Video Editing Terms & Glossary

Every industry and occupation have its own set of terms. There is no exception for video editing.

In film and TV /video production, these terms and their meanings originated mostly from history and practice of thousands of film/TV makers. Over the years, they have been accepted as conventions.

In theory, nobody has ever given a totally accurate definition for each term. Nobody has even tried to. Film/TV making is not science.

But in practice, when you say, “don’t cross the line”, all your colleagues know what you mean. All the terms you are going through mean the same things for people from all over the world. Understanding these terms ensures that we will communicate on the same ground.

There is another reason, which is more important actually, to get familiar with these terms.

Well understanding these basic terms will affect the progress of your production.

For instance, when you have the 180º line concept in mind, you will mentally draw that line while shooting, thus avoid the hassle to fix any directional problems in post-production stage.

In a sense, these terms themselves are part of the video editing skill. Unlike many other books, this chapter, Terms, is an integrated part of this book.

Please note that the terms I explain here may have slightly different meanings for different people. One person’s close up could be another one’s medium close up. But the principles remain the same.

And these terms and principles keep changing over the time. In traditional Hollywood films, jump cut was not acceptable in any matters. Now you see jump cuts everywhere. It has become a modern style.

Rules are made to be broken. We’ll talk about breaking the roles later.

However, first of all, you have to learn it. Only after that, you will know what to break, and how to break.

Ok, without any delay, let’s start.

Video Editing Glossary & Terms

180° Line
Video Capture or Digitize
Video Footage & Video Clip
Continuity Editing
Cut, Jump Cut & Cutaway
Cut Off
Video Frames
Log Sheet or Movie Shot List
Film & Video Montage
NG
Video Shot & Take
Sequence & Movie Scene
Time Code
Video Transitions
Dissolve, Wipe, Fade
Tracking Shot
Pan, Tilt, Zoom
Close up & Extreme close up
Long shot
Medium Shot
Two Shot
Video Editor