity cuts: These are cuts that take us seamlessly and logically from one sequence or scene to another.
This is an unobtrusive cut that serves to move the narrative along.

Match cut: The exact opposite of a jump cut within a scene. These cuts make sure that there is a spatial-visual
logic between the differently positioned shots within a scene. Thus, where the camera moves to, and the angle
of the camera, makes visual sense to the spectator. Eyeline matching is part of the same visual logic: the first
shot shows a character looking at something off-screen, the second shot shows what is being looked at. Match
cuts then are also part of the seamlessness, the reality effect, so much favored by Hollywood.

Deep focus: A technique in which objects very near the camera as well as those far away are in focus at the
same time.

Diegesis: The denotative material of film narrative, it includes, according to Christian Metz, not only the
narration itself, but also the fictional space and time dimension implied by the narrative.

Dissolve/lap-dissolve: These terms are used inter-changeably to refer to a transition between 2 sequences or
scenes. Generally associated with earlier cinema but still used on occasion. In a dissolve a first image gradually
dissolves or fades out and is replaced by another, which fades in over it. This type of transition, which is known
also as a soft transition (as opposed to the cut), suggests a longer passage of time than a cut.
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Dolly: A set of wheels and a platform upon which the camera can be mounted to give it mobility. Dolly shot is
a shot taken from a moving dolly. Almost synonymous in general usage with tracking shot or follow shot

Editing: Editing refers literally to how shots are put together to make up a film. Traditionally a film is made up
of sequences or in some cases, as with avant-garde or art cinema, or again, of successive shots that are
assembled in what is known as collision editing, or montage.

Ellipsis: A term that refers to periods of time that have been left out of the narrative. The ellipsis is marked by
editing transitions, which, while it leaves out a section of the action, nonetheless signifies that something has
been elided. Thus, the fade or dissolve could indicate a passage of time, a wipe, a change of scene and so on. A
jump cut transports the spectator from one action and time to another, giving the impression of rapid action
or of disorientation if it is not matched.

Establishing Shot: A shot showing the location of a scene or the arrangement of its characters, often the
opening shot of a sequence.

Eyeline matching: A term used to point to the continuity editing practice ensuring the logic of the look or
gaze. In other words, Eyeline matching is based on the belief in mainstream cinema that when a character
looks into off-screen space the spectator expects to see what he or she is looking at. Thus there will be a cut to
show what is being looked at:
• object
• view
• another character

Eyeline then refers to the trajectory of the looking eye.

The eyeline match creates order and meaning in cinematic space. Thus, for example, character A will look off-
screen at character B. Cut to character B, who-if she or he is in the same room and engaged in an exchange
either of glances or words with character A-will return that look and so 'certify' that character A is indeed in
the space from which we first saw her or him look. This "stabilizing" is true in the other primary use of the
eyeline match which is the shot/reverse angle shot, also known as the reverse angle shot, commonly used in
close-up dialogue scenes. The camera adopts the Eyeline trajectory of the interlocutor looking at the other
person as she or he speaks, then switches to the other person's position and does the same.

Extreme long shot: A panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a considerable distance,
often as far as a quarter-mile away. May also serve as the establishing shot

Fade in: A punctuation device. The screen is black at the beginning; gradually the image appears, brightening
to full strength. The opposite happens in the fade out

Fill light: An auxiliary light, usually from the side of the subject that can soften shadows and illuminate areas
not covered by the key light

Flashback: A scene or sequence (sometime an entire film), that is inserted into a scene in "present" time and
that deals with the past. The flashback is the past tense of the film.

Flash-forward: On the model of the flashback, scenes or shots of future time; the future tense of the film.

Focus: The sharpness of the image. A range of distances from the camera will be acceptably sharp. Possible to
have deep focus, shallow focus. Focus in, focus out: a punctuation device whereby the image gradually comes
into focus or goes out of focus.

Follow shot: A tracking shot or zoom which follows the subject as it moves.
 Page 11 of 23
Framing: The way in which subjects and objects are framed within a shot produces specific readings. Size and
volume within the frame speak as much as dialogue. So too do camera angles. Thus, for example, a high-angle
extreme long shot of two men walking away in the distance, (as in the end of Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion,
1937) points to their vulnerability - they are about to disappear, possibly die. Low angle shots in medium close-
up on a person can point to their power, but it can also point to ridicule because of the distortion factor.

Gaze/look: This term refers to the exchange of looks that takes place in cinema but it was not until the 1970s
that it was written about and theorized. In the early 1970s, first French and then British and American film
theorists began applying psychoanalysis to film in an attempt to discuss the spectator/screen relationship as
well as the textual relationships within the film. Drawing in particular on Freud's theory of libido drives and
Lacan's theory of the mirror stage, they sought to explain how cinema works at the level of the unconscious.
Indeed, they maintained that the processes of the cinema mimic the workings of the unconscious. The
spectator sits in a darkened room, desiring to look at the screen and deriving visual pleasure from what he or
she sees. Part of that pleasure is also derived from the narcissistic identification she or he feels with the person
on the screen. But there is more; the spectator also has the illusion of controlling that image. First, because the
Renaissance perspective which the cinematic image provides ensures that the spectator is subject of the gaze;
and second, given that the projector is positioned behind the spectator's head, this means that the it is as if
those images are the spectator's own imaginings on screen.

Feminists took up this concept of the gaze and submitted it to more rigorous analysis. Laura Mulvey's vital and
deliberately polemical article, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) started the debate by
demonstrating the domination of the male gaze, within and without the screen, at the expense of the
woman's; so much so that the female spectator had little to do, gaze upon or identify with. The exchange or
relay of looks, (as it is also known) within film reproduces the voyeuristic pleasure of the cinematic apparatus
but only for the male. In fact, given that woman is normally, both within the film and on screen, the prime
object that is being looked at, (and thus controlled) much feminist film theory has argued that the gaze is male
through and through. It has thus been held that by attempting to expose how woman is constructed
cinematically as an object of the male gaze, it is possible to deconstruct the normalizing or naturalizing process
of patriarchal (male) socialization.

Iris in/iris out: An old technique of punctuation that utilizes a diaphragm in front of the lens, which is opened
(iris in) or closed (iris out) to begin or end a scene. The iris can also be used to focus attention on a detail of the
scene.

Key light: the main light on a subject. Usually placed at a 45-degree angle to the camera-subject axis. In high
key lighting, the key light provides all or most of the light in the scene. In low key lighting, the key light
provides much less of the total illumination.

Master shot: A long take of an entire scene, generally a relatively long shot that facilitates the assembly of
component closer shots and details. The editor can always fall back on the master shot: consequently, it is also
called a cover shot.

Medium shot: A shot intermediate between a close-up and a full shot.

Montage Simply, editing: More particularly: Eisenstein's idea that adjacent shots should relate to each other
in such a way that A and B combine to produce another meaning, C, which is not actually recorded on the film.

Mise-en Scene: The term usually used to denote that part of the cinematic process that takes place on the set,
as opposed to editing, which takes place afterwards. Literally, the "putting-in-the-scene":
• the direction of actors
• placement of cameras
• choice of lenses etc
 Page 12 of 19
Pan: (abbreviation of panorama) Movement of the camera from left to right or right to left around the
imaginary vertical axis that runs through the camera. A panning shot is sometimes confused with a tracking
shot.

Point of view shot: (Often abbreviated as 'pov'). A shot that shows the scene from the specific point of view of
one of the characters.

Pull back shot: A tracking shot or zoom that moves back from the subject to reveal the context of the scene.

Rack focusing: A technique that uses shallow focus (shallow depth of field) to direct the attention of the
viewer forcibly from one subject to another. Focus is "pulled", or changed, to shift the focus plane, often
rapidly, sometimes several times within the shot.

Reverse angle: A shot from the opposite side of a subject. In a dialogue scene, a shot of the second
participant.

Scene: A complete unit of film narration. A series of shots (or a single shot) that takes place in a single location
and that deals with a single action. Sometimes used interchangeably with sequence.

Shot: In terms of camera distance with respect to the object within the shot, there are basically 7 types of
shots:
1. extreme close-up
2. close-up
3. medium close-up
4. medium shot
5. medium long shot
6. long shot
7. extreme long shot or distance shot

In addition, the terms one-, two-, and three-shots are used to describe shots framing one, two, or three people
- usually in
• medium close-ups 
or
• medium shots

Close-up/extreme close-up: (CU/ECU)
The subject framed by the camera fills the screen. Connotation can be
of intimacy, of having access to the mind or thought processes (including the subconscious) of the character.
These shots can be used to stress the importance of a particular character at a particular moment in a film or
place her or him as central to the narrative by singling out the character in CU at the beginning of the film. It
can signify the star exclusively (as in many Hollywood productions of the 1930s and 1940s). CUs can also be
used on objects and parts of the body other than the face. In this instance they can designate imminent action
(a hand picking up a knife, for example), and thereby create suspense. Or they can signify that an object will
have an important role to play in the development of the narrative. Often these shots have a symbolic value,
usually due to their recurrence during the film. How and where they recur is revealing not only of their
importance but also of the direction or meaning of the narrative.

Medium close-up (MCU): Close-up of one or two (sometimes three) characters, generally framing the
shoulders or chest and the head. The term can also be used when the camera frames the character(s) from the
waist up (or down), provided the character is right to the forefront and fills the frame, (otherwise this type of
shot is a medium shot). An MCU of two or three characters can indicate
• a coming together
• an intimacy
• a certain solidarity.
Conversely, if there were a series of two and one shots, this MCU s would suggest complicity between two
people against a third who is visually separate in another shot.
 Page 13 of 23
Medium shot (MS): Generally speaking; this shot frames a character from the waist, hips or knees up (or
down). The camera is sufficiently distanced from the body for the character to be seen in relation to her or his
surroundings (in an apartment, for example).

Typically, characters will occupy half to two-thirds of the frame. This shot is very commonly used in indoor
sequences allowing for a visual signification of relationships between characters. Compare a two-shot MS and
a series of separate one-shots in MS of two people. The former suggests intimacy, the latter distance. The
former shot could change in meaning to one of distance, however, if the two characters were separated by an
object (a pillar, table or telephone, for example). Visually this shot is more complex, more open in terms of its
readability than the preceding ones. The characters can be observed in relation to different planes,
background middle ground and foreground, and it is the inter-relatedness of these planes, which also serves to
produce a meaning.

Medium long shot (MLS): Halfway between a long and a medium shot. If this shot frames a character then the
whole body will be in view towards the middle ground of the shot. A quite open shot in terms of readability,
showing considerably more of the surroundings in relation to the character(s).

Long shot (LS): Subject or characters are at some distance from the camera; they are seen in full within their
surrounding environment.

Extreme long shot (ELS): The subject or characters are very much to the background of the shot. Surroundings
now have as much if not more importance, especially if the shot is in high-angle. A first way to consider these
shots is to say that a shot lends itself to a greater or lesser readability dependent on its type or length. As the
camera moves further away from the main subject (whether person or object) the visual field lends itself to an
increasingly more complex reading - in terms of the relationship between the main subject and the decor there
is more for the spectator's eye to read or decode. This means that the camera to the specified reading directs
the closer up the shot, the more the spectator’s eye.

Shots: in and of themselves, can have a subjective or objective value: the closer the shot, the more subjective
its value, the more the meaning is inscribed from within the shot; conversely, the longer the distance of the
shot the more objective its value, the greater the participation of the spectator or reader in the inscription of
meaning. Other factors influence the readability of a shot. A high or low camera angle can de-naturalize a shot
or reinforce its symbolic value. Take, for example, an ELS that is shot at a high angle. This automatically
suggests the presence of someone looking, thus the shot is implicitly a point of view shot. In this way some of
the objective value or openness of that shot, (which it would retain if angled horizontally at 90 degrees) is
taken away, the shot is no longer 'naturally' objective. The shot is still open to a greater reading than a CUC,
however; although the angle imposes a preferred reading (someone is looking down from on high). In terms of
illustrating what reinforcing symbolic value means, the contrastive examples of a low- and high-angle CU can
serve here. The former type of shot will distort the object within the frame, rendering it uglier, more
menacing, and more derisory; conversely, when a high-angle CU is used, the object can appear more
vulnerable, desirable.
 Page 14 of 19

Subjective camera: The camera is used in such a way as to suggest the point of view of a particular character.
1. High- or low-angle shots indicate where she or he is looking from
2. a panoramic or panning shot suggests she or he is surveying the scene
3. a tracking shot or a hand-held camera shot signifies the character on motion.

Subjective shots like these also implicate the spectator into the narrative in that she or he identifies with the
point of view.

Story board: A series of drawings and captions (sometimes resembling a comic strip) that shows the planned
shot divisions and camera movements of the film.

Take: One version of a shot. A film-maker shoots one or more takes of each shot or set-up. Only one of each
group of takes appears in the final film.

Tilt shot: The camera tilts up or down, rotating around the axis that runs from left to right through the camera
head.
 Page 15 of 23
Tracking shot/travelling shot/dollying shot: Terms used for a shot when the camera is being moved by means
of wheels:
• on a dolly (a low tracking shot)
• in a car
• or even a train.

The movement is normally quite fluid (except perhaps in some of the wider car chases) and the tracking can be
either fast or slow. Depending on the speed, this shot has different connotations, eg:
• like a dream or trance if excessively slow
• bewildering and frightening if excessively frenetic

A tracking shot can go

• backwards
• left to right
• right to left

The way in which a person is framed in that shot has a specific meaning, (for example, if the camera holds a
person in the frame but that person is at one extreme or other of the frame, this could suggest a sense of
imprisonment).

Steadicam: The invention of cameraman Garret Brown (developed in conjunction with Cinema Products, Inc.),
this is a system which permits hand-held filming with an image steadiness comparable to tracking shots. A vest
redistributes the weight of the camera to the hips of the cameraman; a spring-loaded arm minimises the
motion the camera; a video monitor frees the cameraman from the eyepiece.

Swish pan: Also called

• flick pan
• zip pan
• whip pan.

A panning shot in which the intervening scene moves past too quickly to be observed. It approximates
psychologically the action of the human eye as it moves from one subject to another.

Wipe: An optical effect in which an image appears to "wipe-off" or push aside the preceeding image. Very
common in the 1930s; less so today.

Voice-over: The narrator's voice when the narrator is not seen. Common in television commercials, but also in
film noir.

Zoom: A shot using a lens whose focal length is adjusted during the shot. Zooms are sometimes used in place
of tracking shots, but the differences between the two are significant. A zoom normally ends in a close-up, a
zoom-back in a general shot. Both types of shot imply a rapid movement in time and space, and as such create
the illusion of displacement in time and space. A zoom-in picks out and isolates a person or object, a zoom-out
places that person or object in a wider context. A zoom shot can be seen, therefore, as voyeurism
 Page 16 of 19
FILM, AUDIO, and VIDEO
TERMINOLOGY EDITED FOR ACTORS

A
Above the Line: Refers to the creative elements of a production such as the writer, producer, director and actors.
Literally, these are the elements which appeared above a bold line which divided standard production budget sheets.
(Production)
Action Cutting: The cutting of film from one shot to another in a way yielding the impression that action is continuous
and uninterrupted. (Film Editing)
ADR: Automatic Dialog Replacement. Also known as "looping." A process of re-recording dialog in the studio in
synchronization with the picture.
Aerial Shot: An extremely high angle view of a subject usually taken from a crane or a high stationary camera position,
but may also refer to a shot taken from an actual airplane or helicopter. (Production).
Ambient Light: General, nondirectional, room light. (Lighting)
Ambient noise: The total sound in a given are which is peculiar to that space (room tone). (Post Production)
Answer Print: The first print combining picture and sound which is submitted by the laboratory for the customer's
approval. (Laboratory)
Apple Box: A box build of a strong wood or plywood which is capable of supporting weight. These may be of various
sizes, the smallest of which is also known as a 'pancake' because it is nearly flat. (Lighting/Grip)
Aspect Ratio: The proportion of picture width to height (1.33:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 or 2.35:1).
Associate Producer: This is normally the person who acts as the liason between a production company and the various
personnel involved in the post production process.
Associational Editing: The juxtaposition of shots in order to present contrast, comparisons or ideas. (Film Editing)
Atmosphere: Extras who are staged and photographed to portray normal human traffic needed to add detail in various
script situations. (Production)

B
Background: This is a term with a broad range of meanings, depending upon the context. In production, it has the same
connotation as 'atmosphere', meaning extras who are staged to supply detail in the form of normal human traffic in a
scene. In sound, it can mean the same as 'ambience' or it may refer to relative volume.
Bar Sheets - Lead Sheets: A chart showing words of dialogue which have been recorded, and the number of motion
picture frames of duration for each syllable.
Bed: Background music used underneath a narrator or foreground dialog. Primarily applied to commercial radio or
television spots.
Below the Line: Refers to the technical elements of the production staff. Literally, these are the budget elements that
appeared below a bold line on a standard production budget form. (Production)
Best Boy: The assistant chief lighting technician or the assistant to the key grip. (Grip/Lighting) A minor acting role in
which an actor may only speak a few lines.
Blocking: Plotting actor, camera and microphone placement and movement in a production or scene. (Production)
Boom: A telescoping arm for a camera or microphone which might be available in a variety of sizes from the very small
handheld types to the very large, which might be transported as an integral part of a motor vehicle. (Production)
A mixing network that combines the output of two or more channels. (Electronics)
Butthead: A producer who thinks he knows more about a film technicians job than the tech himself knows. (Film)
Someone who changes lanes without looking. (General)

C
Call Sheet: A form which refers to all of the scenes to be filmed and all of the personnel and equipment required for
shooting on a particular day. (Production)
Camera Angle: The view point chosen from which to photograph a subject. (Cinematography)
Camera Blocking: The process of notating the changing position of the camera, lens size, and focus during a particular
scene. (Production) Often described as a 'Dutch Angle' or 'Dutching'. This is a device or process whereby the camera is
angled so that the horizontal frame line is not parallel to the horizon. (Production)
CD (Compact Disc): A digitally encoded disc capable of containing more than one hour of music at a sampling frequency
of 44.1 khz. The data is read by a laser beam. (Sound)
 Page 17 of 23
Completion Bond: An insurance guarantee that principal photography on a given film will be completed. It indemnifies a
production against the unforeseen costs of any type, whether or not they result from problems which are covered by
other types of insurance.
Cutaway: A single shot inserted into a sequence of shots that momentarily interrupts the flow of action, usually
introducing a pertinent detail. (Production/Editing)
Cyclorama: Permanent background built in a studio which is nearly always coved or curved at the floor line to create a
shadowless, unending backdrop. (Grip/Lighting)

D
Dailies: The first positive prints made by the laboratory from the negative photographed on the previous day. It also now
refers to video which is transferred from that original negative. (Laboratory)
Day Out of Days: A form designating the workdays for various cast or crewmembers of a given production.
Deal Memo: A form which lists the pertinent details of salary, guaranteed conditions, and other essentials of a work
agreement negotiated between a member of the cast or crew and a production company.
Deep Focus: A style of cinematography and staging that uses relatively wide angle lenses and small lens apertures by
maintaining objects in the extreme background and foreground simultaneously focused. (Cinematography)
Dead spot: A place in which a sound waves are canceled by reflections arriving out of phase with the wanted signal thus
creating an area of silence or poor audibility. (Acoustics)
Depth of Field: The amount of space within lens view which will maintain acceptable focus at given settings (i.e. camera
speed, film speed, lens aperture). (Cinematography)
Developing: The chemical process which converts a photographic exposure into a visible image. (Laboratory)
DGA: Director's Guild of America. A union which represents directors, assistant directors, production managers, and
various video personnel.
Dialogue track: A sound track which carries lip sync speech. (Sound)
Dissolve: A transition between two scenes where the first merges imperceptibly into the second. (Film/Video)
Distortion: A modification of the original signal appearing in the output of audio equipment which had not been present
in the input. (Audio)
Dolly Shot: Any shot made from a moving dolly. These may also be called tracking or traveling shots. (Production)
Doorway Dolly: A plywood dolly with four soft tires which is narrow enough to fit through a doorway. It is used to carry a
camera on a tripod or for transporting other heavy items. (Grip)
Dub: To make a taped copy of any progam source record, CD, tape. Also, the copy itself. Sometimes used to refer to the
ADR process. (Audio/Video)
Dub Stage: Term generally used in California but to refer to the room where the final audio mix is made for a program or
film. It might also be known as a mix stage.
Dubber: A high quality sound reproducer which is mixed with outputs from other dubbers that are generally loaded with
sprocketed magnetic film. (Post Production)
Dubbing: An actor's voice synchronization with lip movements which are not the originally recorded sound. This is used
to replace unusable dialogue or recordings, and also used to prepare foreign films for new markets. (Post Production)

E
Establishing Shot: Usually a long shot at the beginning of a scene which is intended to inform the audience about a
changed locale or time for the scene which follows. (Production)

F
Feed Lines: Lines of dialogue which are read outside camera range for the benefit of an 'on camera' or 'on microphone'
actor or voice over artist.
Focus Pull: The refocusing of a lens during a shot to keep a moving subject in focus or to change the person or object of
attention. (Cinematography)
Foley: Creating sound effects by watching picture and mimicking the action, often with props that do not exactly match
the action.
Frame: The individual picture image on a strip of motion picture film. Also, one complete screen on videotape.

G
Gaffer: The chief lighting technician for a production who is in charge of the electrical department.
 Page 18 of 19

I
Incoming Scene: The second scene to appear in a dissolve or wipe effect.
Intercutting: An editing method whereby related shots are inserted into a series of other shots for the purpose of
contrast or for some other effect. (Film Editing)

L
Lavalier Mic: A small microphone that can be easily hidden on a piece of clothing so as not to be seen by the camera.
Library Shot: Stock footage shot or other footage which is germane to a given visual presentation but which was not
generated for that specific film or television presentation. (Film Editing)

M
Match Dissolve: A dissolve linking images which have similar content. (Film Editing)
Montage: The assembly of shots and the portrayal of action or ideas through the use of many short shots. (Film Editing)
MOS: Silent filming. Traditionally explained as Motion Omit Sound.

N
Noir: Usually refers to the classic black and white film noir style used in detective mysteries, typically employing hard
lighting and dark, low key lighting. (Camera/Lighting)

O
Out-Take: A take of a scene which is not used for printing or for the final assembly of a film.
Overlapping and Matching Action: Repeating part of the action in one shot at the beginning of the next shot, or covering
the action with two or more cameras, then matching the overlaps on the editing table for the purpose of making a
smooth cut on action. (Film Editing)

P
Packaging: A combination of several creative elements such as a script, actor/s, and director which is used to attract
interest in a production for the purposes of obtaining financing or distribution.
Pan: A horizontal movement of a camera on a fixed axis.
Pay or Play: A contract provision which commits the production company to compensate a cast or crew member for a
project whether or not that project ever goes into production.
Pick-up Shot: Reshooting a portion of a scene, the rest of which was acceptably filmed in a previous take.
Playback: A technique of filming music action first, the playing the music through loudspeakers while performers dance,
sing, etc.
Post-Production: The period in a project's development that takes place after the picture is delivered, or "after the
production." This term might also be applied to video/film editing or refer to audio post-production.
Practical: Any light that appears in the scene. (Lighting)
Principal Photography: The main photography of a film and the time period during which it takes place. (Production)
Process Shot: A shot that will be composited from two other shots. The background part of this process is called a 'plate'.
(Laboratory)

R
Reaction Shot: A shot of a player listening while another player's voice continues on the sound track. (Production)
Release: The general distribution of a film for public exhibition.
Reverse Angle: A shot that is turned approximately 180 degrees in relation to the preceding shot. (Cinematography)
Room Tone: The "noise" of a room, set or location where dialog is recorded during Production. Used by film and dialog
editors as a "bed" to form a continuous tone through a particular scene. This is often confused with ambience, which
might be sound effects and/or reverberation added when the dialog is mixed.
 Page 19 of 23
Rough cut: A preliminary trial stage in the process of editing a film. Shots are laid out in approximate relationship to an
end product without detailed attention to the individual cutting points. (Film Editing)
Run of the Picture: A cast member whose work may be required any of the days scheduled for principal photography
without incurring liability for additional compensation.
Rushes: This refers to daily prints of a film used for evaluation purposes. (Laboratory)

S
Score: The original-music composition for a motion picture or television production which is generally recorded after the
picture has been edited.
Second Unit: A photographic team that shoots scenes which do not involve the principal cast, such as stunts, car chases,
or establishing shots.
Set Dressing: Items of decoration which are not designated in the script or by the director as part of specific action.
(Production)
Set Up: Each discrete position of the camera, excluding those in which a dolly or crane is used to move the camera during
filming. (Production)
Shotgun Mic: A highly directional microphone, usually with a long, tubular body; used by the production sound mixer on
location or on the set for film and television productions.
Single: A shot with only one subject in the frame. (Production)
Sound Designer: A film sound specialist responsible for the development and augmentation of all soundtrack material, or
a significant portion thereof, and is ultimately in charge of the entire sound production. Occasionally, it is used to refer to
a person who is responsible for creating unique sounds or sound elements which are incorporated into a sound track.
(Sound)
Sound Effect: A recorded or electronically produced sound that matches the visual action taking place onscreen.
Soundtrack: Generically refers to the music contained in a film, though it literally means the entire audio portion of a
film, video or television production, including effects and dialog.
Surround Sound: Sound that is reproduced through speakers above or behind the audience.
Sweeten/Sweetening: Enhancing the sound of a recording or a particular sound effect with equalization or some other
signal processing device.

T
Telecine: A machine that transfers film to a video signal. This also generically refers to the process of film-to-tape
transfers.
Trailer: A short publicty film which advertises a film or forthcoming presentations.
Traveling Matte: A process shot in which foreground action is superimposed on a separately photographed background
by an optical printer. (Laboratory)
Trims: Portions of a scene left over after the selected section has been used in final cutting.

U
Underscore: Music that provides emotional or atmospheric background to the primary dialog or narration onscreen.

V
Voice-over: Narration or non-synchronous dialog taking place over the action onscreen.

W
Walla: Background ambience or noises added to create the illusion of sound taking place outside of the main action in a
picture.

Z
Zoom: An optical effect in which the image rapidly grows larger or smaller as though the camera is moving closer or away
from its subject.