RECENTLY ADDED
MOVING / MOVING SHOT
Camera shot which follows whatever is being filmed.....
NARRATION
Off-screen commentary, which is heard over the action. Also referred to as a voice over.....
OFFSCREEN (O.S.)
Indicates that the character speaking is not visible in the frame. Always abbreviated in all capital letters and enclosed in parentheses.....
POINT OF VIEW (P.O.V.)
Camera position that views a scene from the viewpoint of a particular character. Always abbreviated in capital letters with periods after each letter.....
SUPER (SUPERIMPOSE)
The effect of showing one image over another. Always typed in capital letters.....
TWO-SHOT
Camera shot of two people, usually from the waist up.....
VOICE OVER (V.O.)
A Character Extension in which a character’s voice is heard over a scene, as in narration, a tape-recorded voice, or a voice heard over the phone. Always abbreviated in capital letters with periods after each letter and enclosed in parentheses next to the Character Name, capitalized and spelled out in the script.....
WIDE SHOT
See Long Shot.....
ZOOM IN / ZOOM OUT
A quick transition from a long shot to a close shot or the reverse, usually achieved by manipulating the camera’s lens.....
Advertising
Advertising is a technique the writer uses to tell the viewer where the film is going or is the indication of some upcoming experience a character might have.....
Aftermath
A scene of aftermath follows a dramatically heightened moment (seen or unseen) and allows the characters as well as the audience time to 'digest' the shock, pain, or joy of that moment.....
Allegorical Characters
Most characters, even anthropomorphic ones, are flawed but have the possibility of change (a moral transformation or increase in wisdom), but allegorical characters are symbolic, set, and stoney.....
Allegory
An allegory is a story that sets out to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral lesson. Most films are not pure allegories, where the objective is to preach; however, fables, storybook films, and fantasies often take on the allegorical model.....
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.....
Archetypal Characters
Similar to allegorical characters, with their motifs usually rooted in folklore, archetypal characters represent an ideal or symbolic image such as love, malice, forgiveness, wisdom, etc.....
Audience Awareness
Awareness of your audience is an essential element in screenwriting. So much of how a writer writes the script is determined by how he or she wants the audience to be involved. Should the audience know before the character, after, at the same time? How much advertising should be given? How do scenes of preparation and aftermath involve the audience....
B.G.
b.g. is used to describe anything occurring in the background or rear plane of the foreground action. Always use this term in lower case initials. For example: Jim kisses Sarah as the hot air baloon takes off in the b.g.....
Backstory
Backstory is the historical background information that the writer creates for a character. Important backstory should never be telegraphed or force fed; it should come out organically through conflict, humor, and/or believable exposition.....
Block Page
A block page is a script page that is all action description. Visually, the page is dense - with very little white space - and at looks like a block of paragraphs. Screenwriters try to avoid these pages. They want the read to move quickly, and it is usually a mistake not to break up a lot of action description with a quick line of dialogue or new s....
Camera Narrator
The camera dramatizes the process of viewing the action and bringing it on screen, allowing our eyes to see only what and how the ‘camera narrator’ shows it to us.....
