FILM TECHNIQUES
So that’s
how they do it.
Find the words for what a film makes you feel. Start with a technique, then see it at work.
18 techniques with reviewed scene examples
Visual exposition
Story information conveyed through what we see.
Subtext
Meaning suggested beneath the literal words through context, delivery, movement or silence.
Performance
The actor's choices of voice, gesture, expression, stillness and timing as shaped in the finished film.
Framing
What the image includes, excludes and places in relation to its edges.
Diegetic sound
Sound belonging to the story world, whether its source is visible or offscreen.
Point of view
How a film organizes our access to someone's looking, knowledge or experience.
Observation and inference
An observation is presented evidence. An inference is an explanation built from that evidence.
Reaction shot
A shot that shows a response to something seen, heard or understood.
Offscreen sound
Sound from a source in the story world that is outside the current image.
Setup and payoff
An earlier detail gaining a later use, consequence or significance.
Crosscutting
Editing between separate lines of action to connect them, often suggesting they occur at the same time.
Dramatic irony
A situation in which the audience knows something important that a character does not.
Suspense
Sustained anticipation of an uncertain outcome, shaped by what we know, fear and wait for.
Resolution
The aftermath that shows what has changed, what remains unsettled and how we leave the story.
Ambiguity
Room for more than one interpretation supported by the available evidence.
Production design
The coordinated design of a film's settings and physical world, including sets, decoration and props.
Turning point
An event or choice that redirects the action or changes a situation's balance.
Camera movement
A change in the camera's position or orientation during a shot.