Film & Television Vocabulary: 100 Key English Terms
English is the working language of international co-productions, film festivals, streaming platforms and most filmmaking software, so even a crew in Istanbul talks about takes, call sheets and color grading. This glossary explains the core vocabulary of crew roles, scripts and pre-production, shots and camera movements, lighting and sound, editing and post-production, genres, distribution and festivals, and TV formats, with natural Turkish equivalents and examples from real sets and edit suites. It is written for filmmakers, film students and film lovers who want to read, talk and work about cinema and television in English.
100 terms
10 topics
65 core terms
200 example sentences
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No account needed. Read the meaning, see where the term is used, then study the examples. Click any word in the lesson for help. You can also select a word and press Alt + Enter.
Film Crew and Roles
director
noun
Meaning
The person who leads the creative side of a film or TV episode, guiding the actors and the crew and deciding how each scene should look and feel.
Where you use it
Used everywhere from film school to festival juries. A director directs a film, calls action and cut on set and works closely with the cinematographer and the editor. Common types: film director, TV director, first-time director, documentary director.
Examples
The director wants one more take with the camera a little lower.
It is her second feature as a director, and it has already been invited to Venice.
Usage note
In business English a director is a senior manager (müdür, yönetici). In film it always means yönetmen. Director's cut is a version of the film edited the way the director wanted.
Common phrases
film director · first-time director · directed by · the director's vision · director's cut
The person who makes a film or TV project happen: finding the money, hiring key people, managing the budget and schedule and seeing the project through to release.
Where you use it
A producer develops, finances and oversees a project, while the director leads it creatively. Credits often list several kinds: executive producer, co-producer, line producer (who runs the day-to-day budget) and associate producer.
Examples
The producer is still looking for a co-production partner in Germany.
Our line producer says we can't afford a second shooting day at the airport.
Usage note
A film is produced by a producer and directed by a director. Do not confuse producer with production company (yapım şirketi), which is the business behind the film.
All the actors who play the characters in a film, series or play. As a verb, to cast someone means to choose them for a role.
Where you use it
Used for the whole group of actors: the main cast, the supporting cast, an ensemble cast, an all-star cast. The verb is irregular (cast, cast, cast): she was cast as the mother. The cast is in front of the camera; the crew is behind it.
Examples
The cast and crew meet for the first read-through next week.
He was cast as the detective after only one audition.
Usage note
Turkish kast usually means the casting process (kasta çağrılmak). In English that process is casting; cast means the actors themselves.
Common phrases
main cast · supporting cast · ensemble cast · be cast as · cast and crew
The people who work behind the camera on a film or TV production, such as the camera, lighting, sound, art, costume and production teams.
Where you use it
Crew can mean the whole team or one department: camera crew, sound crew, film crew, skeleton crew (a very small team). People are hired as crew, and a call sheet tells the crew when and where to arrive.
Examples
We shot the documentary with a crew of four.
Crew call is at six, but the actors arrive at eight.
Usage note
Crew is a group noun. British English often uses a plural verb (the crew are tired), American English a singular one (the crew is tired). A single person is a crew member.
Common phrases
film crew · camera crew · skeleton crew · crew call · cast and crew
The head of the camera and lighting departments, who decides with the director how the film will look: framing, lenses, camera movement and light.
Where you use it
Also called the director of photography, shortened to DP in the US and DoP in the UK. The cinematographer leads the camera operators, focus pullers, gaffer and grips, and is credited with the film's cinematography (its visual style).
Examples
The cinematographer wants to shoot the whole film with natural light.
She worked as a camera assistant for years before becoming a cinematographer.
Usage note
The person is the cinematographer; the art and the result are cinematography. In Turkish both kameraman and görüntü yönetmeni are used, but a camera operator (kameraman) is a different, junior job.
Common phrases
award-winning cinematographer · director and cinematographer · work as a cinematographer · director of photography
A person who writes screenplays for films or scripts for TV series, either original stories or adaptations of books and other works.
Where you use it
Also called a scriptwriter or simply a writer. In TV, writers work in a writers' room under a head writer or showrunner. A screenwriter pitches ideas, writes drafts and does rewrites; the credit is written by or screenplay by.
Examples
The screenwriter spent a year interviewing fishermen before writing the first draft.
Two screenwriters were brought in to rewrite the second half.
Usage note
A director who also writes the script is called a writer-director.
Common phrases
award-winning screenwriter · work as a screenwriter · screenwriter and director · staff writer
The most important part in a film or series, played by the actor whose character the story mainly follows.
Where you use it
Actors play, land or are offered the lead role; the person is the lead or the lead actor, and a film can have two leads. In credits and awards, leading role is common: Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Examples
She got the lead role after six rounds of auditions.
It's his first lead role in a feature film.
Usage note
Here lead rhymes with need (/liːd/), not with red. Star in is a common verb: she stars in the new series.
Common phrases
play the lead role · land the lead role · leading role · lead actor · co-lead
An important part that is not the lead, often a character who helps, challenges or reflects the main character.
Where you use it
Used for casting and awards: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, a strong supporting cast. Smaller parts are called minor roles, bit parts or cameos (a short appearance by a famous person).
Examples
He won the award for his supporting role as the grandfather.
The supporting roles are cast with well-known theatre actors.
Usage note
Supporting role is also used outside film to mean a helping position: play a supporting role in the project.
Common phrases
play a supporting role · best supporting actress · supporting cast · small supporting role
A crew member who organises the shooting schedule and runs the set day to day so that the director can focus on the creative work.
Where you use it
Shortened to AD. The first AD breaks down the script, makes the schedule and keeps the set on time; the second AD prepares call sheets and manages the cast's movements; third ADs and runners help on set and with extras.
Examples
The first assistant director says we're thirty minutes behind schedule.
Ask the second assistant director when the actors need to be in makeup.
Usage note
Despite the name, an assistant director does not usually direct scenes. The job is about time, safety and organisation.
Common phrases
first assistant director · second assistant director · first AD · AD department
The head of the art department, who designs the overall visual world of a film: sets, locations, props, colors and the period look.
Where you use it
The production designer works closely with the director and cinematographer from early pre-production. In Hollywood, the art director, set decorator and props master work under the production designer. Awards often use the category Best Production Design.
Examples
The production designer rebuilt a 1950s Beyoğlu street on the backlot.
Our production designer chose a palette of greens and browns for the whole village.
Usage note
In Turkey the head of the art department is usually credited as sanat yönetmeni. In big English-language productions, art director is a lower position under the production designer, so translate titles with care.
Common phrases
production designer and art director · art department · best production design · set decorator
The person who selects and joins the shots of a film into a finished story, working with the director to shape its rhythm and structure.
Where you use it
Usually just called the editor. The editor starts cutting during the shoot, works with assistant editors, and spends months in the edit suite with the director. Picture editor is used to separate the job from the sound editor.
Examples
The film editor suggested starting the story with the ending.
As a film editor, he has cut most of the director's films.
Usage note
In Turkish editör often means a publishing or news editor. In film, the clearest Turkish word is kurgucu.
Common phrases
film editor · assistant editor · picture editor · work with the editor · edit suite
The written text of a film, TV show or play, with the dialogue, the action and the scene descriptions that the cast and crew follow.
Where you use it
The everyday word on set and in production offices, used for films, series, ads and even YouTube videos. People write, read, revise, rewrite and break down a script. Script is also a verb: a scripted show follows a script, an unscripted show does not.
Examples
We got the final script on Friday, so the read-through is on Monday.
The actors were allowed to change a few lines, but most of the script stayed the same.
Usage note
Script is the general word; screenplay is the more formal word for a film script written in standard industry format.
Common phrases
write a script · read a script · script breakdown · shooting script · script doctor
A part of a film or TV episode that happens in one place and at one time, usually made up of several shots.
Where you use it
Scripts and schedules are organised by scene numbers, and crews talk about shooting, cutting, blocking and rehearsing a scene. Common types: opening scene, final scene, love scene, fight scene, deleted scene.
Examples
We're shooting scene 42 first because the light in the kitchen is better in the morning.
The opening scene sets up the whole film in less than three minutes.
Usage note
Turkish sahne also means a theatre stage, but in English the stage is stage, not scene. On a film set, a sound stage is a large studio building.
Common phrases
shoot a scene · opening scene · deleted scene · scene heading · steal the scene
The planning stage before filming starts, when the script is finished, the cast is chosen, locations are found and the budget and schedule are prepared.
Where you use it
The usual order is development, pre-production, production (the shoot), post-production and distribution. Projects go into or are in pre-production. Typical tasks: casting, location scouting, storyboards, shot lists, rehearsals and hiring crew. Often shortened to prep.
Examples
The series is in pre-production and will start shooting in March.
Good pre-production saves money on set.
Usage note
British English often writes pre-production with a hyphen; American English also uses preproduction as one word. Both are understood.
Common phrases
go into pre-production · be in pre-production · pre-production meeting · weeks of pre-production
The written plan of a film in a standard format, with scene headings, descriptions of action, character names and dialogue.
Where you use it
The formal word used in credits, contracts and awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay. Screenplays use a fixed layout, usually written in software such as Final Draft; as a rule of thumb one page equals about one minute of screen time.
Examples
The screenplay is 110 pages, so the film will probably run just under two hours.
Her screenplay is based on a novel by Sabahattin Ali.
Usage note
A spec script or spec screenplay is written without being paid or commissioned, in the hope of selling it later.
Common phrases
original screenplay · adapted screenplay · write a screenplay · screenplay format · spec screenplay
The process of choosing actors for the roles in a film, series, play or advert.
Where you use it
Led by a casting director, who organises auditions and shortlists actors for the director and producers. Common phrases: casting call (an announcement looking for actors), open casting, casting agency, and the casting is perfect (the actors fit their roles well).
Examples
Casting starts next month, and we already have three names for the lead.
The casting director suggested an unknown actor from the theatre.
Usage note
Turkish speakers say kast or kasta gitmek; in English say casting or go to an audition, not go to a cast.
Common phrases
casting director · casting call · open casting · casting agency · street casting
A short performance in which an actor reads or acts part of a role so that the casting team can decide whether to choose them.
Where you use it
Actors go to, attend or have an audition, and audition for a role (verb). Many first rounds are now self-tapes, recorded at home and sent online. A callback is a second audition for the shortlisted actors.
Examples
I have an audition tomorrow for a small part in a crime series.
More than four hundred children auditioned for the role.
Usage note
Audition is also used for musicians and dancers. Do not confuse it with audience (seyirci).
Common phrases
go to an audition · audition for a role · open audition · self-tape audition · get a callback
A series of simple drawings, like a comic strip, showing each planned shot of a scene in order before it is filmed.
Where you use it
Directors and cinematographers use storyboards to plan framing and camera movement, especially for action, effects and commercials. People draw, sketch or board a scene, and a storyboard artist does it professionally. An animatic is a storyboard edited into a rough video.
Examples
The car crash is fully storyboarded, so the stunt team knows every shot.
Can you send me the storyboard for the opening scene before the meeting?
Usage note
Storyboard is a noun and a verb: we storyboarded the whole chase.
Common phrases
draw a storyboard · storyboard artist · shot-by-shot storyboard · storyboard frames
The words that characters speak to each other in a film, series or play.
Where you use it
Writers write dialogue, actors deliver it and sound teams record and clean it. Dialogue can be natural, sharp, stiff or on the nose (too direct). One sentence or speech of an actor is a line: learn your lines, forget a line.
Examples
The dialogue in this scene is too long; let the actors' faces do the work.
We lost some dialogue because of the wind, so we'll need to re-record it.
Usage note
Dialogue is usually uncountable when it means the spoken words: some dialogue, a line of dialogue. American English also uses the spelling dialog, mainly in software.
Common phrases
write dialogue · natural dialogue · dialogue scene · line of dialogue · dialogue editor
One continuous piece of film recorded from the moment the camera starts until it stops, or the piece of it that appears between two cuts.
Where you use it
The basic unit of filmmaking. Directors plan shots in a shot list, crews set up and get the shot, and shots are named by size and movement: wide shot, close-up, tracking shot, insert shot. One shot may need many takes.
Examples
We still need two more shots before we lose the light.
The film opens with a single shot that lasts almost six minutes.
Usage note
Turkish film people say plan, but English plan means a scheme or intention. Translate genel plan as wide shot, never as general plan.
Common phrases
shot list · get the shot · set up a shot · long shot · single shot
A shot taken very near the subject, usually showing a person's face or a small object so that the audience can see emotion or detail.
Where you use it
Shortened to CU in shot lists and scripts. Related sizes: medium close-up (MCU, from the chest up) and extreme close-up (ECU or XCU, for example just the eyes). Directors move in for a close-up at emotional moments.
Examples
Let's finish the scene with a close-up of her hands on the letter.
The director saved the close-ups for the end of the argument.
Usage note
Pronounce close here with an s sound (/kləʊs/, near), not with a z sound like the verb close (shut).
Common phrases
extreme close-up · medium close-up · in close-up · go in for a close-up · close-up of
A shot that shows a large area, with people appearing small or full-length inside their surroundings, so that the audience sees where they are.
Where you use it
Written WS in shot lists. Long shot (LS) means almost the same thing; extreme wide shot (EWS) shows a whole landscape or city. Directors usually start a scene wide and move in, and editors call it going wide or cutting to the wide.
Examples
Start with a wide shot of the village, then cut to the two men at the café.
We only have time for the wide shot, so the close-ups will be tomorrow.
Usage note
Full shot (boy plan) shows a person from head to feet; a wide shot can be even wider. In Turkish both are sometimes loosely called genel plan.
Common phrases
extreme wide shot · start on a wide shot · cut to the wide shot · wide-angle lens
A shot that shows a person from about the waist up, close enough to see expressions but wide enough to show gestures and some background.
Where you use it
Written MS in shot lists. It is the standard shot for dialogue, interviews and TV news. A two-shot frames two people in a medium shot; a medium close-up (MCU) is a little tighter, from the chest up.
Examples
For the interview, keep her in a medium shot with the bookshelf behind her.
Most of the dinner scene is covered in medium shots.
Usage note
Mid shot is a common British alternative. Both mean the same thing.
Common phrases
medium close-up · medium wide shot · frame a medium shot · in a medium shot
The edges of the image that the camera records, and everything inside them. It also means one single still image of a film.
Where you use it
Crews say in frame, out of frame and enter or leave the frame. The verb frame means to compose a shot: frame her a bit tighter. In the second meaning, frame rate is the number of images per second, usually 24 fps for cinema.
Examples
The boom is in the frame. Can we go again?
We shot at 48 frames per second for the slow-motion sequence.
Usage note
Turkish kadraj and kare are two different English ideas, but both are frame. Context shows which one is meant.
Common phrases
in frame · out of frame · frame rate · frames per second · freeze frame
The position and direction from which the camera looks at the subject, such as from above, from below or at eye level.
Where you use it
Common angles: eye level, high angle (looking down, makes a character seem small or weak), low angle (looking up, makes them seem powerful), bird's-eye view (from directly above) and Dutch angle (tilted, to show unease).
Examples
A low camera angle makes the boss look even more threatening.
Let's try the same line from a different camera angle.
Usage note
On set people often just say angle: what's the next angle? Reverse angle means the opposite view, for example from the other actor's side in a conversation.
Common phrases
low camera angle · high camera angle · Dutch angle · change the camera angle · unusual angle
To turn the camera horizontally from left to right or right to left while it stays in the same place. The movement itself is called a pan.
Where you use it
Directors say pan left, pan right or pan with him. A slow pan reveals a landscape; a whip pan (swish pan) is so fast that the image blurs, often used as a transition. Pan comes from panorama.
Examples
Pan slowly from the window to the empty bed.
The camera pans across the crowd and stops on her face.
Usage note
Pan has a second, informal meaning: to pan a film means to criticise it very strongly. Panned by the critics means the reviews were very bad.
Common phrases
pan left · pan right · slow pan · whip pan · pan across
To move the camera up or down on a fixed point, like nodding your head. The movement itself is called a tilt.
Where you use it
Directors say tilt up and tilt down. A tilt up a tall building shows its height; a tilt down from the sky to a character is a classic opening. A pan is horizontal and a tilt is vertical.
Examples
Start on his shoes and tilt up slowly to his face.
The shot tilts down from the minaret to the busy square.
Usage note
The Dutch angle is sometimes called a Dutch tilt, but it is a fixed sideways roll of the camera, not an up-and-down tilt movement.
To make the subject look closer or further away by changing the focal length of the lens, without moving the camera.
Where you use it
Zoom in brings the subject closer; zoom out shows more of the scene. A crash zoom is very fast and dramatic. Many cinematographers prefer moving the camera (a dolly in) because a zoom looks flatter and less natural.
Examples
Zoom in slowly on the photograph on the wall.
Seventies cinema used the zoom much more than films do today.
Usage note
A zoom changes the lens, a dolly or tracking shot moves the camera. The famous dolly zoom combines both to make the background seem to stretch.
Common phrases
zoom in · zoom out · zoom lens · crash zoom · slow zoom
A shot in which the camera itself moves through space, for example on rails, a dolly, a vehicle or a stabiliser, usually following a character.
Where you use it
Named after the tracks (rails) the dolly runs on. Related terms: dolly shot, Steadicam shot, crane shot. A long tracking shot without a cut is called a oner or a long take, and it often becomes a famous showpiece.
Examples
The tracking shot follows the waiter through the kitchen and into the dining room.
We need two hours to lay the track for this tracking shot.
Usage note
Turkish travelling comes from French. In English, travelling shot exists but is old-fashioned; say tracking shot or dolly shot.
Common phrases
long tracking shot · lay track · dolly shot · Steadicam shot · follow with a tracking shot
A shot, usually wide, at the start of a scene that shows where and sometimes when the action takes place.
Where you use it
Typical examples: the outside of a hospital before a scene in a ward, or a city skyline at night. TV series reuse establishing shots of the same buildings, and drones are now often used to film them.
Examples
We need an establishing shot of the police station at night.
The drone gave us beautiful establishing shots of the Bosphorus.
Usage note
Establish here means to make something clear to the audience, as in establish a character or establish the rules of the story.
Common phrases
aerial establishing shot · exterior establishing shot · open with an establishing shot
A shot that shows exactly what a character is seeing, as if the camera were the character's eyes.
Where you use it
Shortened to POV shot or just POV in scripts and shot lists: HER POV. It is usually edited between a shot of the character looking and a shot of their reaction. Horror and found-footage films use it to make the audience feel inside the scene.
Examples
Cut to a point-of-view shot of the letter in his shaking hands.
The whole opening is one long point-of-view shot from the killer's side.
Usage note
In Turkish film language this is often called öznel kamera. In general English, point of view also means opinion: from my point of view.
Common phrases
POV shot · from her point of view · subjective camera · cut to a point-of-view shot
One attempt at filming a shot. If something goes wrong or the director wants a different version, the crew does another take.
Where you use it
Heard all day on set: take one, take two, one more take, a good take. Each take is announced on the clapperboard and noted by the script supervisor, so the editor can find the best one later.
Examples
That was great. Let's do one more take, a little faster this time.
The editor used take seven because the actor's eyes were perfect in it.
Usage note
A shot is what you film; a take is each attempt at it. Scene 12, shot 3, take 5 means the fifth attempt at the third shot of scene 12.
Common phrases
do another take · one more take · first take · good take · single take
To record a film, scene or shot with a camera. As a noun, a shoot is the period or the day when the filming happens.
Where you use it
The most common verb for filming: shoot a film, shoot a scene, shoot on location, shoot in black and white. The noun is just as common: a ten-day shoot, a night shoot, the shoot wraps on Friday. Past forms: shot, shot.
Examples
We're going to shoot the market scenes in Kadıköy next Tuesday.
The night shoot ran late because of the rain.
Usage note
The past form shot is also the noun for one camera set-up, which can be confusing: We shot six shots today. In everyday talk people often say film instead: we filmed it in Izmir.
Common phrases
shoot a scene · shoot on location · night shoot · shooting schedule · shoot on film
The place where filming happens, either a space built in a studio to look like a real place or the area being used at a location.
Where you use it
People are on set or on the set; they arrive on set, are needed on set and keep quiet on set. Set also means the built scenery: the art department builds and dresses the set. Set etiquette means the unwritten rules of behaviour during filming.
Examples
Phones off, please. We're about to roll on set.
The whole apartment is a set built inside the studio.
Usage note
Say on set, not in set. A closed set is one where only essential crew are allowed, for example during intimate scenes.
Common phrases
on set · film set · build a set · set designer · closed set
A real place outside the studio, such as a street, house or forest, where a film or TV show is shot.
Where you use it
To shoot on location means to film in a real place, not a studio. Before the shoot, the location manager and location scouts look for and book locations, a process called location scouting or a recce in British English.
Examples
Most of the series was shot on location in Mardin.
We're still looking for a location that can pass for a 1970s hospital.
Usage note
On location is a fixed phrase. Turkish speakers sometimes say in the location; on location or at the location is correct.
Common phrases
on location · location scouting · location manager · find a location · location shoot
A practice session in which actors and crew go through a scene before filming it, to work out the performance, movement and camera positions.
Where you use it
Before the shoot there may be weeks of rehearsals and a table read (the cast reads the whole script aloud). On the day, the director runs a rehearsal for blocking, then a camera rehearsal. The verb is rehearse.
Examples
We'll do one rehearsal for camera and then go for a take.
The two actors had a week of rehearsals before the shoot started.
Usage note
A dress rehearsal is the final full rehearsal in costume, mainly in theatre. In rehearse, the ea sounds like the vowel in bird: /rɪˈhɜːs/.
Common phrases
camera rehearsal · dress rehearsal · rehearsal time · run a rehearsal · rehearse a scene
A daily document sent to the cast and crew that lists the scenes being shot, the location, call times and important contacts for the next shooting day.
Where you use it
Prepared by the assistant directors and usually sent the evening before. People check the call sheet for their call time (the time they must arrive), the weather, parking, the nearest hospital and the order of scenes.
Examples
Check the call sheet: tomorrow's call time is 5:30 because of the sunrise scene.
The second AD sends the call sheet out every night by nine.
Usage note
Call here means the time you are called to work. A 6 a.m. call is the time to arrive, not a phone call.
Common phrases
send out the call sheet · on the call sheet · call time · daily call sheet
Keeping details consistent from shot to shot, such as costumes, props, hair, positions and actions, so that the edited scene looks like one continuous moment.
Where you use it
The script supervisor (once called continuity girl in the UK) takes continuity notes and photos. A continuity error, such as a glass that is full in one shot and empty in the next, is a classic thing viewers spot and share online.
Examples
Watch the continuity: in the last take he held the phone in his left hand.
Fans found three continuity errors in the wedding scene.
Usage note
In TV and comics, continuity also means the consistency of facts across episodes or a long story.
A small board with a hinged stick, held in front of the camera at the start of a take to show the scene and take number and to make a clap for syncing sound and picture.
Where you use it
Also called the slate or the sticks. The clapper loader (second camera assistant) calls out the numbers and claps it: the editor lines up the sound of the clap with the frame where the sticks meet. A tail slate is done at the end of a take.
Examples
The clapperboard says scene 18, take 4, but the sound report says take 5.
Hold the clapperboard closer to the lens; I can't read it.
Usage note
On set people say Mark it! or Marker! when the clap is made. Turkish klaket comes from French claquette.
Common phrases
hold the clapperboard · clapper loader · slate · mark it · tail slate
To finish filming, either for the day or for the whole production. As a noun, the wrap is the end of shooting.
Where you use it
The first AD announces That's a wrap! at the end of the last shot. Common phrases: wrap for the day, wrap on an actor (their last day), the film wrapped in May, a wrap party for cast and crew.
Examples
We should wrap by eight if the weather stays dry.
The series wrapped in Cappadocia after fourteen weeks of shooting.
Usage note
In meetings, wrap up means to finish: let's wrap up. On set, wrap alone is enough.
Common phrases
that's a wrap · wrap for the day · wrap party · series wrap · wrap on an actor
A dangerous or difficult action in a film, such as a fall, fight, fire scene or car crash, performed by trained professionals.
Where you use it
Stunts are planned by a stunt coordinator and performed by stunt performers. A stunt double replaces a particular actor in risky shots. Common phrases: do your own stunts, a stunt goes wrong, stunt team.
Examples
She does most of her own stunts, but not the jump from the bridge.
The stunt coordinator wants one more rehearsal before the car flip.
Usage note
Turkish dublör means stunt double. Do not translate it as dubber or dubbing artist; those are voice actors.
Common phrases
stunt double · stunt coordinator · perform a stunt · do your own stunts · stunt team
A plain bright green background that actors are filmed in front of, so that the green can be removed later and replaced with another image.
Where you use it
The technique is called chroma key or keying. Green is used because it is far from skin tones; blue screen is used when the scene has green in it. Crews put tracking markers on the screen so VFX artists can match camera moves. LED walls (virtual production) are a newer alternative.
Examples
The car interior was shot against a green screen in the studio.
Don't wear anything green on green screen days.
Usage note
Actors on a green screen must imagine everything around them, which is why directors describe the final image in detail before each take.
Common phrases
shoot against a green screen · green screen studio · chroma key · blue screen
The use and arrangement of light sources on set to show the action clearly and to create the mood and look of a scene.
Where you use it
The cinematographer designs the lighting and the gaffer's team sets it up. People talk about natural, soft, hard, harsh, moody or flat lighting, and they light a scene (verb). Lighting setups take time, so schedules allow for them.
Examples
The lighting in the bar scene is warm and low, almost like candlelight.
We need forty minutes to change the lighting for the reverse angle.
Usage note
Lighting (the arrangement) is uncountable. For the physical lamps say lights or lighting units, not lightings.
Common phrases
natural lighting · soft lighting · lighting setup · lighting change · light a scene
The main and strongest light on a subject, which sets the overall brightness and direction of light in a shot.
Where you use it
The key light is placed first, usually to one side of the camera; the fill light softens its shadows and the backlight separates the subject from the background. The difference between key and fill is the contrast ratio.
Examples
Move the key light a bit to the left so her face isn't so flat.
In this scene the key light comes from the window.
Usage note
Low-key and high-key lighting describe the overall look of the image: low-key means strong shadows and a dark mood, high-key means bright, even light. They do not mean that the key light itself is low or high.
Common phrases
set the key light · soft key light · key-to-fill ratio · key light source
A basic lighting method that uses three lights: a key light for the main light, a fill light to soften shadows and a backlight to separate the subject from the background.
Where you use it
Taught in every film school and used daily for interviews, corporate videos and talk shows. Cinematographers often start from three-point lighting and then break the rules for a more dramatic or natural look.
Examples
For the interviews we'll use simple three-point lighting with LED panels.
Three-point lighting looks clean, but for this thriller we want darker shadows.
Usage note
The backlight is also called a rim light or hair light, depending on where it hits the subject.
Common phrases
basic three-point lighting · set up three-point lighting · classic three-point lighting
The head of the electrical and lighting crew on a film set, who carries out the cinematographer's lighting plan.
Where you use it
The gaffer leads the electricians (sparks); the best boy is the gaffer's chief assistant. The key grip leads the grips, who handle rigging and camera support. Gaffer tape, a strong cloth tape, is named after them.
Examples
Ask the gaffer if we can bring in a bigger light for the window.
The gaffer and his team pre-lit the hall the night before.
Usage note
In everyday British English, gaffer can also mean the boss or a football manager. On a film set it always means the chief lighting technician.
Common phrases
gaffer and key grip · best boy · gaffer tape · chief lighting technician
A lighting style with strong contrast, deep shadows and large dark areas, used to create mystery, tension or fear.
Where you use it
Typical of film noir, horror and crime dramas. Its opposite is high-key lighting: bright and even, with few shadows, common in sitcoms, comedies and commercials. Cinematographers say a scene is lit low-key.
Examples
Low-key lighting keeps half of the detective's face in shadow.
The comedy scenes are bright, but the flashbacks use low-key lighting.
Usage note
Low-key does not mean the light is placed low. It describes the overall dark, high-contrast look of the image.
The music used in a film or series, often released as an album. Technically it also means the whole recorded audio of a film: dialogue, effects and music.
Where you use it
In everyday use, a soundtrack is the collection of songs and music from a film: the original soundtrack (OST), a soundtrack album. Music supervisors choose existing songs for the soundtrack, while a composer writes the original score.
Examples
The soundtrack mixes 1980s Turkish pop with an original orchestral score.
The soundtrack album went to number one a week after the premiere.
Usage note
Soundtrack and score are often mixed up. The score is the original instrumental music written for the film; the soundtrack usually includes songs as well.
Common phrases
original soundtrack · soundtrack album · film soundtrack · on the soundtrack
The original music composed specially for a film or series to support its emotions, rhythm and story.
Where you use it
A composer writes or composes the score, and an orchestra or musicians record it. The verb score means to write music for a film: she scored three films last year. Awards use Best Original Score.
Examples
The score is mostly piano and strings, which keeps the drama quiet and personal.
We're temping the cut with music until the composer delivers the score.
Usage note
A temp score or temp track is borrowed music used during editing before the real score is ready. Score also means a printed music sheet (nota, partisyon).
Common phrases
original score · film score · compose the score · orchestral score · temp score
Recorded or created sounds, other than dialogue and music, that are added to a film to make actions and places feel real, such as doors, cars, rain or explosions.
Where you use it
Shortened to SFX or FX. Sound editors take sound effects from libraries, record them on location or create them in a Foley studio. Ambience, or atmos, is the background sound of a place, like traffic or birds.
Examples
The sound effects for the storm were recorded on a ship in the Black Sea.
Can you add some traffic sound effects under this street scene?
Usage note
In a script, SFX usually means sound effects, but on set special effects (practical effects) can also be written SFX. VFX is always visual effects.
A voice heard over the images that does not come from someone speaking on screen, such as a narrator or a character's thoughts.
Where you use it
Written V.O. in screenplays. Documentaries, adverts and trailers use voice-over narration, and voice actors record voice-overs in a studio. O.S. (off-screen) is different: the character is in the scene but not visible.
Examples
The film opens with a voice-over of the grandmother remembering her village.
We'll record the voice-over for the documentary next week.
Usage note
In some countries, voice-over also means a translation read over the original voices, which can still be heard quietly underneath. That is different from full dubbing.
Common phrases
voice-over narration · record a voice-over · voice-over artist · in voice-over
Replacing the original dialogue of a film or series with a recorded translation in another language, performed by voice actors.
Where you use it
A film is dubbed into Turkish; viewers choose between the dubbed and the subtitled version. Dubbing directors, translators and voice actors work together to match lip movements. Turkey, Germany, Italy and Spain have long dubbing traditions.
Examples
Most children's films in Turkey are released only with Turkish dubbing.
The dubbing is so good that many viewers forget the series is foreign.
Usage note
Turkish dublaj also covers re-recording your own voice in the studio, but in English that is ADR. And dublör is not a dubbing artist; it is a stunt double.
Common phrases
Turkish dubbing · dubbing studio · dubbing artist · dubbed version · dubbing director
A directional microphone fixed to the end of a long pole and held above or below the actors, just outside the frame, to record dialogue.
Where you use it
Held by the boom operator, who works with the production sound mixer. Crews talk about the boom pole and say the boom is in shot or watch your boom shadow. Lavalier mics (lavs), small clip-on microphones, are often used as well.
Examples
The boom mic dipped into the frame at the end of the take.
In the wind we had to use radio mics, because the boom mic picked up too much noise.
Usage note
Mic is short for microphone and is pronounced like mike (/maɪk/), not mick.
Common phrases
boom operator · boom pole · boom in shot · hold the boom mic
Automated dialogue replacement: re-recording an actor's lines in a studio after the shoot while they watch the scene, to replace bad or changed dialogue.
Where you use it
Needed when location sound has noise, wind or traffic, or when a line is rewritten. Actors do an ADR session and try to match their lip movements. British crews also call it post-sync or looping.
Examples
The airport scene was too noisy, so both actors have ADR on Thursday.
Good ADR is invisible; bad ADR sounds like it was recorded in a box.
Usage note
ADR is in the same language as the original; dubbing is a translation into another language. Turkish uses dublaj for both, so be careful.
Everyday sound effects such as footsteps, clothes rustling or a cup on a table, performed and recorded in a studio in sync with the picture.
Where you use it
Foley artists watch the film on a screen and perform sounds with shoes, fabrics and props on a Foley stage. The word is often capitalised because it is named after Jack Foley, a Hollywood sound effects pioneer.
Examples
All the footsteps in the snow were added later by a Foley artist.
For international sales, you need a full Foley track without dialogue.
Usage note
An international version, or M&E track (music and effects), needs complete Foley because the original dialogue track, with its natural sounds, is removed for dubbing.
Common phrases
Foley artist · Foley stage · Foley track · record Foley
The creative work of creating, choosing and shaping all the sounds of a film so that they support the story and the atmosphere.
Where you use it
A sound designer works in post-production with sound editors and the re-recording mixer, who balances dialogue, music and effects in the final mix. Sound design is especially important in horror, science fiction and war films.
Examples
The sound design makes the empty house feel alive at night.
Our sound designer built the monster's voice from recordings of camels.
Usage note
The final mix of all sound is often just called the mix. Mixing in Dolby Atmos or 5.1 surround is part of finishing a cinema release.
The work of choosing, ordering and joining shots so that they tell the story with the right rhythm, emotion and meaning.
Where you use it
Editing happens in post-production, today almost always on software such as Avid, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro. People talk about the editing room, the editing process, fast or slow editing and an award for best editing.
Examples
The editing took longer than the shoot, almost five months.
Fast editing makes the chase feel even more chaotic.
Usage note
Do not translate kurgu or montaj as montage. In English the job is editing, and montage is a special kind of sequence.
Common phrases
film editing · editing room · editing software · fast-paced editing · best editing
All the work done on a film after the shoot ends, including editing, visual effects, color grading, sound design, music and the final mix.
Where you use it
Often shortened to post: we're in post, a post house (a company that does post-production work), post supervisor. A film goes into post-production after it wraps and stays there until delivery.
Examples
The film wrapped in June and has been in post-production ever since.
We can't fix this in post-production, so let's do the shot again.
Usage note
We'll fix it in post is a famous set joke: it means someone is ignoring a problem now and hoping editing or effects will solve it later.
Common phrases
in post-production · post-production house · post-production schedule · post-production budget
Recorded film or video material, especially raw material before it has been edited.
Where you use it
Used by editors, documentary makers and news teams: raw footage, archive footage, behind-the-scenes footage, drone footage. Footage is uncountable: some footage, a lot of footage, a clip of footage.
Examples
We shot more than eighty hours of footage for a ninety-minute documentary.
The archive footage from 1999 needs to be cleaned before we use it.
Usage note
Do not say footages or a footage. The word comes from feet of film, the old way of measuring film length.
Common phrases
raw footage · archive footage · behind-the-scenes footage · shoot footage · hours of footage
An instant change from one shot to the next in editing. It also means a version of an edited film, such as the director's cut.
Where you use it
As a verb, editors cut a film, cut to a close-up or cut a scene (remove it). On set the director calls Cut! to stop the camera. Versions are named rough cut, fine cut, final cut and director's cut.
Examples
The cut from the funeral to the wedding is the most surprising moment of the film.
In the director's cut, the ending is completely different.
Usage note
Cut is irregular (cut, cut, cut). In a screenplay, CUT TO: is a transition written at the end of a scene.
Common phrases
director's cut · hard cut · cut to · make a cut · first cut
Images that are created or changed digitally after filming, such as adding crowds, removing objects, building cities or creating creatures.
Where you use it
Shortened to VFX. Work is done by VFX artists and studios, led by a VFX supervisor who is also on set. CGI (computer-generated imagery) is one kind of visual effects. Shots that need work are called VFX shots.
Examples
The film has more than six hundred visual effects shots.
We used visual effects to remove the modern buildings from the 1920s street.
Usage note
Visual effects (VFX) are added in post-production; special effects (SFX), also called practical effects, happen physically on set, such as rain machines, fire or explosions.
The post-production process of adjusting the colors, contrast and brightness of the images to give the film a consistent and expressive look.
Where you use it
Done by a colorist, often in DaVinci Resolve, after the picture is locked. Color correction fixes technical problems; grading creates the creative look. People talk about the grade, a warm or cold grade and a LUT (a preset color transformation).
Examples
The color grading gives the flashbacks a faded, yellow look.
We have five days of color grading booked for the feature.
Usage note
British spelling is colour grading. Both forms are used in international productions.
Common phrases
color grading session · colorist · final grade · color correction · grading suite
An early edited version of a film with the scenes in order but without final timing, effects, music or sound work.
Where you use it
Editing usually moves from an assembly (everything in script order) to a rough cut, then a fine cut and finally picture lock. Producers, financiers and test audiences often see a rough cut and give notes.
Examples
The rough cut is two and a half hours, so we need to lose forty minutes.
We'll send the rough cut to the fund by the end of the month.
Usage note
Rough here means unfinished, not violent or bad. A rough cut can already be very strong.
Common phrases
first rough cut · watch the rough cut · rough cut screening · notes on the rough cut
The finished, approved version of an edited film. Final cut is also the contractual right to decide what that version will be.
Where you use it
Directors and producers talk about having final cut or final cut privilege. Most directors do not have it; the studio or producers do. Final Cut Pro is also the name of Apple's editing software.
Examples
She agreed to direct the film only if she had final cut.
The final cut is ten minutes shorter than the festival version.
Usage note
Picture lock means no more changes to the edit, so sound, music and color can be finished on the locked version.
Common phrases
have final cut · final cut privilege · approve the final cut · final cut rights
The way one shot or scene changes into the next in editing, such as a straight cut, a fade or a dissolve.
Where you use it
Common transitions: cut, fade in and fade out (from or to black), dissolve (one image slowly replaces another), wipe and match cut (two shots linked by a similar shape or movement). Screenplays write them as FADE IN: or DISSOLVE TO:.
Examples
Use a slow dissolve as the transition from the young woman to the old woman.
Too many flashy transitions make the video look like a wedding film.
Usage note
Most professional editors use simple cuts most of the time and save other transitions for a clear purpose, such as showing that time has passed.
Common phrases
smooth transition · scene transition · dissolve transition · match cut transition
A sequence of short shots edited together, often with music, to show a lot of time or many events quickly, such as a character training or a couple falling in love.
Where you use it
Common phrases: training montage, a montage sequence, a montage of memories. In film theory, Soviet montage refers to the 1920s ideas of Eisenstein and others about creating meaning by joining images.
Examples
A two-minute montage shows the restaurant's first year.
The training montage is a cliché, but audiences still love it.
Usage note
A classic false friend: Turkish montaj usually means editing in general. In English, the general word is editing; montage is a special kind of sequence.
Common phrases
training montage · montage sequence · Soviet montage · music montage
A cut between two shots of the same subject from almost the same position, so that the image seems to jump forward in time.
Where you use it
Classical editing avoids jump cuts, but French New Wave films, especially Godard's Breathless (1960), used them on purpose. Today they are everywhere in vlogs and YouTube videos to remove pauses and keep energy high.
Examples
The jump cuts in the interview make her nervousness almost physical.
Hide the jump cut with a cutaway to the audience.
Usage note
A cutaway is a short shot of something else, such as a listener or a detail, used to hide a jump or join two parts of an interview.
Common phrases
use jump cuts · deliberate jump cut · hide a jump cut · jump-cut editing
The raw, unedited footage from a day's shoot, prepared quickly so the director, producers and editor can check it.
Where you use it
Mostly American; British crews say rushes. Dailies are watched in the evening or the next morning, now usually streamed to a tablet. They show whether a scene needs a reshoot before the set is struck.
Examples
The producers watched the dailies and asked for more close-ups of the child.
The dailies from the night shoot are too dark; we may have to reshoot.
Usage note
Dailies is always plural in this meaning. As a singular, daily usually means a newspaper published every day.
The list of names of the people and companies who made a film or show, shown at the beginning or the end.
Where you use it
Opening credits come at the start and end credits or closing credits at the end; the credits roll. A screen credit is one person's name in the list, and a post-credits scene is a short extra scene after the end credits.
Examples
Stay until the end of the credits; there's one more scene.
Her name appears in the opening credits as co-writer.
Usage note
A false friend: Turkish kredi means a bank loan, but film credits is jenerik. Credit as a verb means to name someone in the credits: she was credited as producer.
Common phrases
opening credits · end credits · the credits roll · post-credits scene · screen credit
A category of films or TV shows that share a style, subject or set of conventions, such as comedy, horror, western or science fiction.
Where you use it
Critics, festivals and streaming services sort films by genre. A genre film follows the rules of its type; a film can mix genres, subvert a genre or create a new subgenre. Genre cinema often refers to horror, thriller and action films.
Examples
The film mixes two genres: it starts as a comedy and ends as a thriller.
Horror is a genre that works well on a small budget.
Usage note
A pronunciation trap: genre starts with a soft zh sound like Turkish j in jale, and ends with a short ruh sound. It is not pronounced jenre or genri.
Common phrases
film genre · genre film · mix genres · subgenre · genre conventions
A full-length film made for cinema or streaming release, usually between about 80 minutes and three hours long.
Where you use it
Often just called a feature. Festivals have feature and short film sections, and filmmakers talk about their debut feature or first feature. For the Academy Awards a feature must run more than 40 minutes.
Examples
After three shorts, he is finally making his first feature film.
The festival selected twelve feature films for the national competition.
Usage note
Feature in Turkish often suggests özellik (a product feature). In film it means a full-length film; feature-length means long enough to be one.
Common phrases
debut feature · first feature film · feature-length · feature documentary · animated feature
A non-fiction film or programme that presents real people, events or places, often to inform, investigate or tell a true story.
Where you use it
Often shortened to doc. Documentary filmmakers shoot interviews, observational footage and archive material. Types include observational, investigative, nature and music documentaries; a docuseries is a documentary in several episodes. Also used as an adjective: documentary style.
Examples
The documentary follows three families for a full year after the earthquake.
We shot the fiction scenes in a documentary style with a handheld camera.
Usage note
The opposite of documentary is fiction or narrative film (kurmaca). A mockumentary is a comedy that imitates a documentary.
Common phrases
documentary film · feature documentary · nature documentary · documentary maker · make a documentary
A film that is much shorter than a feature, usually from a few minutes to about half an hour long.
Where you use it
Often just called a short. Most directors start with shorts and send them to film festivals. For the Academy Awards a short film runs 40 minutes or less, including credits. Common types: live-action short, animated short, documentary short.
Examples
Her short film won a prize at Clermont-Ferrand and opened doors for her first feature.
We have no budget, so let's make a short film first and test the idea.
Usage note
Turkish film people say kısa metraj and uzun metraj. In English use short film and feature film; short-length and long-length film are not used.
Common phrases
make a short film · animated short film · short film festival · short film competition
The series of connected events that make up the story of a film or series, and the order in which they are shown.
Where you use it
Critics and audiences say a plot is simple, complex, thin, predictable or full of holes. A plot hole is a logical mistake in the story; a subplot is a smaller, secondary storyline. Synopsis and logline are short summaries of the plot.
Examples
The plot is simple: two brothers drive their father's body back to their village.
Critics liked the actors but said the plot had too many holes.
Usage note
Turkish speakers often use subject for konu, but the subject of a film is its theme. To describe what happens, say plot or story: What's the plot?
The inner change a character goes through during a story, from who they are at the beginning to who they become at the end.
Where you use it
Used by screenwriters, script editors and critics. A character can have a strong, weak, positive or negative arc; in series, arcs can run across a whole season. Writers talk about giving a character an arc and completing the arc.
Examples
Her character arc goes from a selfish lawyer to someone who risks everything for a stranger.
The father has no real character arc; he is the same in the last scene as in the first.
Usage note
Arc is pronounced like ark (/ɑːk/). Story arc means the shape of a storyline across several episodes.
Common phrases
strong character arc · complete character arc · story arc · season arc
A scene that interrupts the present action of a story to show events that happened earlier.
Where you use it
Flashbacks explain a character's past or reveal a secret. They are often marked by a dissolve, a change in color grading or a caption such as Twenty years earlier. The opposite, showing future events, is a flash-forward.
Examples
We learn about the accident through a flashback in the middle of the film.
The series tells the mother's story entirely in flashbacks.
Usage note
In everyday English, a flashback can also be a sudden, strong memory of a past experience, often a traumatic one.
Common phrases
in flashback · flashback scene · flashback sequence · flash-forward
A sudden, unexpected development in a story that changes how the audience understands what has happened.
Where you use it
Often just called a twist: a big twist, a twist ending, I didn't see that twist coming. Writing a twist that is surprising but still fair is hard. Revealing a twist before others have seen the film is a spoiler.
Examples
The plot twist in the last episode changes everything we thought about the father.
Don't tell me the plot twist, I'm watching it tonight.
Usage note
Spoiler is a noun and spoil is the verb: Don't spoil the ending! Spoiler alert warns readers that details will be revealed.
Common phrases
shocking plot twist · twist ending · see the twist coming · final plot twist
A genre of film or series built on suspense and excitement, in which characters face danger and the audience wonders what will happen next.
Where you use it
Common subgenres: psychological thriller, crime thriller, political thriller, legal thriller, action thriller. Reviews praise a tense, gripping or edge-of-your-seat thriller; Hitchcock is often called the master of suspense.
Examples
It's a slow-burning psychological thriller set in a hotel in winter.
Thrillers sell well in international markets because they travel across languages.
Usage note
Suspense means waiting anxiously for what will happen, and it is uncountable. Thriller is the genre; horror is a different genre that aims to frighten.
The technique of making drawings, models or computer images appear to move by showing a series of slightly different pictures one after another, and the films made this way.
Where you use it
Main types: 2D or hand-drawn animation, 3D or computer animation, and stop-motion (moving real models frame by frame). People who make it are animators; the film is an animated film or animated feature. Animation is not only for children.
Examples
The studio spent four years on the animation for the film.
She studied animation in Ankara and now works on a stop-motion series.
Usage note
Cartoon usually means a short, funny animated film or a drawing in a newspaper; for serious or feature-length work say animation or animated film.
A short promotional video made of selected moments from a film or series, shown before release to attract an audience.
Where you use it
Studios release, drop or unveil a trailer; audiences watch it online or in cinemas before other films. A teaser or teaser trailer is shorter and shows less; the official or full trailer comes later. Trailer views are an early sign of interest.
Examples
The first trailer got ten million views in two days.
The trailer gives away too much of the plot.
Usage note
On a set, trailer also means the vehicle where actors rest and get ready (karavan). On the road, it is a vehicle pulled by a car or truck (römork).
Common phrases
official trailer · teaser trailer · release a trailer · cut a trailer · trailer drop
The money a film earns from cinema ticket sales, or its commercial success measured that way. Originally the place in a theatre where tickets are sold.
Where you use it
Common in trade news: a box-office hit, a box-office flop or bomb, box-office figures, top the box office, open at number one at the box office. Turkish media also report seyirci sayısı (admissions), not only revenue.
Examples
The comedy topped the Turkish box office for four weeks in a row.
Critics loved it, but it was a box-office disappointment.
Usage note
Write box office as two words for the noun, and with a hyphen before another noun: box-office hit.
Common phrases
box-office hit · box-office flop · top the box office · box-office figures · box-office success
Written text at the bottom of the screen that translates or shows the dialogue, so viewers can read what is being said.
Where you use it
Usually plural: turn on the subtitles, watch with English subtitles. A film is subtitled; festival copies need subtitles in English. Subtitlers follow strict rules on line length and reading speed.
Examples
The festival requires all films to have English subtitles.
I watch Korean series with subtitles rather than dubbing.
Usage note
In American English, captions or closed captions are subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers that also describe sounds, such as [door slams]. In British English these are often called subtitles for the hard of hearing (SDH).
Common phrases
English subtitles · turn on subtitles · subtitled version · burned-in subtitles · subtitle file
A very popular film that earns a lot of money, or a big-budget film made and marketed to become one.
Where you use it
Common phrases: summer blockbuster, Hollywood blockbuster, a blockbuster franchise. Studios plan their year around tentpole films, the big releases that support the rest. Jaws (1975) is often described as the first summer blockbuster.
Examples
Small films struggle to find screens when a big blockbuster opens.
It's a blockbuster with a real heart, not just explosions.
Usage note
Blockbuster is also used as an adjective: a blockbuster deal, a blockbuster season. A sleeper hit is a film that becomes a success slowly and unexpectedly.
Common phrases
summer blockbuster · Hollywood blockbuster · big-budget blockbuster · blockbuster hit
The first public showing of a film, play or TV series, often a special event with the cast and crew.
Where you use it
Festivals care a lot about status: a world premiere is the first screening anywhere, an international or European premiere the first outside the home country or in Europe. Premiere is also a verb: the series premieres on Friday.
Examples
The film will have its world premiere in the main competition in Berlin.
The whole cast walked the red carpet at the Istanbul premiere.
Usage note
Do not confuse premiere (first showing) with premier (most important, or a prime minister). The French word première is often written without the accent in English.
Common phrases
world premiere · red carpet premiere · gala premiere · premiere screening · season premiere
An event where new films are shown to audiences, critics and industry professionals, often with competitions, awards and markets.
Where you use it
Filmmakers submit films, are selected or invited and screen in competition or in a side section. The biggest include Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and Sundance; in Turkey, Antalya Altın Portakal and the Istanbul Film Festival. Festivals also host markets where rights are sold.
Examples
We're sending the film to three film festivals before the cinema release.
The film festival opens with a Turkish-German co-production this year.
Usage note
The festival circuit means the series of festivals a film travels to during its first year. A selection is announced in the line-up.
Common phrases
international film festival · festival circuit · submit to a film festival · in competition · festival line-up
A company that buys the rights to show a film in a country or region and handles its release, marketing and delivery to cinemas or platforms.
Where you use it
Producers look for, find or sign with a distributor. A sales agent sells a film to distributors in each territory, often at festival markets. Distribution deals cover theatrical, TV and streaming rights.
Examples
A French distributor bought the film after the Cannes screening.
Without a distributor, the film may only reach festival audiences.
Usage note
Distribution is the whole business of getting films to audiences; distributor is the company. In the US, a studio often acts as both producer and distributor.
Common phrases
film distributor · local distributor · distribution deal · sales agent · find a distributor
To make a film or series available to the public in cinemas, on TV or on streaming platforms. As a noun, a release is a film being shown or the act of showing it.
Where you use it
Common phrases: release date, theatrical release (in cinemas), wide release, limited release, direct-to-streaming release. The release window is the time between the cinema release and availability on other platforms.
Examples
The distributor plans to release the film in 200 cinemas across Turkey.
The release date was moved to February because of a competing blockbuster.
Usage note
Turkish vizyona girmek is usually translated as be released or come out: The film comes out on Friday. Do not say the film enters vision.
Common phrases
release date · theatrical release · wide release · limited release · new releases
An online service that lets subscribers watch films and series over the internet whenever they want, often including its own original productions.
Where you use it
Also called a streaming platform or streamer. Streamers commission originals, buy licensed content and measure success by viewing hours and subscribers. Viewers stream a series, binge-watch a season or subscribe to a service.
Examples
The series was made for a streaming service, so there are no ad breaks.
Many Turkish dramas now reach Latin America through streaming services.
Usage note
SVOD means subscription video on demand; AVOD is free with ads. Stream is also used for live video, such as a live stream on social media.
Common phrases
subscription streaming service · streaming original · stream a series · binge-watch · streaming rights
An official category given to a film or programme that shows which age groups it is suitable for, based on content such as violence, language and sex.
Where you use it
In the US the MPA uses G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17; in the UK the BBFC uses U, PG, 12A, 15 and 18. A film is rated R or gets a 15 rating. Distributors sometimes cut scenes to get a lower age rating and reach a wider audience.
Examples
The age rating is 13+, so younger children can't see it in cinemas.
They removed two shots to get a lower age rating.
Usage note
Do not confuse age rating (who may watch) with ratings in TV, which means how many people watched.
Common phrases
age rating · be rated R · rating board · parental guidance · family-friendly rating
Being officially chosen as one of the candidates for an award, such as an Oscar, a BAFTA or an Emmy.
Where you use it
Films and people receive, earn or get a nomination; they are nominated for an award; the person is a nominee. Awards seasons start with nominations announced weeks before the ceremony. Shortlist means a longer early list before the final nominations.
Examples
The film received five nominations, including best director.
Her first nomination came for a small supporting role.
Usage note
Turkish speakers sometimes say candidate for an Oscar; the natural English is nominated for an Oscar or an Oscar nominee.
Common phrases
receive a nomination · Oscar nomination · nominations are announced · nominee · award nomination
One part of a TV series, podcast or web series that is broadcast or released as a separate programme.
Where you use it
Viewers watch, stream or binge episodes; channels air them; writers write them. Common phrases: the first episode, the season finale, a standalone episode, a two-part episode. Scripts label them S2E5 or 2x05 (season 2, episode 5).
Examples
Each episode of the series is about fifty minutes long.
Two directors are sharing the eight episodes of the first season.
Usage note
Turkish dizi episodes are often over two hours long, while most English-language drama episodes run 40 to 60 minutes. In English, chapter is not used for TV episodes except as a stylistic title.
Common phrases
first episode · final episode · standalone episode · new episode · episode guide
A TV or streaming programme made of many episodes that share the same characters, subject or story.
Where you use it
Common types: drama series, comedy series, limited series (one closed story), anthology series (a new story each season), documentary series. Networks commission, renew or cancel a series. The word is also used for film franchises: the Harry Potter series.
Examples
The series has been renewed for a third season.
She is writing a limited series about a famous Istanbul trial.
Usage note
Series is the same in singular and plural: one series, two series. In British English series can also mean a season, as in series three.
Common phrases
TV series · limited series · drama series · renew a series · cancel a series
The first episode of a TV series, made to show the idea to a channel or platform and convince it to order the full series.
Where you use it
Writers write a pilot script, networks order and test pilots, and a successful pilot is picked up to series. Some pilots are never broadcast. A presentation or sizzle reel is a cheaper, shorter way to pitch a show.
Examples
The channel liked the pilot and ordered ten more episodes.
In the pilot, we meet the whole family at the grandmother's funeral.
Usage note
Pilot is also an adjective for any small test: a pilot project, a pilot study.
Common phrases
pilot episode · write a pilot · order a pilot · shoot the pilot · pilot script
A group of episodes of a TV series produced and released as one set, usually once a year.
Where you use it
Shows are renewed for a new season or cancelled after one season. Key words: season premiere (first episode), season finale (last episode), midseason break. In British English the same unit is often called a series.
Examples
The second season will have only eight episodes.
The season finale ends with the brothers on opposite sides.
Usage note
Turkish TV series often run 30 or more long episodes a season, while many streaming seasons have 6 to 10 episodes.
Common phrases
season finale · season premiere · renewed for a second season · final season · binge a season
A comedy series, short for situation comedy, in which the same characters appear in funny situations, usually in a few familiar places such as a home or workplace.
Where you use it
Classic US network sitcoms run about 22 minutes for a half-hour slot. A multi-camera sitcom is shot on a studio set, often in front of a live audience or with a laugh track; a single-camera sitcom is shot more like a film.
Examples
The sitcom is set in a small dentist's office in Ankara.
We record the sitcom on Friday nights in front of a studio audience.
Usage note
Sitcom is pronounced SIT-com, with the stress on the first syllable.
The person in overall creative and day-to-day charge of a TV series, usually its head writer and an executive producer at the same time.
Where you use it
Mostly an American industry word, now common worldwide. The showrunner runs the writers' room, hires directors, approves edits and talks to the network. On many series, the person who created the show is also the showrunner.
Examples
The showrunner rewrote the finale the night before the shoot.
After two seasons, a new showrunner took over the series.
Usage note
In film, the director usually has the most creative control; in TV, it is usually the showrunner, and episode directors change from week to week.
Common phrases
series showrunner · co-showrunner · showrunner and creator · writers' room
The evening hours when the largest number of people watch TV, so channels show their most important programmes and charge the most for adverts.
Where you use it
Used with in or as an adjective with a hyphen: in prime time, a prime-time drama, a prime-time slot. In the US it is usually 8 to 11 p.m.; in the UK it is often called peak time. Turkish media also use prime time directly.
Examples
The new drama will air on Thursday nights in prime time.
Advertising during prime time costs several times more than in the afternoon.
Usage note
Write prime time as two words when it is a noun and prime-time with a hyphen before another noun.
Common phrases
in prime time · prime-time slot · prime-time audience · prime-time drama
A TV programme that films real people, not actors, in real or specially arranged situations, such as competitions, dating or daily life.
Where you use it
The genre is called reality TV. Common types: competition shows, dating shows, cooking shows and docusoaps. Although unscripted, reality shows are planned by story producers and shaped heavily in editing. Production companies buy and sell show formats internationally.
Examples
The cooking reality show has been on air for six seasons.
Contestants in the reality show sign strict contracts before filming.
Usage note
Format here means the concept and rules of a show that can be licensed to other countries, such as a quiz or talent show format.
Common phrases
reality TV · reality show contestant · dating reality show · competition reality show · show format
An exciting ending to an episode, season or film that leaves an important question unanswered so the audience wants to see what happens next.
Where you use it
Series end episodes and seasons on a cliffhanger to keep viewers coming back. The word comes from old adventure serials whose episodes ended with a hero in danger, sometimes literally hanging from a cliff.
Examples
The season ended on a huge cliffhanger: we don't know if she survived.
Every episode needs a cliffhanger before the final credits.
Usage note
Cliffhanger is also used outside TV for any situation whose result is unclear until the last moment, such as a close election or match.
Common phrases
end on a cliffhanger · season cliffhanger · big cliffhanger · leave on a cliffhanger
Measurements of how many people watch a TV programme, used by channels and advertisers to judge its success.
Where you use it
Always plural in this meaning: high or low ratings, ratings fell, a ratings hit, a ratings war between channels. Share means the percentage of people watching TV at that moment who chose this programme. In the US, Nielsen is the best-known ratings company.
Examples
The ratings for the final episode were the highest of the year.
The channel cancelled the show because of poor ratings.
Usage note
British English often says viewing figures instead of ratings. Rating in the singular can also mean a score given by critics or an age category.
Common phrases
high ratings · ratings war · ratings hit · viewing figures · audience share
Ten questions from this glossary. Pick the right meaning for each term and see your score.
How to learn film & television vocabulary
Read real screenplays in English. Many are published in book form or shared by studios during awards season, and they teach you scene headings, action lines and the short, visual style of film writing.
Watch behind-the-scenes featurettes and director commentaries with English subtitles. Crew members use the exact words of the set: rolling, speed, mark it, check the gate, moving on.
Learn shot names as a set rather than one by one: wide shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, over-the-shoulder, point-of-view. Then match each one to the Turkish plan names you already know.
Collect set and post collocations instead of single words: call the shot, do another take, wrap for the day, lock the picture, deliver the final mix, go into distribution.
Follow the film trade press and festival catalogues in English. News about box office, release dates, festival line-ups and TV renewals uses the same short, repeated vocabulary every week.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between film, movie and cinema?
Film and movie both mean a motion picture. Movie is more common in everyday American English, while film is more common in British English and in professional or artistic contexts, such as film school or film festival. Cinema can mean the art form (Turkish cinema) or, in British English, the building where you watch films; Americans usually call the building a movie theater.
How do the Turkish shot names translate into English?
The usual matches are: genel plan for wide shot or long shot, boy plan for full shot, bel plan for medium shot, göğüs plan for medium close-up, yakın plan for close-up and detay plan for extreme close-up. Note that Turkish uses plan where English uses shot, and English plan means a scheme or intention, not a camera framing.
What is the difference between a shot, a scene and a sequence?
A shot is one continuous piece of film from the moment the camera starts until it stops or the editor cuts. A scene is a unit of action in one place and time, and it is usually made of several shots. A sequence is a group of scenes that together tell one part of the story, such as a car chase or a wedding.
Is it a season or a series of a TV show?
In American English a show is a series and each year's group of episodes is a season, as in season two. In British English the yearly group of episodes is often also called a series, as in series two. Both are correct; just keep one style in the same text. Series has the same form in the singular and plural: one series, three series.
Does montage mean editing in English?
Not usually. The general word for putting a film together is editing, and the person who does it is the editor. In English, montage normally means a short sequence of quick shots that compresses time, such as a training montage, or refers to the Soviet theory of montage. Turkish montaj is closer to editing, so saying the montage of the film when you mean its editing sounds wrong in English.
