STORYBOARDING GLOSSARY

Color by K. Garletts

Here's the list of storyboarding terms, finally. Jeez, there are a lot! Even so, it couldn't hurt to browse over to the earlier "GLOSSARY" page from June just to make sure you'll know our basic working terminology, should any come up on the final. Good luck, y'all.

JH

ANIMATES (as in "BG animates")-- v., Used to denote when an element that one might expect to be fixed art, like background, moves in way that requires it to be redrawn (several times for each second of screen time).

ANTIC = Anticipation-- In animation, the action just before the main action, e.g., the backswing of a golf swing or a punch. Or a person might hunch down in their seat before jumping up in alarm.

BG = Background

BG Pans-- In animation, this term is used when a moving object, such as a car, retains a relatively fixed location in the frame, while the background moves past behind it. Familiar to all viewers of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, whose BGs would pan through cyclically over and over in the same shot.

CRANE SHOT-- A shot in which the camera moves freely over the subject in any direction by virtue of being positioned on a crane. Crane shots are often used at the end of movies to pull up and away from the subject, in order to put him in context in the larger world.

CU = Closeup-- A shot framed around the subject's head. See the text, p.210, for an example.

DOLLY SHOT-- A shot during which the camera rolls, such a tracking shot.

DS = Downshot-- Shot in which the camera is aimed down toward the subject (compare Upshot).

ECU = Extreme Closeup-- A shot so tightly framed it shows less than the full head. Shots that show tight closeups of small important objects are also ECUs.

EST SHOT = Establishing shot-- A WIDE SHOT (see) used to give an overview of setting and situation.

EXT = Exterior Shot-- (compare INT)

FIFO = Fade In, Fade out-- Also known as a lap dissolve, connotes time passing.

FOFI = Fade Out, Fade In-- A transition that leaves the screen black briefly, connoting more time passing.

FG = Foreground

HOOK UP-- In animation, when an action begun in one shot is continued from the same instant in the following shot. Action must match.

INT = Interior shot (compare EXT)

INTO SC = Into Scene-- Used when a character or object moves into the frame under its own power, i.e., not due only to camera movement, after the shot has begun.

Med Shot = Medium Shot = Mid Shot-- a shot that includes the upper half of the subject's body. See text, p. 210, for an example.

OC = Off-Camera-- Not shown in a shot (but perhaps nearby).

OS = Out of scene = Offscreen-- OS is used when a character or object moves out of the frame after the shot has begun, under it own power, i.e., not solely due to camera moves.

OTS = Over the shoulder-- A shot in which a subject who is facing us is shown using the back of the head and the shoulder of another subject in the extreme foreground as a framing device.

PAN, ~RIGHT, ~LEFT, ~UP, ~DOWN -- v., In animation, all camera moves other than zooms are known as pans. In filmmaking, only pivoting horizontally is considered a pan (compare Dolly, Push, Tilt).

POV = Point of View -- showing a scene from a character's POV is also known as subjective camera.

PUSH IN, ~OUT; TRUCK IN, ~OUT-- v., In filmmaking, camera motion toward and away from the subject, by a camera set on wheels and sometimes even tracks. In 2D animation only, the term is replaced by Zoom.

TILT UP, ~DOWN-- v., In filmmaking, when the camera tips up or down, often to follow the subject's motion. In animation, it's called a pan up or a pan down.

SC = Scene -- In animation, one shot: the footage between two edits.
In other filmmaking, a contiguous series of shots, usually linked by setting (e.g., the bank robbery scene, the funeral scene.)

TILT UP, ~DOWN-- v., In filmmaking, when the camera tips up or down, often to follow the subject's motion. In animation, it's called a pan up or a pan down.

TRACKING SHOT-- A dolly shot in which the rolling camera is focused on a moving subject.

US = Upshot-- Shot in which the camera is aimed up at the subject.

VO = Voiceover-- Words spoken by a character who doesn't speak them live on screen. Often it is narration.

WIDE SHOT -- nearly the same as Long Shot and Establishing shot -- a framing loose enough to accommodate multiple figures, as well as a lot of scenery.

ZOOM-- Shifting from wide angle to telephoto lenses, or vice versa, as the shot continues. In 2D animation, most camera motion toward and away from the subject is accomplished this way and the terms Push or Dolly are not used.