When I first started teaching Film Studies to high school seniors, I initially fretted over students taking the class because they didn't think it was "a real English class". (It was -- students received 4 credits, as they would any other gen-ed English class, and I taught it at the ACP [advanced college prep] and Honors levels). One of the ways I quickly helped students to realize "I meant business" and that there were things to be learned in Film Studies was by introducing students to the language of cinema, film vocabulary, that they would be encouraged to use (required to at the Honors level) when writing about and analyzing film. While there is a LOT of film vocabulary to be learned and used, below you'll find the vocabulary I found both useful and achievable for use in the high school classroom.

If you're a teacher on Teachers Pay Teachers, you can access a text only version of my "Film Vocabulary Reference Sheet" at this link. Or, if you'd like a free "Film Form Cheat Sheet" that includes the examples featured in this blog post, you can get it on gumroad at the button below, or subscribe to my website (free or any tier) and the file will appear at the very bottom of this post when you're logged in.

Distance Terms

"Distance" refers to the distance between the camera and the subject of a shot. It may also be referred to as implied proximity between the subject and the camera.

I tend to start teaching film vocabulary by introducing distance terms with "the most typical shot" distance, which would be the medium shot. A medium shot features its subject from the waist up. This is considered the most "typical shot" used in films because subjects filmed at this distance feel most familiar to the audience. When we view medium shots, it feels as if we're in conversation with subjects of those shots (at least, it can feel that way... sort of).

medium shots

Here, Coraline is the subject of the shot, and she's featured from the waist up, making this a medium shot.

Typically, we describe what we can see of a subject as "from the waist up," but here's an example "from the waist down". Film vocabulary terms aren't perfectly concrete. They help us to describe the implied proximity between the camera and the subject. So here, Coraline still feels as though her proportions are in a realistic / similar size to our own as the audience.

medium OTS ("over the shoulder")

In this example shot, Coraline's mother is the subject. This is a medium shot of the mother, and also an over the shoulder (OTS) shot as we can see... well, over Coraline's shoulder in the foreground.

As we work on solidifying that medium shots feature a subject from the waist up, then we try to add in our next two distance terms that can serve as anchor points: closeup and long.

A closeup shot features a subject from the shoulders up. A long shot features a subject from the feet up.

closeup (CU) shots

Here's a closeup of the cat in Coraline.

I'd still call this a closeup shot of the Other Mother even though you can see up to her waist. Can you feel how the Other Mother is closeup here? She's leaning in, closeup. If she were standing straight up, we wouldn't be able to see her waist. But this is also an example of how you can go with the feel of a shot too!

other closeup shots

Notice that you can also have "closeup shots" on subjects that aren't peoples' faces. A closeup shot focuses the audience's attention even more closely on what the filmmaker wants us to look at, to see.

a closeup shot of the pliers

a closeup shot of the action

long shots

a long shot of Coraline exiting her home

a long shot of Coraline counting windows

a long shot of the moving man in Coraline (he's tall!).

From these "anchor points" of medium, closeup, and long, you can then go in between them by combining the terms in a way.

A medium closeup shot is in between a closeup and medium shot: so, it features a subject from the chest up instead of from the waist up.

A medium long shot is in between a medium shot and a long shot: so, it features a subject from the knees up instead of from the feet up.

medium closeup (MCU)

a medium closeup shot of Coraline from the chest up.

medium long (ML)

a medium long shot of Coraline from the knees up.

And then once again from the "anchor points" of medium, closeup, and long, you can then go beyond them by referring to them as "extreme".

An extreme closeup shot is more closeup than a closeup shot: so, it features a subject from within the face instead of from the shoulders up, which shows the entire face. 

An extreme long shot is further away than a long shot: so, it features a subject's entire body (from the feet up) and a bit more of the surroundings too. The subject should seem rather far away, or a bit small in their surroundings.

https://hollywoodandlit0001.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Coraline_Film+Form+Screenshots/Coraline_ECU+1.png

extreme closeup (ECU)

An extreme closeup shot of the Coraline doll being made in the opening credit sequence of the film. We are extremely close to the doll, we can't even see the entire face/head. We're forced to focus on the mouth being unzipped and the stuffing spilling out a bit.

extreme long (EL)

An extreme long shot of Coraline searching for water with a dowsing rod. An extreme long shot usually places a subject in the context of their surroundings, which we can see the sparse and bleak terrain around Coraline's home. This is also a high angle shot (we'll get to angle next), looking down at Coraline. And here, too, there's an implied POV of someone [or thing] following and watching Coraline. The rocks in the foreground give the impression that we are hiding behind them, peering down at Coraline. <- See what you can do with all of these "film form terms"! And we're just getting started...!

Angle Terms

"Angle" refers to the angle at which the camera is with regards to the subject of a shot. Similar to the way we can "anchor" our distance vocabulary terms with closeup, medium, and long, we can also anchor our angle terms with high, level, and low.

And once again, if you want to go beyond, then you would have an extreme high angle or an extreme low angle shot. If you want to go in between, you'll notice the first graphic below features some other photography terms for these angles.

I thought the above image was a helpful graphic to show how camera angle works. I think you could use the vocabulary featured there too, but since it includes more terms than I would typically require of students, I've simplified the vocabulary below:

The main difference would be that high angle and low angle shots seem to refer to a wider range of degrees. Perhaps this might be considered technically incorrect, but when using these terms in the high school English classroom, I think the point is that one would be referring to a low angle or high angle shot, and that would be enough to differentiate from an extreme high or low angle shot.

extreme high angle (EHA) / bird's eye / overhead

It's interesting, because although the above graphic differentiates between these terms, I know historically I would've used any one of them to refer to this shot in a film studies class. This is an extreme high angle shot, which also seem's like a "bird's eye view", and an overhead shot of the dancing mice in Coraline.

extreme high angle (EHA)

This shot isn't directly overhead, so it feels more clearly / succinctly an extreme high angle shot looking down at Coraline from the rocks.

high angle (HA)

A high angle shot looking down at Coraline. Note that from the previous shot to here, we've gone from an extreme long shot to, perhaps, a long shot. How do we know? We've gotten closer to our subject, Coraline. Which, we literally see happen at a certain point when the cat jumps from behind these rocks.

level or straight on

A level shot (aka "straight on" shot, either term works) of the Other Mother in her other kitchen.

low angle (LA)

A low angle shot from Coraline's POV looking up at Miriam (Miss Forcible) and her deceased stuffed dog angels. The "effects" of camera angle, distance, and subject framing are impacted by the context of a shot - but imagine here, what's the power dynamic indicated by a low angle shot? How does the low angle make us feel?

extreme low angle (ELA) / worm's eye

An extreme low angle shot from Coraline's POV looking up at Bobinsky (who is about to jump down from that obscene height). This angle is also referred to as "worm's eye" - can you guess why? How small do we feel here... It's as if we're looking up from "a worm's eye".

low viewpoint

A shot to challenge the previous one. This shot isn't at an angle – we aren't at a low angle looking up at Coraline, but we do feel low and small. That's because here the camera is at a low viewpoint, meaning it is placed lower than the subject, but not tipped to look up at the subject. Here, that viewpoint signals the POV of the dancing mice that are about to scamper beneath Coraline's bed.

canted angle / dutch angle

A "canted" or "dutch" angle shot means the camera is tilted so the edges of the frame are not parallel and perpendicular with the ground / horizon lines of the shot. What do you think a "common effect" is of a canted angle shot? What's the implied POV in this shot from Coraline? And why would it make sense for this to be a canted angle in this moment?

Depth of Field & Camera Focus

"Depth of field" refers to the amount of distance from the camera that is in focus. A shallow focus, or "narrow depth of field" means that a relatively small or short distance is in focus. Think of this to mean either only the foreground (FG), or only the midground (MG), or only the background (BG) is in focus, while the other two "grounds" are blurry. In contrast, deep focus means that a relatively large distance is in focus. Orson Welles created deep focus in Citizen Kane, where every shot features the FG, MG, and BG with crisp clarity. Whereas a shallow focus more clearly draws the audience's eye to focus on one particular depth of field, a deep focus can challenge an audience with what to look for since there is a lot more crisply in focus.

shallow depth of field (FG)

Here, Coraline is in the foreground (FG) in focus. Her mother is in the background (BG) and is blurry, aka out of focus.

shallow depth of field (BG)

Here, Coraline's mother is now in focus in the BG. Notice that the camera hasn't moved (we can tell because Coraline and her mother are still the same size, so the distance hasn't changed between either of them and the camera). To shift focus/clarity from Coraline in the previous shot to her mother in this shot, the cinematographer would've had to work the zoom lens.

When we can see this change in focal point / focus take place, that's called a rack focus.

deep focus

This is a fairly famous shot from Citizen Kane. Remember, deep focus means we have a very wide depth of field - or there is a long distance that's in focus (or clear, not blurry).

Before I point out some things about the shot - ask yourself - where is your eye drawn to look? What do you think Welles' is trying to make you look at in this shot?

If it's hard for you to be sure, that's part of the point. In contrast with the shallow focus images above -- where it's clear that we should be looking at Coraline, who's clear/in focus, while she's talking and then her mother, who's clear/in focus when she responds -- this shot from Citizen Kane is entirely in focus.

Kane's mother in the FG is crisp and clear alongside an also in focus Mr. Thatcher, their banker. Just beyond them, in the midground (MG), is Kane's father - who's also clear and in focus. And far beyond them all, as we can see outside the window, is a young Charles Kane. And while it might seem like it's hard to see him, he's actually still in focus in the background (BG) despite the snowfall and the distance.

If you want to read more about this shot...

OK, we've covered a lot!

There's a bit more film vocabulary I've found useful in the high school classroom, but there's quite a bit covered here in this post. If you can imagine, this is about as much as I might cover in 1-2 class sessions, but in some ways I try to introduce these terms quickly and keep it light, with a focus on daily repetition to help students memorize them quickly. For the distance terms, we might start each day kind of doing "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" or a Simon Says, but instead we're saying, "medium", "extra long", "closeup", etc.

And if you want Film Vocab Reference sheets, I have a couple for free on...

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