QCAA Film TV & New Media key terms

Everything visible within the frame that the filmmaker arranges: sets, props, costumes, lighting, colour, blocking and actor performance. Analysts treat it as the total visual composition through which meaning and mood are created.

The craft of capturing images through choices about camera position, lens, focus, movement, framing, exposure and colour. It shapes how viewers see action and how they feel about it.

The scale of a subject within the frame, running from extreme close-up through close-up, medium and full shot to wide or extreme wide shot. Size guides attention and emotional distance.

Deliberate motion of the camera such as panning, tilting, tracking, craning or handheld work. Movement can follow action, reveal space, build energy or express a character's subjective state.

The range of distance in front of and behind the focal point that stays acceptably sharp. Shallow depth isolates a subject against blurred surroundings; deep depth keeps foreground and background legible together.

How the camera bounds and arranges elements inside the rectangle of the image, including headroom, balance, angles and what is excluded. Framing directs attention and can imply power, entrapment or openness.

The planned positioning and movement of performers within the set relative to each other, the camera and the space. Blocking expresses relationships and status and determines how shots can be captured.

Arranging action across foreground, midground and background so the frame reads as three-dimensional. It lets a single shot carry layered information and relationships without cutting.

The main light source that establishes the dominant direction, intensity and shadow pattern on a subject. Its placement relative to fill light creates high-contrast or soft, even looks.

A standard setup using key, fill and back lights to model a subject, control contrast and separate them from the background. Variations in balance produce naturalistic or stylised results.

Strong contrast between bright and dark areas within an image, often with deep shadows and selective illumination. It is associated with dramatic, suspenseful or morally charged atmosphere.

Audio whose source exists within the story world, such as dialogue, footsteps or a radio playing in a room. Characters can plausibly hear it, which anchors the viewer in the scene.

Audio that characters cannot hear, such as a musical score, narration or added sound effects. It comments on the action and steers audience emotion and interpretation.

Audio that continues across a cut, linking two scenes or spaces. It smooths transitions, creates continuity or draws a meaningful connection between separate moments.

The assembly of shots through editing to compress time, build meaning or create rhythm. Juxtaposing images produces ideas that no single shot contains on its own.

An editing approach that hides cuts and preserves coherent space, time and screen direction, using devices such as the 180-degree rule, eyeline matches and match cuts. It keeps viewers oriented in the story.

An editing pattern that alternates between two subjects facing each other, usually in conversation. It creates the impression of shared space and lets viewers read reactions in turn.

A cut that connects a character's look with the object or person they appear to see. It establishes spatial and psychological relationships and supports continuity.

A category of media text sharing recognisable conventions, such as horror, documentary or sitcom. Genres guide audience expectation, industry marketing and creative variation within familiar patterns.

A recurring, expected practice within a genre, form or medium, such as voiceover in documentary or jump scares in horror. Conventions are learned by audiences and can be followed, combined or deliberately broken.

The blending of conventions from two or more genres or forms into a single text, such as a comedy-drama or a documentary series using animation. Hybrids refresh familiar formulas and complicate classification.

A style associated with mid-twentieth-century crime cinema, marked by shadowy lighting, urban night settings, morally ambiguous protagonists and fatalistic tone. Its visual and narrative traits recur in later media.

The way a text refers to, quotes or echoes other texts, inviting audiences to recognise the connection. Such references can add humour, homage or layered meaning for informed viewers.

The process by which a newer medium reworks the forms and conventions of an older one, such as streaming platforms adopting television scheduling logic or games borrowing cinematic techniques. It highlights continuity and change across media.

The merging of previously separate media technologies, industries and practices, so content flows across devices and platforms. Audiences increasingly access, share and respond to the same material in multiple places.

Telling a story across multiple platforms, with each part contributing distinct content rather than simply repeating it. Audiences must move between texts to assemble the full narrative world.

An audience environment in which users actively create, remix, comment on and circulate media rather than only consuming it. Platforms lower barriers to production and blur the line between producer and audience.

Media produced and published by ordinary users rather than professional institutions, ranging from fan edits to short videos and reviews. It shapes trends and can influence mainstream production and marketing.

Automated recommendation logic that decides which content is shown to which users, based on engagement signals and other data. It shapes visibility, discovery and the kinds of content creators are rewarded for making.

A story structure in which the audience's choices affect what happens next, as in branching video games or interactive films. Authors design possible paths while retaining control over the overall system.

A story design offering multiple diverging paths and endings that depend on user decisions. Writers must manage continuity, consequence and the practical scale of possible variations.

The degree of meaningful control a user has over events, perspective or outcomes in an interactive text. Perceived agency affects engagement, though designers usually constrain it within authored limits.

The planning phase before shooting or recording, covering scripting, budgeting, scheduling, casting, location scouting and design. Thorough preparation reduces risk and cost during production.

The phase in which footage and audio are actually captured, whether on set, on location or in a studio. It converts plans into raw material for the edit.

The phase after capture in which material is assembled and finished, including editing, sound design, colour grading, visual effects and titles. It shapes pacing, tone and technical polish.

A sequence of sketched panels showing planned shots, framing, action and camera notes. It communicates visual intentions to the crew and helps plan coverage before production begins.

A document enumerating each shot to be captured, with details such as size, angle, movement and location. It supports efficient scheduling and ensures essential coverage is not missed.

The way a text speaks to its intended viewers, through tone, direct address, assumed knowledge and platform conventions. Analysts use it to identify who a text expects its audience to be and how it positions them.

The specific group a media product is designed and marketed to, defined by factors such as age, interests or platform habits. Identifying it helps explain creative choices and distribution strategies.

How a text invites audiences to feel, think or judge through its selection, framing and rhetoric. Analysts examine positioning to reveal implicit values and the preferred reading on offer.

The interpretation a text's producers most expect audiences to take, signalled through its structure and conventions. Audiences may accept, negotiate with or oppose this reading depending on their context.