Print
Tuesday, 16 April 2024, 7:18 PM
Site: DIGITAL MEDIA SKILLS GATEWAY
Course: DIGITAL MEDIA SKILLS GATEWAY (DIGITAL MEDIA SKILLS GATEWAY)
Glossary: FILM & TV GLOSSARY
S

scene

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a segment in a narrative film that takes place in one time and space (or that uses crosscutting to show two or more simultaneous actions).

screen direction

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

the right-left relationship in a scene, set up in an establishing shot and determined by the position of characters and objects in the frame, by the directions of movement, and by the character's eyelines. Continuity editing will attempt to keep screen direction consistent between shots. See axis of action, eyeline match, 180-degree system.

screwball comedy

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

a type of comedy prevalent in 1930's and typified by frenetic action, wisecracks, and sexual relationships as an important plot element; usually about upper-class characters and therefore often involving opulent sets and costumes a visual elements; highly verbal as opposed to its predecessor, the slapstick comedy. Examples include It Happened One Night and Brining Up Baby

scrim

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
Sample Scrims

A selection of metal lighting scrims (note the half and graduated scrims that reduce the beam of light by the level of fineness in the meshing) Image ©Cirrolite
 Many Film and TV productions often use constant lighting in the studio and on location, and because some types of bulbs cannot be electrically dimmed because of their design, scrims are used to reduce the intensity of the light.

This is because tungsten / incandescent bulbs will progressively change in colour temperature, becoming more orange, as they are dimmed.

Scrims are therefore regarded as a “colour safe” alternative to electrically dimming lights, and are a fine wire mesh available in different strengths, placed directly in front of the light.

A half scrim, as the name suggests, has only has the mesh half way across, which will allow the full intensity of light to fall on part of a scene. A graduated scrim varies the intensity of light from across it.



segmentation

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
the process of dividing a film into parts for analysis.

semiology, semiotics

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
theory of criticism pioneered by Roland Barthes in literature and Christian Metz, Umberto Eco, and Peter Wollen in film. It uses the theories of modern linguistics, especially Ferdinand de Saussure's concept of signification, as a model for the description of the operation of various cultural languages, such as film, television, body language, and written and spoken languages.

sequence

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

a term commonly used for moderately large segment of a film, involving one complete stretch of action and consisting of one or more scenes.

Set light

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
In lighting theory, the ‘set light’ (aka background light) is the light used in a traditional lighting setup to illuminate the background or studio ‘set’ to give an audience a clearer picture of the location of the film composition as well as creating additional debt and separation from the subject or person in the foreground.

The concept of set light should not be confused with that of ‘working light’ which is simply like used on location to assist cast and crew in day-to-day activity on the set, working light is not used or seen in the final composition. in some circumstances working light may refer also to available light in a given filming location, for example daylight entering through a window.

shallow focus

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

a restricted depth of field, which keeps only those planes close to the camera in sharp focus; the opposite of deep focus.

shallow space

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
staging the action in relatively few planes of depth; the opposite of deep space.

short

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a film usually less than 30 minutes in length.

shot (1)

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
in shooting, one uninterrupted run of the camera to expose a series of frames. Also called a take.

shot (2)

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
In the finished film, one uninterrupted image with a single (static or mobile) framing.

shot/reverse shot

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation. In continuity editing, characters in one framing usually look left, in the other framing, right. Over-the-shoulder framings are common in shot/reverse-shot editing.

side lighting

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
lighting coming from one side of a person or a object, usually in order to create a sense of volume, to bring out surface tensions, or to fill in areas left shadowed by light from another source.

sign

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
in semiology, the basic unit of signification composed of signifier (which carries the meaning) and signified (which is the concept or thing signified). In written language, for example, the word "tree" is the signifier, the idea of the tree the signified; the whole sign is comprised of both elements. In cinema, the signified, the idea of tree, remains the same, but the signifier, the image (or even the sound) of the tree is much more complex. See semiology.

simultaneous sound

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

diegetic sound that is represented as occurring at the same time in the story as the image it accompanies.

size diminution

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a cue for suggesting represented depth in the image by showing objects that are further away as smaller than foreground objects.

slapstick

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a type of comedy, widely prevalent during the silent film era, which depends on broad physical action and pantomime for its effect rather than verbal wit.

soft lighting

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
lighting that avoids harsh bright and dark areas, creating a gradual transition from highlights to shadows.

sound bridge

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

at the beginning of a scene, the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins. Or conversely, at the end of a scene, the sound from the next scene is heard, leading into that scene.

sound over

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

any sound that is not represented as being directly audible within the space and time of the images on the screen. This includes both non-simultaneous diegetic sounds and nondiegetic sounds.

sound perspective

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
the sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume, timbre, pitch, and, in stereophonic reproduction systems, binaural information.

space

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
At minimum, any film displays a two-dimensional graphic space, the flat composition of the image. In films which depict recognizable objects, a three-dimensional space is represented as well, which may be directly depicted as onscreen space, or suggested as offscreen space. In narrative film, one can also distinguish between story space, the locale of the totality of the action (whether shown or not) and plot space, the locales visibly and audibly represented in the scenes.

special effects

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a general term for various photographic manipulations that create fictitious spatial relations in the shot, such as superimposition, matte shots, and rear projection.

spill

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
light rays, from spotlights and other focused light sources, that are not useful, e.g., producing lighting where it is not wanted on a stage.

Also a phenomenon caused by reflections of green light from Chroma key (green) backgrounds (creating a green shading on chins and faces during news interviews)

Storyboard

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
A series of (usually) hand drawn frames or panels roughly depicting scenes, copy, and shots proposed for a television commercial, film or indeed any visual narrative. The storyboard gives the client. the film crew or the production tram a good idea of the agency’s concept for a commercial, before extensive production charges are incurred.

Subjective Camera

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
POV shot or a (subjective camera) is a camera angle or framing that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being placed between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction (reverse shot).

Subjective camera may often also include situations where a camera viewpoint implies or suggests the emotional outlook of a character within the scene through showing their viewpoint, or that of another character in that scene.

surrealism

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)
a movement in painting and film during the 1920's best represented by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel; also a film style reminiscent of that movement, either fantastic or psychologically distortive.

synchronous sound

(Last edited: Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 5:41 PM)

sound that is matched temporally with movements occurring in the images, as when dialogue corresponds to lip movements.