Post-Production & VFX

Post-production is everything after the shoot that turns footage into a finished film: editing, sound design and mix, music, VFX, color grading, titles and delivery masters.

Vintage Film LookGuide
A vintage look stylizes new footage to resemble film or video of a past era — grain, faded or shifted color, soft optics, light leaks, gate weave, period aspect ratio and frame rate.
Practical EffectsTerm
Practical effects are created physically on set — animatronics, prosthetic makeup, miniatures, pyrotechnics, rain and wind machines — and captured by the camera rather than generated with CGI in post.
Stock FootageTerm
Stock footage is pre-shot material licensed from a library — skylines, crowds, nature, historical newsreel — cut into a film instead of shooting it again.
Infinite ZoomTerm
An infinite zoom is a composited effect in which the camera seems to zoom endlessly into or out of the picture, each detail opening onto a new scene nested inside the previous one.
MaskTerm
A mask blocks or isolates part of the frame with a shape — an iris circle, a binocular or keyhole outline, a hand-drawn window — in front of the lens, in an optical printer or in compositing, to limit what we see, reveal a second image or treat one area separately.
SuperimpositionTerm
Superimposition layers one image over another so both are visible at once — a face over a landscape, a ghostly figure, a memory over the present — made optically or in compositing.
Background ReplacementTerm
Background replacement keeps the actor or object and swaps what is behind them — via green or blue screen keying, rotoscoping, masks or LED volumes.
CinemagraphTerm
A cinemagraph is a still image in which one small element keeps moving in a seamless loop — steam rising, hair in the wind — while everything else stays frozen.
ColorizationTerm
Colorization adds color to black-and-white footage, once by hand-painting frames and now digitally frame by frame or with AI models.
DailiesTerm
Dailies are the unedited takes from a shooting day, synced and delivered quickly so the director, DP and editor can check performance, focus, exposure and coverage.
Glitch EffectTerm
A glitch effect imitates digital or analog failure — tearing, pixel blocks, color-channel splits, frozen frames — to signal malfunction, a hacked feed or a character's breakdown.
Speed RampTerm
A speed ramp changes playback speed within one continuous shot — slowing into a key moment and snapping back to real time or faster — to accent a beat of action.
VHS EffectTerm
The VHS look recreates home-video tape: soft detail, bleeding color, tracking lines, noise and a date stamp — used for nostalgia, found footage or unease.
Altered State EffectTerm
An altered-state effect makes the image behave like a drugged, drunk or feverish mind — warped lenses, smeared motion, doubled exposures, color shifts, rubbery time — so the audience shares the character's perception.
Step PrintingTerm
Step printing repeats each frame several times (often from footage shot at a low frame rate), producing smeared, stuttering motion — the signature look of Chungking Express.

Glossary

18 terms

Infinite Dolly: An infinite dolly stitches several push-ins or pull-outs through different spaces with hidden cuts, so the camera seems to travel forward forever through doors, frames and worlds.
Still Photos in Video: Using still photographs as footage inside a moving piece — cut in sequence, animated with slow pans and zooms, or layered into collages.
Stutter Effect: A stutter repeats or skips a few frames in quick succession so motion jerks and hiccups, adding nervous energy or a glitchy feel.
Boomerang: A boomerang plays a short clip forward and then backward in a loop, so the action snaps back and forth endlessly.
Collage: Video collage builds a frame out of cut-out pieces of different photos, clips and textures, keeping the seams visible as part of the look.
Damaged Film Effect: The look of physically damaged film — scratches, dust, burns, gate weave, faded emulsion — either real or simulated in post.
Image Distortion: Deliberate warping of shapes, proportions or perspective — through lenses, reflective surfaces, practical rigs or digital warping.
Droste Effect: The Droste effect places an image inside itself repeatedly, creating a recursive tunnel that seems to go on forever.
Echo Print: An echo print leaves fading copies of the previous frames behind a moving subject, so motion drags a visible trail.
Digital Gesture: A motion-graphics trick where a hand in the shot seems to swipe, pinch or scroll the image as if the frame were a touchscreen.
Seamless Loop: A seamless loop is a clip whose last frame flows straight back into its first, so it can repeat endlessly with no visible join.
Kaleidoscope Effect: Mirrors a slice of the image around one or more axes, turning movement and shapes into a shifting symmetrical ornament.
Mixed Media: Mixed media combines live action with photos, drawing, typography, collage or 2D/3D animation in one piece, keeping the different materials visibly distinct.
Proxy Editing: Proxy editing swaps heavy camera originals for lightweight low-resolution copies while cutting, then relinks to the full-quality files for finishing.
Tiny Planet: A 360° image remapped with stereographic projection so the ground curls into a small sphere with the world wrapped around it.
Vignette Effect: Vignetting darkens or softens the edges of the frame, pulling the eye to the centre — caused by lenses or added in grading.
Wigglegram: A wigglegram loops two or more views of a scene shot from slightly different positions, so the image rocks back and forth and gains a 3D feel.
Architexture: Architexture is a motion-design effect in which building facades and structures ripple, breathe or change material while keeping their geometry — the city itself becomes an animated texture.