Glossary
Camera Operator Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential camera operator terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key camera operator vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in camera operator training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- B camera
- A second camera.
- Blocking
- Planning actor and camera movement.
- Coverage
- Shots from multiple angles.
- Depth of field
- Range of focus.
- DIT
- Digital imaging technician who manages footage.
- Dolly
- A wheeled camera platform.
- DP
- Director of photography.
- Focus pull
- Changing focus during a shot.
- Frame rate
- Frames per second.
- Framing
- What’s inside the shot.
- Gimbal
- A stabilizer for smooth handheld shots.
- Lens choice
- Focal length decisions.
- Shot list
- A plan of shots.
- Slate
- Marks takes for editing.
- White balance
- Color temperature setting.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Camera Operator practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Camera Operator training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.