Production glossary. Learn the language of film.

What is a storyboard?

A storyboard is a sequence of illustrations or images arranged in order to pre-visualize a motion picture, animation, motion graphic, or interactive media sequence. Each panel represents a shot, with notes on dialogue, camera movement, timing, and transitions.

What is an animatic?

An animatic is a preliminary version of a film or animation created by sequencing storyboard panels on a timeline with rough timing, soundtrack, and sometimes limited motion. It bridges the gap between static storyboards and full production, letting directors, editors, and clients evaluate pacing, rhythm, and narrative flow before committing to expensive shooting or animation.

Pre-visualization (previs)

Pre-visualization (previs) is the process of creating rough 3D animated versions of scenes before production begins, allowing directors and cinematographers to plan camera placement, blocking, timing, and visual effects integration. More detailed than storyboards or animatics, previs uses simplified 3D models and environments to simulate how shots will look and move in three-dimensional space.

Screenplay format

Screenplay format is the standardized way of writing scripts for film and television, using specific fonts (Courier 12pt), margins, and structural elements so that one page of script roughly equals one minute of screen time. The format includes scene headings (slug lines), action descriptions, character names, dialogue, parentheticals, and transitions.

Camera & composition

4 concepts

Shot types in film

Shot types refer to the different ways a camera frames a subject, ranging from extreme wide shots that establish geography to extreme close-ups that capture subtle emotion. Understanding shot types is fundamental to visual storytelling because each framing choice shapes how the audience perceives scale, intimacy, power, and narrative focus.

Camera angles in film

Camera angles describe the vertical and horizontal position of the camera relative to the subject. By shifting the angle, filmmakers control how the audience perceives power, vulnerability, objectivity, or disorientation within a scene.

Film composition

Film composition refers to the deliberate arrangement of visual elements within the camera frame, including subject placement, leading lines, depth, balance, color, and negative space. Strong composition guides the viewer's eye, establishes mood, and communicates subtext without dialogue.

Aspect ratios explained

An aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between the width and height of an image or screen, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (such as 16:9 or 2.39:1).

Genres & styles

3 concepts

Genres

Movie genres

Movie genres are categories that classify films based on shared narrative elements, themes, visual styles, and emotional effects. From action and comedy to horror and science fiction, genres provide a framework for audiences to find films they enjoy and for filmmakers to work within (or deliberately subvert) established conventions.

Genres

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic style characterized by high-contrast lighting, morally ambiguous characters, cynical narratives, and a pervasive atmosphere of fatalism and urban danger. Originating in American crime films of the 1940s and 1950s, noir drew heavily from German Expressionism and hard-boiled detective fiction.

Genres

Spaghetti western

A spaghetti western is a subgenre of Western films produced by Italian filmmakers, primarily during the 1960s and 1970s. Named somewhat dismissively by American critics (referencing Italy's culinary associations), the genre was pioneered by Sergio Leone, whose Dollars Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood redefined the Western with extreme close-ups, Ennio Morricone's iconic scores, stylized violence, and morally ambiguous antiheroes.

Storytelling & direction

4 concepts

Three act structure

The three act structure is a narrative framework that divides a story into three parts: Setup (Act 1), Confrontation (Act 2), and Resolution (Act 3). Rooted in Aristotle's observation that stories have a beginning, middle, and end, this model has become the dominant structural paradigm in screenwriting, theater, and narrative filmmaking.

Visual storytelling

Visual storytelling is the practice of conveying narrative, emotion, and meaning through images, composition, color, movement, and sequencing rather than through dialogue or text alone. It is the foundational principle of cinema: the best films communicate their most important ideas visually, using dialogue to supplement rather than carry the story.

Director's vision

A director's vision is the unified creative concept that guides all artistic decisions in a film or video production, from visual style and tone to performance approach and thematic emphasis. It is the coherent answer to the question: what should this project look, feel, and sound like? The director's vision ensures that every department, from cinematography and production design to costume, sound, and editing, works toward the same creative destination.

Mise en scène

Mise en scène (French for 'placing on stage') refers to everything that appears within the frame of a shot: set design, lighting, costumes, makeup, actor positioning (blocking), props, and color. It is the director's tool for communicating mood, character, theme, and narrative information visually, without relying on dialogue or editing.

Post-production & technique

4 concepts

Continuity editing

Continuity editing is a system of cutting that maintains consistent spatial and temporal relationships between shots, creating the illusion of a continuous, unbroken reality. It is the dominant editing style in narrative cinema and television, designed to be invisible so that the audience follows the story without noticing the cuts.

Color grading

Color grading is the process of adjusting and enhancing the color, contrast, and tonal qualities of a film or video in post-production. It goes beyond basic color correction (which ensures technical accuracy) to create a deliberate visual mood and style.

Pre-production

Pre-production is the planning phase of a film, video, or media project that occurs before cameras roll. It encompasses all creative and logistical preparation, including script development, storyboarding, casting, location scouting, budgeting, scheduling, crew hiring, and production design.

Post-production encompasses all processes that occur after principal photography wraps, including editing, visual effects, sound design, color grading, music composition, mixing, and mastering. It is the phase where raw footage is shaped into a coherent story.