In the ever-evolving world of documentary filmmaking, solo creators—armed with compact gear and adaptive skills—navigate the complexities of production single-handedly. For those embracing the challenge of being a one-person film crew, understanding the essential vocabulary is more than just jargon; it’s a roadmap to efficient storytelling.
This guide, “Terms and Lingo of One-Person Documentary Filmmaking,” breaks down the key terms and tools you need to master each stage of the filmmaking process, from pre-production planning to capturing dynamic sound and achieving a polished final edit. Whether you’re shooting a run-and-gun piece on bustling city streets or crafting intimate interviews with minimal setup, these terms will enhance your technical know-how and streamline your workflow.
Cover photo by William Bayreuther
A
– Action Camera: GoPro and similar compact cameras are used to capture immersive, first-person views or when filming in difficult conditions.
– AF Lock: Locks autofocus at a specific distance, maintaining focus on moving subjects in a documentary setting.
– Ambient Light Metering: Measures available light without flash, helping you balance natural and artificial light in a scene.
– Ambient Sound: Capturing the natural sound of an environment adds texture and realism to documentary films. Even as a solo filmmaker, recording background sound is essential for authentic storytelling.
– Anamorphic Lens: A lens that compresses the image horizontally, producing wide, cinematic shots. Adapters make this achievable even on lower-budget cameras.
– Anti-Flicker Setting: Adjusts camera timing to avoid flickering lights, useful when shooting under fluorescent lights or certain LED types.
– Apple Box: A versatile tool for raising or propping up equipment, used for everything from adjusting camera height to positioning interview subjects.
– Archive Footage: Archive footage refers to pre-existing video or film that was not originally shot for the current documentary but is used to provide historical context or background information.
– Aspect Ratio: Determines how your footage will appear on screen. For documentaries, 16:9 is standard, but experimenting with 4:3 or 2.39:1 can evoke different moods.
– Audio Mixer: Portable mixers like the Sound Devices MixPre allow you to balance multiple audio sources, a necessity when capturing interviews and ambient sound.
– Audio Sync: Aligning external audio with video in post-production. Software like PluralEyes can automate this, crucial for solo workflows.
– Autofocus: Vital for solo filmmakers, especially when you can’t manually focus while recording. Modern cameras offer sophisticated autofocus with face/eye detection.
– Autofocus Tracking: Essential for solo filmmakers when shooting moving subjects; modern cameras feature face and eye-tracking for precise focus.
B
– B-Roll: Supplemental footage that supports your main shots (A-Roll). It’s essential in documentaries to cut between interviews and action.
– Backdrop: Portable backdrops (like collapsible fabric ones) can transform any location into a controlled environment, improving interview settings.
– Backup Storage: Always have extra SD cards, external drives, or cloud backup solutions to store footage.
– Battery Bank: Powering multiple devices (e.g., camera, monitor, audio recorder) on location is crucial, so a high-capacity, portable battery pack is essential.
– Battery Grip: An attachment to your camera that houses additional batteries for longer shooting sessions, reducing the need for frequent swaps.
– Bokeh: The out-of-focus areas in an image create a creamy background. Prime lenses with wide apertures (e.g., f/1.8) are great for this effect, adding depth to interviews.
– Boom Mic: Often a shotgun mic mounted on a boom pole, allowing proximity without intruding on the camera frame, commonly used for capturing dialogue in dynamic or crowded settings.
– Bounce Card: Reflective material that redirects light to fill shadows, providing softer, natural-looking light for interviews.
– Bounce Light: A reflector that redirects available light onto your subject, reducing shadows and adding dimension to faces.
– Brushless Motor: The key to smooth gimbal operation is that brushless motors are essential for capturing stable shots while on the move.
– Buffer: Temporary storage in cameras that holds images before saving to the memory card, affecting burst shooting capabilities.
C
– C-Stand: A sturdy stand used to hold lighting or other gear, often necessary for solo filmmakers setting up interviews.
– Cable Management: Organizing D-Tap and other power cables to avoid tangling or snagging, crucial in compact setups.
– Camera Cage: A frame that protects your camera and provides mounting points for accessories (monitors, microphones, lights), increasing versatility.
– Cheese Plate: A metal plate with multiple mounting holes, allowing you to attach various accessories to a camera rig.
– Chroma Key: A technique where a green or blue background allows for digital background replacement in post. Often used for interviews with controlled lighting.
– Cinematography Apps: Apps like Artemis Pro or Sun Seeker aid with camera framing, lighting conditions, and time-of-day planning for natural light.
– Cine Lenses: Although heavier, cine lenses are often used in run-and-gun shooting for their smooth focus rings and aperture control, ideal for maintaining shot quality on the go.
– Codec: Compression-decompression format for video files (like H.264 or ProRes). Choosing a high-quality codec improves post-production flexibility.
– Cold Shoe Adapter: A mount for holding gear like lights or microphones on the camera or rig, expanding setup possibilities.
– Color Grading: Adjusting the colors and tones of your footage to achieve a certain look or mood. Tools like DaVinci Resolve are widely used for this.
– Color Correction: Color correction standardizes colors across shots
– Compact Cameras: Mirrorless systems like Sony’s Alpha series or Panasonic’s GH line, offering high-quality video in a lightweight body—ideal for run-and-gun filming.
– Continuous Autofocus (CAF): Keeps subjects in focus while they move, crucial for dynamic, live documentary settings.
– Continuous Lighting: LED panels that provide constant light, letting you adjust your setup in real-time without waiting for flash recovery—ideal for video.
– Cutaway: A cutaway is a shot that interrupts the main action or narrative to show a related scene, object, or reaction. It’s used in editing to cover up any inconsistencies or to add variety to a scene.
D
– D-Tap Connector: A DC power outlet, often found on larger batteries, that can power cameras, lights, or monitors with compatible cables.
– Data Management: Organizing and backing up footage immediately after a shoot to avoid losing valuable content.
– Data Wrangling: The organized handling and backup of digital files on set to prevent data loss.
– Deadcat/Wind Muff: A fuzzy cover for microphones that reduces wind noise—essential for outdoor audio clarity.
– Depth of Field: Controlling the range of focus within your shot adds depth and draws attention to the subject. Shallow depth of field is common in interviews.
– Diffusion: Softens harsh light sources, often created using diffusion panels or softboxes to make lighting more flattering.
– Digital Dailies: Daily footage is uploaded to the cloud for immediate review by producers or collaborators.
– Direct Cinema: A style of documentary filmmaking that aims to observe real events with minimal intervention by the filmmaker, capturing life as it happens without scripted narration or staged scenes.
– Directional Microphone: A shotgun mic that captures sound in a narrow pattern, crucial for isolating voices in noisy environments.
– Documentary Style: Styles range from observational (fly-on-the-wall) to participatory (where the filmmaker interacts with subjects). Choose the style that best suits your story.
– Dolly Zoom (Zolly): Achieved by zooming in while dollying backward, creating a distinctive “vertigo” effect to emphasize emotional moments.
– Dual-Diaphragm Mic: Some advanced shotgun mics use dual diaphragms to capture a wider frequency range, providing more natural sound, especially for voice recording.
– Dual-System Sound: Recording audio separately from video (on devices like the Zoom H6), then syncing in post. Essential for high-quality audio, especially when working alone.
– Dummy Battery: A battery-shaped adapter that connects to D-Tap, allowing constant power without battery changes.
– Dynamic Lighting: Moving or changing lights during a shot to create dramatic effects, helping solo filmmakers add visual interest without complex setups.
– Dynamic Range: The range between the darkest and brightest parts of your image. Cameras with a high dynamic range can capture more detail in shadows and highlights, crucial for difficult lighting situations.
E
– Editing Suite: For solo filmmakers, editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve is essential for integrating visuals, sound, and effects seamlessly.
– EFP (Electronic Field Production): Refers to lightweight production setups suitable for solo filmmakers working outside of studio environments.
– EVF (Electronic Viewfinder): Useful for shooting in bright conditions where the LCD screen may be hard to see, especially outdoors.
– Export Settings: Choosing the resolution, bitrate, and format of the final video file, tailored to the target platform, whether web, broadcast, or theatrical release.
– Exposure Compensation: Adjusting brightness while using auto-exposure to avoid over or underexposing parts of the image.
– Exposure Lock: Prevents exposure shifts when the camera detects light changes, ideal for consistent lighting in scenes with varied lighting.
– Exposure Triangle: The relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, which you must balance for proper exposure. This is fundamental knowledge for controlling how your image looks.
– Expository Documentary: A type of documentary that uses a voiceover or narrator to deliver information directly to the audience, often with a clear argument or thesis.
– Exposure Triangle: The relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, which you must balance for proper exposure. This is fundamental knowledge for controlling how your image looks.
– External Recorder: For both video (e.g., Atomos Ninja) and audio (e.g., Zoom H5), external recorders can capture higher quality than built-in camera features.
– Eye Detection AF: Automatic focus that locks onto subjects’ eyes, perfect for portrait work in the street or “man-on-the-street” settings.
– Eye Light: Adding a small, focused light to give a catchlight in the subject’s eyes, which enhances their expression and adds vitality to portraits or interviews.
– Eyeline Matching: Ensuring that the subject’s gaze aligns naturally with the camera during interviews, maintaining engagement with the viewer.
F
– False Color: A visual tool available in many monitors that helps identify exposure levels by color, ensuring accurate skin tones and balanced lighting.
– Feathering Light: Positioning light at an angle to create soft, graduated shadows, adding depth without harsh contrast.
– Field Monitor: An external monitor that attaches to your camera, giving you a larger, clearer view of what you’re shooting—vital for checking focus and exposure.
– Field Recorder: A portable audio recorder connected to the shotgun mic, often used in documentary settings to ensure clear sound when working independently.
– Filmic Pro: A popular app for professional manual video control on smartphones, enabling high-quality mobile filmmaking.
– Filmmaker’s Logbook: A document for keeping track of shot lists, notes, and details on lighting and camera settings, helping you stay organized across solo projects.
– Final Mix: The completed audio track that combines all sounds, music, dialogue, and effects, balanced and synced for the final edit.
– Flat Profile: Shooting in a flat color profile (like Sony’s S-Log or Canon’s C-Log) preserves more information for color grading.
– Focal Length: Wide lenses capture more of the environment, while telephoto lenses isolate subjects. Understanding which lens to use helps define the mood of each shot.
– Focus: Focus refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image or specific subject within a shot. In filmmaking, achieving proper focus means that the main subject is crisp and detailed, ensuring that viewers’ attention is directed appropriately. Adjustments to focus are often made manually or automatically depending on the camera setup and creative intent.
– Focus Peaking: Highlighting areas in focus for manual adjustments—crucial when working quickly with mirrorless or point-and-shoot cameras.
– Follow Focus: A tool that allows you to control focus manually during moving shots. Automated systems like Tilta’s Nucleus-N are especially useful for solo filmmakers.
– Follow Focus Gear Ring: A gear ring that attaches to the lens, allowing smoother manual focus adjustment in one-man setups.
– Frame Rate: Choosing the correct frame rate (e.g., 24fps for a cinematic feel or 60fps for slow motion) can affect the tone of your film.
– Framing: Framing refers to how a subject is positioned within the camera’s view. It’s a key aspect of the visual language in documentaries, as it directs the audience’s focus and conveys meaning.
G
– Gaffer: A gaffer is the head electrician responsible for lighting on set. Proper lighting is essential for creating the right mood and clarity in documentary footage.
– Gaffer Tape: Durable, removable tape used to secure cables and equipment or create makeshift setups safely.
– Gear Bag: A well-organized gear bag is essential for carrying and protecting your equipment, especially when you need to move quickly between locations.
– Gear Prep and Packing: Involves organizing essential gear, batteries, and backups, ensuring that everything needed is prepared for efficient on-the-go shooting.
– Gimbal: A handheld stabilizer that compensates for camera movement, allowing you to capture smooth shots while moving.
– Golden Hour: The time just after sunrise or before sunset, offering soft, diffused light ideal for capturing natural and atmospheric shots.
– Graduated ND Filter: Reduces light in only part of the image (usually the sky), ideal for balancing bright skies with darker foregrounds in landscape shots.
– Grid Spot: A grid attachment on a light to direct and focus the beam, used to create contrast and avoid light spills in interviews or close-ups.
– Gray Card: Helps set accurate white balance during shooting, ensuring that colors are represented correctly.
– Green Screen: Enables background replacement during editing, helpful for interviews or controlled shoots.
– Grip: A crew member responsible for setting up, adjusting, and maintaining production equipment on a film set, including tripods, dollies, rigs, and lighting support. They ensure that cameras and lights are securely positioned for each shot. In larger productions, grips may specialize, such as a key grip (head grip) or best boy grip (assistant to the key grip).
– Grip Gear: Includes clamps, arms, and mounting accessories for positioning lights, cameras, or microphones in creative ways. A must for solo setups where flexibility is key.
– Gyro Stabilizer: Used in gimbals for keeping shots steady; handheld gimbals with built-in gyros offer more dynamic control for solo filmmakers.
H
– H.265 Codec: A more efficient codec than H.264, often used in modern cameras to capture high-quality video at smaller file sizes, ideal for mobile storage.
– Handheld Gimbal: A small stabilizer for smooth handheld shots, helpful for following subjects or capturing steady “walk-and-talk” shots.
– Handheld Shots: Handheld filming can add energy and realism to your documentary, but using in-camera stabilization (or a gimbal) will help reduce shakiness.
– Headroom: Headroom is the space between the top of a subject’s head and the top edge of the frame. Too much or too little headroom can affect how comfortable the shot feels to the audience.
– High Frame Rate (HFR): Shooting at high frame rates like 120fps or more for slow-motion playback, adding intensity to action shots.
– High Key Lighting: A bright, low-contrast lighting setup, often used for interviews or documentary subjects to create a cheerful and clean look.
– Histogram: A graphical representation of exposure that helps you prevent over or underexposed footage, particularly when you’re multitasking on set.
– Histogram Clipping: Indicates when areas of the image are losing detail due to over or underexposure, helping you adjust exposure on set.
– Hot Shoe: The mount on top of your camera for attaching accessories like external mics or lights.
– Hot Shoe Adapter: Expands your camera’s hot shoe for additional accessories like mics, lights, or external monitors.
– Hyperlapse: A time-lapse technique where the camera moves between each frame, creating a dynamic and engaging transition sequence.
I
– IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization): Stabilization within the camera body that helps smooth out shots without needing a gimbal.
– IFB (Interruptible Feedback): A one-way earpiece for receiving instructions from a producer or director, often used in live reporting.
– Image Stabilization: In-body (IBIS) or lens-based stabilization reduces the shakiness of handheld shots, which is crucial for solo filmmakers without a crew to assist.
– Image Stabilizer: Not just for cameras—handheld stabilizers also apply to lenses and audio gear to reduce shake and noise.
– In-Camera LUT: Loading a Look-Up Table (LUT) in-camera lets you preview how color grading might look, helpful for balancing colors while shooting.
– Ingest Workflow: The process of transferring and organizing footage after a shoot, crucial for data security and efficient editing, especially for multi-day shoots.
– Intervalometer: A tool for time-lapse photography, triggering the camera at set intervals. Many cameras now have built-in intervalometers.
– Internal Mic vs. External Mic: Choosing between built-in audio for ease or external mics for better sound quality.
– Interview: Interviews are a staple in documentaries, where a subject answers questions or speaks on a topic. They can be direct-to-camera or with the interviewer off-camera.
– Interview Kit: A go-to set of gear for conducting interviews—often includes a camera, lavalier mic, key light, and a bounce card for fill light.
– Interview Lighting Kit: An essential for solo documentarians. A simple three-point lighting setup (key light, fill light, backlight) can be created with portable LED lights or softboxes, easily transportable and adjustable for interviews.
– ISO: A measure of your camera’s sensitivity to light. Keep ISO low to avoid noise in your footage, especially in low-light conditions.
– ISO Invariance: A characteristic of certain sensors that allows low-ISO shots to be brightened in post without added noise, offering flexibility for low-light shooting.
J
– J-Cut: Where the audio of the next scene starts before the video cuts, creating a smooth audio transition.
– J-Cut and L-Cut: Overlapping audio from one shot with the next to create smoother transitions, widely used in documentary editing.
– Jack Adapter: Converts audio connections (e.g., XLR to 3.5mm) for compatibility between pro gear and consumer-level cameras.
– Jib: A portable jib or crane allows for sweeping camera movements, adding cinematic flair to your shots.
– Jitter Compensation: Reducing minor camera shake during recording, a feature in advanced stabilization systems.
– JPEG+RAW: Shooting both JPEG and RAW formats for photography, giving you flexibility in the post while providing quick, shareable JPEGs.
– Jump Cut: A stylistic cut between two shots of the same subject that slightly changes position, creating an abrupt transition often used in interviews.
– Jump Cut Series: A stylistic approach where successive jump cuts show rapid transitions in time or place, often adding energy or tension to a sequence.
– Juxtaposition: The placement of contrasting shots to create meaning or emotional impact. For instance, cutting from a lively crowd to an empty room can add depth.
K
– Kelvin: A unit measuring the color temperature of light. Understanding Kelvin helps you match lights for consistent color balance in your shots.
– Ken Burns Effect: Named after the documentarian Ken Burns, this effect involves zooming in on and panning across still images to create movement and maintain visual interest when using photographs in a documentary.
– Key Light: Your primary source of illumination in a scene. For solo filmmakers, LED panels like Aputure’s Amaran series offer portable, soft light.
– Keystone Correction: Adjusts distortion in footage caused by shooting at an angle, particularly useful for projecting images or graphics.
– Kick Light: A secondary light that adds separation between the subject and background, helping create depth in shots with simple lighting setups.
– Kicker: A light placed behind or to the side of the subject to provide a slight glow or edge, often used to add separation in close-ups.
– Kit Lens: Often the default lens that comes with a camera, typically 18-55mm, versatile but limited in quality compared to prime or specialized zoom lenses.
– Kino Flo Lights: While large and often studio-based, portable LED alternatives provide soft, even lighting for documentary settings.
L
– Lavalier Mic: A small clip-on mic for interviews, often wireless, ideal for solo filmmakers to capture clean dialogue without needing to hold a boom.
– Lens Filter: ND filters help you shoot with a wide aperture in bright conditions, while polarizers cut glare and enhance colors.
– Lens Hood: Reduces unwanted lens flares and protects your lens from the elements, especially important when shooting outdoors.
– Light Meter: Measures light exposure precisely, providing accurate settings for balanced shots, especially in complex lighting conditions.
– Light Spill: Unintended light falling on parts of the scene, controlled by flags or barn doors to keep lighting focused.
– Lighting Plot: A diagram detailing light placement and types to be used on location; valuable for creating natural or intentional lighting setups in solo shoots.
– Lighting Ratios: Controlling the contrast between key light and fill light can create dramatic or neutral looks. A common ratio is 2:1 for a natural appearance.
– Limiter: An audio feature that caps loud sounds to avoid distortion, useful when capturing unpredictable sound levels in the field.
– LiveU: A cellular streaming unit for broadcasting live video from remote locations, often used by news teams.
– Lobar Pattern: An extremely narrow pickup pattern used by some shotgun mics, reducing ambient noise even more effectively than standard cardioid mics.
– Location Scouting: Visiting and assessing potential shooting sites for lighting, sound, and camera placement before the actual filming day.
– Log Profile: Shooting in a log profile (S-Log, C-Log, etc.) preserves dynamic range, allowing greater latitude in color grading.
– Looping: Repeating a sound or clip to extend its length, useful for ambient sounds or background audio.
– Low Angle Shot: A shot taken from below the subject to give them a sense of power or dominance, often used in storytelling.
– Low Key Lighting: A technique with minimal lighting, creating deep shadows and high contrast, often for dramatic effect in darker scenes.
– Lower Third: Lower thirds refer to the text typically placed at the bottom of the screen to provide information, such as the name of an interviewee or the location of a scene.
M
– Magic Arm: An adjustable arm for mounting monitors, mics, or lights to any rig, offering flexibility for dynamic setups.
– Manual Focus: Provides full control over your focal point, crucial in documentary filming where autofocus might shift unexpectedly.
– Manual Focus Assist: A visual tool that highlights in-focus areas on screen, enhancing focus control during handheld shooting.
– Match Cut: An editing transition where a similar shape, color, or action in consecutive shots creates a seamless visual flow.
– Matte Box: A tool used to block stray light from hitting the lens, preventing unwanted flares and enhancing the cinematic quality of your footage.
– Memory Card Management: Essential for efficient workflow—backing up and formatting cards ensures you’re prepared for every new shoot day.
– Metadata: Important for organizing footage. Cameras like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera capture useful metadata like camera settings, location, and shot descriptions.
– Metadata Tags: Adding descriptive tags to your footage (such as scene, take, and subject) helps organize and streamline editing.
– Micro Four Thirds: A compact camera sensor format popular among solo filmmakers for its balance between image quality and portability.
– Mirrorless Camera: Lightweight and often superior in video capability compared to DSLRs, mirrorless systems like the Sony A7 series are favored by solo filmmakers.
– Montage: A montage is a series of shots edited together to condense time, highlight key moments, or show a progression of events in a short, concise manner.
– Motion Capture: Capturing movement in real-time for specific dynamic shots, achievable with smaller rigs for individual work.
N
– Narration: Narration refers to the off-screen voice that explains the visuals or provides commentary in a documentary. It can be used to guide the audience through the story.
– Narrative Arc: Crafting a clear story structure is critical, even in documentaries. Plan your story around a beginning, middle, and end, ensuring each scene moves the narrative forward.
– Narrative Structure: The underlying framework that shapes your story. Common structures include linear, circular (returning to the start), or episodic (disjointed scenes).
– Natural Light: Many solo filmmakers rely heavily on natural light, especially for outdoor shooting. Use reflectors and diffusion to control harsh sunlight.
– Natural Sound: Also called “nat sound,” capturing authentic background audio from locations adds realism and texture to your documentary’s soundscape.
– ND Filter: A neutral density filter is like sunglasses for your camera, allowing you to film with a wide aperture even in bright light. Variable ND filters are great for changing light conditions.
– ND Grading: Using gradient ND filters in the post to darken the top of the frame, balancing bright skies with darker foregrounds.
– Near and Far Field Recording: “Near-field” captures sound from close proximity, while “far-field” records at a distance, often requiring adjustments to maintain clarity.
– NLE (Non-Linear Editing) Cloud: Cloud-based editing tools, such as Adobe’s Team Projects, enable collaboration across locations.
– Noise Floor: The baseline level of background noise in audio, managed with soundproofing techniques or post-processing.
– Noise Reduction: In post-production, tools like iZotope RX can help eliminate background noise from your audio, improving the clarity of interviews or voiceovers.
– Noise Reduction Software: Tools like iZotope RX can clean up background noise, essential when filming in uncontrolled environments. Applying this during post-production keeps the audio clean.
O
– Observational Documentary: A type of documentary where the filmmaker takes a fly-on-the-wall approach, simply documenting what happens in front of the camera without interference or commentary.
– Off-Axis Rejection: The ability of a shotgun mic to ignore sounds from the sides and rear, ensuring focused capture from the subject.
– Off-Camera Light: Using lights positioned away from the camera (e.g., key and fill lights) can add depth, dimension, and separation, creating a more cinematic feel.
– On-Camera Mic: A shotgun microphone that attaches to your camera, perfect for capturing ambient sound or quick interviews when you don’t have time to set up an external mic.
– On-Camera Monitors: Small, portable screens that attach to the camera, providing a better view of what you’re filming than the built-in display—essential for checking focus, exposure, and composition.
– On-Camera Lighting: A small, on-camera LED light can help illuminate subjects in low-light situations, especially for run-and-gun filming. Some models offer adjustable brightness and color temperature for flexibility.
– One-Man Band Setup: Configuration designed for solo shooters with lightweight gear, quick setups, and flexible rigs.
– Optical Zoom: Allows zooming in on a subject without losing image quality, preferred over digital zoom for maintaining clarity.
– Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom: Optical zoom maintains quality by adjusting the lens, whereas digital zoom crops often reduce quality.
– Over-the-Shoulder Shot: A common shot composition where the camera looks over a person’s shoulder, often used in interviews or observational scenes.
– Overcranking: Filming at a higher frame rate for slow-motion effects. Shooting at 120fps, for example, allows for dramatic slow-mo when played back at 24fps.
– Overexposure: Occurs when too much light hits the sensor, washing out details. Monitoring exposure levels is key for solo shooters.
P
– Parabolic Microphone: Useful for capturing distant sounds with precision. These mics are shaped like dishes to capture sound from far-off sources, valuable in documentary wildlife or observational scenes.
– Peaking: Highlights edges in focus, a feature in many cameras to help achieve sharp focus manually.
– Phantom Power (+48V): Power supplied through an XLR connection for condenser mics, commonly found on external recorders and mixers.
– Picture Profile: Settings that define the look of your footage (contrast, saturation, sharpness). Log profiles, like S-Log or C-Log, capture a more dynamic range, providing flexibility for color grading.
– Pitch: A pitch is a presentation made to producers, funders, or broadcasters to persuade them to support a documentary project. It typically includes a description of the story, style, audience, and budget.
– Pole Cam: A simple setup where the camera is mounted on a pole for overhead or elevated shots.
– Portable Lights: Battery-powered, lightweight lights, such as LED panels, are essential for quick, on-the-go setups.
– Polarizing Filter: Reduces reflections from water or glass and enhances sky color, useful in outdoor documentary filming.
– Post-Production Workflow: The steps taken after the shooting, from importing and organizing footage to editing, color grading, sound design, and final export. Streamlined workflows are essential for solo editing.
– Power Bank: A portable power bank or external battery is indispensable for solo filmmakers, keeping cameras, lights, or other gear charged during long shoots, especially when working remotely or without easy access to power outlets.
– Prime Lens: A lens with a fixed focal length, often sharper and faster than zoom lenses, making it ideal for low light or shallow depth-of-field shots.
– Proxy Files: Lower-resolution versions of footage stored in the cloud, allowing remote editing with smaller file sizes.
– Proxy Editing: Working with lower-resolution versions of video files to speed up editing, commonly used when handling high-res footage from 4K or 8K cameras.
Q
– Quadcopter: A drone used for aerial shots, giving solo filmmakers the ability to capture stunning overhead perspectives without hiring a drone operator.
– Quick Cut: A quick cut refers to a fast transition between shots, often used to create a sense of urgency or pace in documentary editing.
– Quick Release Clamp: Attaches and removes equipment quickly from rigs, allowing for fast transitions in setups.
– Quick Release Plate: A quick release plate system allows you to move your camera swiftly between tripods, gimbals, or handheld setups, saving valuable time during a shoot. It’s especially useful when you’re juggling multiple roles.
– Quick Setup Kit: A ready-to-go kit including your camera, mics, and lights, optimized for fast assembly in time-sensitive shoots.
– Quick Capture: Fast camera start-up feature to instantly begin recording, useful in unpredictable, spontaneous documentary settings.
– Quiet on Set: Essential for clear audio recording, especially in outdoor locations where you can’t control every sound. Waiting for quiet moments can be crucial to achieving usable audio.
– Quartz Light: A type of tungsten light bulb that’s bright and offers excellent color quality, often used as a key light, though they require caution as they generate significant heat.
– Quasar Science LED Tubes: Known for their portable, high-quality lighting, LED tubes provide soft, controllable light, ideal for one-person interviews and creative effects in documentaries.
R
– Rack Focus: Changing focus between subjects or elements within a scene, guiding viewer attention. Manual focus control makes rack focusing achievable even without a crew.
– Raw Footage: Raw footage is unedited material that has been shot for the documentary. It will later be reviewed and edited to create the final product.
– RAW Video: High-quality, uncompressed video files that offer more flexibility for color grading and editing. While large in file size, RAW files preserve maximum image detail.
– Recce (pronounced ‘Wreak-e’ and short for Recon; Scouting): Location scouting before the shoot, essential for planning light, sound, and visual composition.
– Reflective Light: Using nearby reflective surfaces or portable bounce cards to light subjects naturally, particularly helpful in bright outdoor settings.
– Reflector: A lightweight tool for bouncing natural light onto your subject, softening shadows without additional lights.
– Remote Control: Helps control your camera or gimbal from a distance, useful for getting shots where physical presence isn’t possible.
– Remote Monitoring: Using cloud software to allow team members to view and approve footage remotely, often via apps on tablets or laptops.
– Resolution: Refers to the amount of detail your camera captures, with higher resolutions (like 4K) offering crisper images.
– RØDE Wireless Go: Compact wireless microphone systems that are portable and reliable for capturing audio in solo interview settings.
– Rolling Shutter: A common issue in digital cameras where fast motion appears distorted. Choosing the right shutter speed can mitigate this.
– Room Tone: A few seconds of ambient noise recorded on location, used in post-production to fill audio gaps and create smooth transitions.
– Rule of Thirds: A composition guideline that divides the frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Placing subjects along these lines adds visual balance and interest.
S
– Scrim: A tool for diffusing or reducing light intensity, often used to control bright outdoor light, keeping it soft and flattering for subjects.
– Script Breakdown: Identifying and organizing all script elements like scenes, characters, and props, essential for planning shots in solo documentary work.
– SDI (Serial Digital Interface): A professional video connection standard for long cable runs with no quality loss, common in live broadcasting setups.
– Shock Mount: A microphone mount that isolates it from vibrations, reducing unwanted noise, especially in mobile or unpredictable setups.
– Shot List: Having a detailed shot list is crucial for solo filmmakers to stay organized and ensure they capture all the necessary footage without the support of a dedicated crew to assist in planning on the spot.
– Shot Reverse Shot: Common in interviews, capturing the subject and then reversing to capture the interviewer, even if filming solo.
– Shotgun Microphone: A directional mic that captures focused sound, minimizing background noise—perfect for quick, spontaneous interviews.
– Silent Shooting: Electronic shutter mode that allows noiseless capture, beneficial for unobtrusive filming in public or sensitive environments.
– Slider: A compact tool for smooth horizontal camera movements, adding dynamism to otherwise static shots.
– Soft Focus: Gently blurring parts of the image to create a dreamlike or emotional effect, often achieved with filters or post-processing.
– Softbox: A portable light modifier that diffuses light, creating a soft, even illumination ideal for interviews.
– Sound Design: Adding sound effects, ambient noise, and other audio elements to enhance realism and emotional impact in the final edit.
– Steadicam: A stabilizer for smooth, handheld camera movement, creating cinematic motion without the need for additional operators.
– Storyboarding: Visual planning of shots, which helps lay out the narrative flow, particularly useful for pre-visualizing complex or sequential scenes.
– Supercardioid/Hypercardioid Microphones: Types of shotgun mics with highly directional pickup patterns, focusing on sound directly in front while minimizing side noise—great for interviews or “man-on-the-street” scenarios.
– Sync Sound: The practice of recording audio and video separately, then syncing them in post-production for better sound quality.
– Syncing Audio and Video: The process of aligning separate audio and video files, is especially important in dual-system setups where sound is recorded separately.
T
– Talent Release Form: A form signed by interview subjects or other people appearing on camera, granting permission for their likeness to be used in the documentary.
– Talking Head: A talking head is a shot of a person, usually an expert or interview subject, speaking directly to the camera or interviewer. It’s a common method used to provide commentary or insight.
– Tascam Recorder: A popular external audio recorder among solo filmmakers for capturing high-quality sound.
– Three-Point Lighting: A lighting setup using key, fill, and backlights to add depth and separation to the subject. Portable three-point kits are ideal for solo interviews.
– Tilt: Vertical movement of the camera, allowing for reveals or to follow subjects’ movement, adding visual dynamism.
– Tilt-Shift Lens: A specialized lens used for perspective control, often in architectural or creative documentary shots. It adds perspective effects by altering the plane of focus, creating a “miniature” look.
– Timecode: Embedded timestamps in video footage for precise synchronization with audio, crucial for multi-camera setups or long sequences.
– Tracking Shot: A shot where the camera moves alongside a subject, achievable with a gimbal or slider for smooth motion.
– Tripod: A sturdy yet portable tripod is a must-have for solo shooting, whether for stable static shots, interviews, or time-lapses. Lightweight carbon fiber tripods are ideal for balancing portability and stability.
– Time-Lapse: Technique where frames are captured at intervals, then sped up, useful for capturing processes or changes over time.
U
– Ultra HD (4K/8K): Higher resolution formats that offer more detail and flexibility in post-production for cropping or digital zoom.
– Ultra-Wide Lens: A lens with a focal length typically below 20mm, capturing more of the scene and giving dramatic perspectives.
– Undercranking: Recording at a slower frame rate, creating fast-motion playback, often used to convey speed or passage of time.
– Underexposure: When not enough light hits the camera sensor, resulting in dark footage. Check histograms or zebras to avoid this.
– Umbrella Light Modifier: Used to soften light. Reflective and shoot-through umbrellas provide quick, effective diffusion, perfect for solo lighting setups.
– Unscripted: In documentaries, many scenes are unscripted, meaning that the filmmaker captures real, spontaneous events rather than staging or scripting them beforehand.
– Uplighting: Lighting that comes from below the subject, creating dramatic or eerie effects in documentaries.
– USB Microphone: Compact, portable microphones that connect to laptops or mobile devices, useful for voiceovers or podcast-style interviews.
– USB-C Power: Many modern cameras and recorders support USB-C charging, allowing extended shooting times using portable battery packs, essential for long documentary shoots.
V
– V-Log (Video Log): A flat color profile that captures a broader dynamic range, offering greater flexibility in color grading.
– V-Mount Battery: A robust, long-lasting battery commonly used with D-Tap adapters to power multiple devices, ideal for extended shoots.
– Variable ND Filter: A filter that lets you adjust the level of light reduction, perfect for outdoor shooting with changing light conditions.
– Vector Scope: A tool to visualize color balance and exposure in post-production, essential for maintaining consistent color.
– Verité: Verité is a style of documentary filmmaking that emphasizes realism and minimal interference from the filmmaker. It comes from the French term “cinéma vérité,” meaning “truthful cinema.”
– Vibrance vs. Saturation: Tools in post-production; vibrance selectively increases muted colors, while saturation boosts all colors. Balancing these adds a polished, professional look.
– Video Assist: A tool that allows you to monitor and playback video during or immediately after recording, helpful for reviewing shots solo.
– Vignetting: The darkening of the edges of the frame, which can be used stylistically or avoided with proper lens choice.
– Voiceover Booth: A simple setup, even homemade, for isolating sound, especially useful for recording clear voiceovers at home.
W
– Waveform Monitor: A tool that displays the exposure levels in your footage, crucial for ensuring consistent lighting.
– White Balance: Adjusting color temperature to match the light source, ensuring colors are true to life. Manual white balance is often better for consistent results.
– Wide Angle Adapter: An attachment that provides a wider field of view for standard lenses, expanding versatility without the need for multiple lenses.
– Wide-Angle Lens: Ideal for capturing expansive shots of landscapes or environments, giving viewers a sense of space.
– Widescreen: Widescreen refers to the aspect ratio used in many documentaries, which provides a broader view of the scene. Common ratios include 16:9 or 2.35:1.
– Windjammer: A cover for microphones that reduces wind noise when filming outdoors. Vital for recording clear audio during windy conditions.
– Wireless Audio System: A wireless microphone system (like the Rode Wireless GO) offers freedom of movement to both the subject and the filmmaker without worrying about cables getting in the way, while ensuring solid sound quality.
– Wireless Mic: A lavalier or handheld mic system that transmits audio wirelessly to your camera or audio recorder, providing freedom of movement.
– Wireless Lavalier Mic: Small mics with wireless transmitters, allowing subjects to move freely. Often clipped discreetly for capturing candid audio.
– Wireless Monitoring: Allows viewing the camera’s feed from a distance, helping solo filmmakers monitor shots from different angles or while adjusting other gear.
– Wrap Shot: The final shot of the day, often symbolizing the end of a production or scene.
X
– X-Fade (Crossfade): A crossfade, or X-fade, is an editing technique where one sound gradually fades out as another fades in, often used to create smooth transitions between scenes.
– X-Rite ColorChecker: A color calibration tool used during shooting to ensure accurate color representation, simplifying color grading later.
– X/Y Stereo Mic: Provides a natural stereo field by positioning two mics in an X/Y configuration, often used to capture rich, spatial ambient sound.
– XAVC: A video codec used in some Sony cameras, offering high-quality video at reasonable file sizes.
– Xenon Light: A bright light source often used in large film productions. For solo filmmakers, portable LED alternatives are more practical.
– XLR Adapter: Converts XLR audio connections for cameras with mini-jack inputs, allowing the use of professional mics with consumer cameras.
– XLR Cable: A professional-grade audio cable for connecting microphones to cameras or audio recorders.
– XLR Phantom Power: Supplies power to mics that require it, allowing the use of professional audio equipment without additional batteries.
– XML Export: An interchange format that allows you to move projects between editing software, like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, facilitating cross-platform workflows.
– XLR Input: XLR inputs are often found on professional audio equipment for higher-quality sound recording. While some cameras lack XLR ports, you can use an XLR adapter to connect high-end microphones for better sound in solo setups.
– Xoom App: A mobile app that offers zoom control for compatible cameras, helpful for remote operation.
– XQD Card: A fast, high-capacity memory card format often used in pro cameras, useful for handling high-bitrate footage.
Y
– Y-Axis Movement: Refers to vertical camera movement, achievable with jibs or gimbals for dynamic documentary shots.
– Y-Cable: A splitter that allows multiple mics to connect to one input, useful for one-person crews needing to mic multiple sources with limited inputs.
– Y-Cam: Dual-camera setup for capturing multiple perspectives simultaneously, useful when one person needs more visual coverage.
– Y-Cut: A variant of the J-cut, where the visual cuts before the audio transitions, are often used for dramatic effect.
– Yaw Control: In gimbals, yaw refers to the side-to-side motion. Having precise yaw control allows solo filmmakers to follow subjects smoothly.
– Yellow Journalism: While not specific to documentaries, yellow journalism refers to sensationalized or exaggerated reporting. In documentaries, ethical filmmakers aim to avoid this approach in favor of balanced, truthful storytelling.
– Yoke Mount: Provides adjustable mounting for lights, allowing them to be tilted or rotated, essential for quick adjustments in one-person setups.
– Yongnuo LED: Affordable, compact LED lights favored by solo filmmakers for their portability and brightness.
– YouTube: A platform not only for distribution but also for learning and discovering filmmaking techniques and gear reviews.
– YouTube Setup: Refers to compact setups optimized for creating content quickly, often with all-in-one lighting, sound, and video solutions.
– YouTube Tutorials: A wealth of free, accessible knowledge for solo filmmakers. YouTube is packed with tutorials on gear, lighting, editing, and all aspects of filmmaking, making it a go-to resource for continual learning and problem-solving.
– YUV Color Model: A color model used in video compression that separates brightness (Y) from color (UV), optimizing storage.
Z
– Zebra Pattern: A camera feature that shows areas of overexposure with striped patterns, allowing for precise exposure adjustments.
– Zero Lag Sync: Ensures audio and video signals are perfectly in sync, critical for on-the-go interviews or scenes where you need precise audio alignment with video.
– Zolly: A camera technique combining a zoom-in with a dolly-out, creating a dramatic shift in perspective.
– Zoom Lens: Offers flexibility by covering a range of focal lengths, essential for capturing both wide and close-up shots without switching lenses.
– Zoom: Zooming is the act of changing the focal length of the lens to get closer to or further from the subject without moving the camera. It’s often used to emphasize a particular detail or reaction in documentaries.
– Zoom Control Speed: Customizing the speed of zoom transitions, useful in documentary filming for subtle or dramatic focal shifts.
– Zero Friction: A setup that minimizes mechanical resistance, like in fluid head tripods, ensuring smooth camera movements.
– Zoom H6: A portable audio recorder with multiple XLR inputs, popular among solo filmmakers for capturing interviews or natural sound.
