So you wanna be a Filmmaker?
You could always do a university course. But that will cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Before you make such a commitment you may want to test the waters first. Read up, learn from the best and actually see if you have a passion for it. Grab a camera, some friends, and shoot something.
Cinematography Glossary of Terms
Commonly used terms in the industry...
- Boom: a long, extensible rod, mounted on a swivel stand and used as a microphone mount to enable it to follow the action in a scene without appearing in camera range.
- Background projection: a process whereby a background, previously photographed without performers, is projected on to a screen before which the actors appear.
- Camera angle: the position from which a scene is photographed, depending largely ipon the effect it is desired to produce in the minds of the cinema audience.
- Can (in the): a saying denoting satifactory film work. "It's in the can" means "It's as good as done".
- Caption: explanatory matter photographed as printing.
- Close-up: a shot in which a relatively small subject, such as a hand or face, fills the screen area when projected.
- Continuity: the process of keeping the thread of the story throughout the film and from shot to shot.
- Credits: captions at the start or finish of a film, acknowledging the contributions of cast, technicians, etc, towards the making of the picture.
- Cutting: removing unwanted material, and assembling the edited shots into sequences according to the dramatic demands of the script.
- Crane: a mobile mount for the camera, operators and lights, which is capable of being extended, elevated and traversed to allow the camera to follow the action.
- Director: the actual creator of the film, whose business is to secore the most effective presentation of the idea underlying it.
- Dissolve: the gradual change from one picture to another, in which the first picture gradually disappears while the second appears through it.
- Dolly: a wheeled platform for the camera, crew and lights, usually running on tracks.
- Editor: makes cutting decisions and instructs cutter.
- Effects: sounds produced artificially to represent the noises which should accompany action ina film.
- Extra: members of the cast without speaking parts, who are used to fill in, such as crowd scenes.
- Fade-in/Fade-out: the gradual appearance or disappearance of a picture on the screen, employed usually to mark the beginning and end, respectively, of a new sequence.
- Flash: a very short cut shot.
- Footage: the amount of film expended in the taking of a film. This may vary from about 1000 foot, the average length of a reel, to over 10,000 foot. It takes about 11 minutes to show 1000 foot of 35 mm sound film.
- Follow-focus: junior member of the camera crew, who is responsible for maintaining the focus of the camera in crane or dolly shots.
- Frame: a single picture recorded on a strip of celluloid film. In a talking film, 24 such shots are exposed each second.
- Location: any place, outside the grounds of a studio, used in the taking of a film.
- Mixing: in the production of a sound film, a number of microphones are used in each scene, and it is necessary to control the volume of sound transmitted from each, so as to secure the required general effect and balance.
- Montage: method of film scoring in which film, dialogue and music are blended to produce an effect.
- Negative film: film as developed after exposure in the camera. It has all light and shade reversed.
- Pan shots: panning, ie: moving the camera either vertically or horizontally during the taking of a shot following movement. IT is used in interiors to produce the effect of continuty of movement.
- Positive film: film printed from the negative giving correct light and shade rendition.
- Producer: the chief executive of a producing company who determines the policy to be followed in the making of a film.
- Scenario: the "book" of the film. The director finds in it the story of the film arranged in shots, scenes, etc, together with a description of the pictures required and details of the setting. The position of the camera is also indicated.
- Sequence: a section of the film narrative, ie: a series of conneceted shots dealing with one incident or phase of the story.
- Set: the room, building or phase of the story.
- Shot: the series of photographs taken during a single run of the camera. "Shooting" is the act of taking the film.
- Stand-in: person with physcial characteristics similar to the star. He is used as a subject to test lighting and camera angles.
- Still: photographs of a particular scene taken during production with an ordinary camera, and used to advertise the film.
- Stock: raw film before exposure.
- Synchronization: the process of securing the accompaniment of sound to action with precise accuracy.
- Trailer: a short film advertising a coming attrachtion, usually showing sample dramatic highlights.
- Zoom: A shot taken during the operation of a zoom-lens, gives the impression, when viewed, that the camera has moved through space rapidly, bringing an object into close-up from long-shot focus. It superseded the elaborate track scaffolding in dolly shots.
Recommended Reading
Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
Amazon Price: $10.40 (as of 12/22/2009) 
What They Don't Teach You at Film School: 161 Strategies For Making Your Own Movies No Matter What
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 12/22/2009)
Short Films 101: How to Make a Short and Launch Your Filmmaking Career
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 12/22/2009)
Marketing to Moviegoers: A Handbook of Strategies Used by Major Studios and Independents
Amazon Price: (as of 12/22/2009)
What I Really Want to Do On Set in Hollywood: A Guide to Real Jobs in the Film Industry
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/22/2009)
More useful information for Filmmakers
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Film Crew
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We're going to collate the best links to the most informative and resourceful sites as well as a range of books which can help you in your quest to becoming a filmmaker.
