Glossary of Terms
The Glossary of Terms is a curated collection of definitions from the worlds of film, games, art, and design. Whether you're a student, artist, creative director or technical developer, this glossary is made to streamline your workflow and sharpen your understanding. All terms are written with clarity in mind, so you can move from confusion to creation faster.
The glossary includes industry-specific language used in animation, storytelling, production, visual effects, interactive media, conceptual art, and design systems. It’s structured for creative professionals, by creative professionals.Browse through categories like visual language, camera techniques, character design, game mechanics, UI principles, rendering technology, and more.
What is the Glossary of Terms?
The Glossary is a living index of essential concepts across entertainment and creative industries. It helps define and demystify production terms, art direction language, cinematic devices, and technical terminology — all in one place. You can use this glossary to learn the language of the industry, write clearer documentation, improve production notes, or enhance your storytelling vocabulary.
Why use a Glossary?
Many terms in the entertainment industry are often used inconsistently or misunderstood. The Glossary gives you clean, consistent definitions across mediums — helping teams stay aligned, students learn faster, and artists speak the same language. It also supports better communication between departments, whether you're working in pre-production, post, or interactive pipelines.
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A shot where the camera remains entirely stationary, typically achieved using a tripod.
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In-game conditions applied to characters, such as buffs or debuffs, that alter their abilities or attributes temporarily, often adding strategic layers to gameplay.
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A hand-held camera system allowing smooth, steady shots, operated with a mechanical harness.
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The stem is the vertical stroke found in many letterforms, such as in the letters ‘H’, ‘T’, and ‘M’.
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A technique used in printmaking where ink or paint is applied through cut-out areas of a material (like paper or plastic) to create a pattern or image on the underlying surface.
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A document that outlines the major plot points of a film, often used as a guide in scriptwriting before the screenplay is fully developed.
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A 3D viewing technology, popular in the 19th century, where two nearly identical images are viewed together, creating the illusion of depth and three-dimensionality.
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A single, immobile image, including frame stills from completed movies or production images for unfinished works.
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An artistic representation of inanimate objects, such as fruits, flowers, or household items, arranged for artistic composition, commonly used to explore light, form, and texture.
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A last-minute, often surprising piece of footage or dialogue at the end of closing credits.
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Previously recorded footage of common elements or historical events, used in films.
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Stock footage refers to pre-recorded video clips or VFX elements that can be purchased and used in a project without the need to shoot new material. It saves time and resources, especially for common visual elements like skies, crowds, and landscapes.
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Stock photos are pre-licensed images available for use by designers, saving them the cost and time of arranging photoshoots. They cover a wide variety of subjects, from landscapes to people.
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Animation technique using solid 3D models or puppets, shot frame by frame for natural motion.
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Sequential series of rough sketches showing planned shots to outline the film’s action.
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A person who creates visual representations of scenes to assist directors and cinematographers in planning shots.
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Printed or digital manuals created to help players navigate a game, providing tips, maps, and strategies to assist with gameplay challenges.
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Art created in public spaces, often unsanctioned, that includes a wide range of media and styles, from murals to stencils, and is often associated with graphic design and activism.
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Art created in public spaces, often unsanctioned, that includes a wide range of media and styles, from murals to stencils, and is often associated with graphic design and activism.
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A type of candid photography that captures life in public spaces, focusing on spontaneous moments and often documenting social, political, or everyday life.
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Stress refers to the change in stroke width across a letter, often seen as a diagonal or vertical shift in certain letterforms, impacting the letter's design style.
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A stroke is any linear feature in a letterform, forming the basic structure of the character.
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An art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson that opposes conceptual art and promotes figurative painting as a return to traditional artistic values.
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A controlled form of photography typically conducted indoors, where lighting, backdrops, and the subject are carefully arranged for optimal results, often used for portraits.
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A technique in which a player or enemy is repeatedly hit with attacks or status effects that prevent them from moving or performing actions, rendering them vulnerable.
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A person who substitutes for the main actor in dangerous or physically demanding scenes, such as stunts or fight sequences.
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An actor or individual trained to perform stunts, often involving risk and physical skill.
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A style guide is a set of standards for the visual elements of a brand or publication, ensuring consistency across all materials, from business cards to websites.
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Film, scene, or shot emulating a personal point of view.
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An aesthetic theory, first defined by Edmund Burke, which refers to art that evokes a sense of greatness or awe beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement, or imitation.
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A secondary plot complementing the main storyline, typically referred to as the B story.
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Substance Designer is a software application used to create complex, procedural textures for 3D models. It allows users to design, edit, and export textures with high levels of control and realism, widely used in game and film production.
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Substance Painter is a 3D texturing application used by professionals to paint textures directly onto 3D models. It enables artists to create highly detailed and realistic textures, including weathering, scratches, and other surface details.
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An editing technique where one scene or shot is replaced with another, typically done seamlessly to maintain continuity.
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Deeper meanings of a character’s actions or spoken lines, encouraging the audience to read between the lines for true meaning.
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Printed lines of text at the bottom of the frame, used for translation or contextual information, such as time and place.
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Optical process exposing one image on top of another on the same filmstrip, seen in Vertigo where faces are superimposed on drawings.
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An actor who plays a secondary or minor character, often supporting the lead actors in their storyline.
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A term coined by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica to describe the immersive experience in his installations that encourage viewers' emotional and intellectual engagement with the artwork.
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A Russian avant-garde art movement led by Kazimir Malevich in the early 20th century, focusing on pure abstraction and the supremacy of geometric forms over figurative representation.
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An art movement prioritizing subconscious-based images and narratives, often presenting fantastic or nightmarish dream states.
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An art movement that sought to express the unconscious mind and dreams through irrational, fantastical imagery, often challenging the norms of reality and societal expectations.
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A swash is a decorative stroke added to a letterform, often seen in more elaborate typefaces for emphasis or visual appeal.
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A swash is a decorative stroke added to a letterform, often seen in more elaborate typefaces for emphasis or visual appeal.
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Rapid camera rotation on the x-axis creating a disorienting effect, also called a whip pan, used for dramatic transitions.
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Imbuing objects with meaning to represent something beyond their literal form, enhancing thematic depth in storytelling.
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A late 19th-century movement that rejected naturalism and sought to represent emotions, ideas, or concepts through symbolic imagery. Often linked to mystical, mythological, or dream-like themes.
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Image or story halves distinctly mirroring each other, utilized by filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson.
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Symmetry in design refers to balance and proportional harmony within a composition. It creates a sense of stability and visual satisfaction, often used as a fundamental design principle.
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A phenomenon where one sense (such as hearing) triggers a simultaneous experience in another sense (such as sight), often used in art to evoke multisensory experiences or to express complex ideas.
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A style of painting developed by Paul Gauguin in the late 19th century characterized by the use of flat areas of color and symbolic imagery, as well as bold outlines.
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A system font is the default typeface used by a computer operating system, typically providing uniformity across various applications.
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An art movement in the 1960s and 1970s that focused on the use of structured processes and systems in the creation of artwork, often utilizing mathematical principles or external structures.
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A bug in which a character appears with their arms and legs extended in a "T" shape, often occurring during animation errors or glitches.
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TD (Technical Director)
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A TD (Technical Director) in VFX is responsible for managing technical aspects of production, developing tools, scripts, and solutions to ensure the smooth integration of creative and technical elements in the VFX process. They bridge the gap between artists and engineers.
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A term used to describe a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect, appearing absorbed and unaware of the viewer’s existence.
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A style of non-geometric abstract art that developed in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, characterized by spontaneous brushwork, drips, and scribble-like marks, often associated with Abstract Expressionism.
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The outer edges of a canvas where tacks or staples are used to secure the canvas to a stretcher, sometimes visible when looking at a finished painting.
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A short, memorable sentence summarizing the film, often used for marketing purposes to tease the content, like "In space, no one can hear you scream" from Alien.
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A single shot of a scene recorded continuously, with multiple takes filmed until the director is satisfied with the shot.
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A camera set-up featuring only the subject’s head and shoulders, giving the impression of a floating "talking head."
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A gameplay style focused on absorbing damage and drawing enemy attention to protect teammates, commonly used in multiplayer raid scenarios.
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The best-known color film process characterized by high saturation, vivid colors, and a three-color dye transfer system.
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A visual or audible cue in a game that signals an incoming action, such as an enemy’s attack, giving players time to react or avoid it.
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A camera lens with a long focal length and narrow angle of view, condensing depth and bringing distant objects closer.
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A fast-drying painting medium where pigments are mixed with a water-soluble binder, typically egg yolk, producing a matte finish with fine details. Used extensively before oil paints.
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A painting technique in which pigments are bound in a water-soluble emulsion, typically using water and egg yolk, or an oil-in-water emulsion, such as oil and a whole egg.
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A terminal is any stroke that ends without a serif, which can either be straight or curved.
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A private preview of a film, shown to a selected audience to gather feedback on the film’s content and effectiveness.
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A medium composed of woven or sewn fibers, both natural and synthetic, used in creating artworks, including sculptures, tapestries, and fabric-based pieces.
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In design, texture refers to the visual or tactile surface quality of a design. It can mimic real textures like metal or fabric or be created digitally through graphics or printing on special materials.
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Texturing refers to the process of adding surface detail to 3D models, including color, patterns, and materials. It gives models a more lifelike appearance, making them seem like real-world objects by applying textures like wood, metal, or fabric.
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A group of artists who formed around visionary artist and poet William Blake, active in the years leading up to his death in 1827, emphasizing mythological and symbolic themes.
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An informal society of artists, founded in 1837 by students at the Royal Academy Schools in London, who came together to discuss and critique art, influencing early Victorian art.
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A photography movement that developed in the 1920s, connected to the Bauhaus principles, focusing on new perspectives, abstraction, and unconventional compositions in photographic works.
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A group of American photographers in the early 20th century who advocated for photography as a fine art, and sought to elevate it through more artistic and expressive approaches.
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A psychological concept introduced by Sigmund Freud, describing the strange and unsettling feeling created when familiar objects or scenarios are presented in unfamiliar or eerie contexts.
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The inferred stance on the central topic or message of a story.
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When a character addresses the medium they're situated in, breaking the "fourth wall" convention.
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A shot featuring three individuals in the frame, distinct from a "single" or "two shot."
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A thumbnail is a small, preliminary sketch used by designers to explore layout options and visualize how a design might come together before refining it digitally.
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A close-up shot of the subject, often requested by directors for extreme close-ups or tight framing.
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A camera movement where it tilts up or down along a vertical axis, suggesting imbalance or emphasizing character traits.
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A technique where frames are shot slower than usual, capturing changes over an extended period quickly, as seen in nature documentaries.
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A game mode or challenge where players aim to complete objectives or levels as quickly as possible, often for leaderboard placement.
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Art that is dependent on technology and has a durational aspect, evolving over time, such as video art, sound art, and other multimedia installations that engage with duration.
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A numerical label assigned to each frame of film, used for synchronization in editing and post-production.
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The use of color to alter the shading of film stock, typically done by hand to achieve desired moods, commonly used in black and white movies.
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In painting, a color that has been lightened by the addition of white. Tints are often used to create softer, more pastel-like hues.
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A photographic process from the 19th century, where a photo is taken directly onto a thin sheet of metal, creating a durable and inexpensive image.
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The initial screen that appears when a game is launched, often displaying the game title, logos, and options such as "Start Game" or "Settings."
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The sequence at the beginning of a film that displays the title, main credits, and often visual imagery relevant to the film’s theme.
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A tittle is the small distinguishing mark above lowercase letters like ‘i’ and ‘j’, often used to clarify a letter's form.
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Tofu is the term for empty squares that appear when a typeface isn't loaded properly or lacks specific characters, often seen in digital typography.
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The lightness or darkness of a color, or the overall quality of light in a piece, created by mixing a color with black or gray to adjust its intensity.
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Tracking refers to adjusting the spacing between all letters in a word or paragraph, impacting the text's density and structure. It differs from kerning, which adjusts spacing between specific letter pairs.
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A camera movement alongside the subject, often mounted on a dolly track, ideal for side-to-side motions.
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An Italian neo-expressionist art group formed in the late 1970s that rejected conceptual and minimalist art in favor of figurative, colorful, and emotionally expressive works.
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Transcoding is the process of converting digital media from one format or resolution to another. This can be done to ensure compatibility with different software, devices, or formats, such as converting a video file into a specific codec for web streaming.
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A material or surface that allows light to pass through but does not permit clear images to be seen through it, often creating a soft effect in artwork.
