My name is Patrick Tucker and I teach Hands On Directing For Film and TV at Raindance

Most people in the film industry have started out on the bottom rungs, working as runners or assistants, working their way up the ladder.

The language of film becomes natural to them, and they use it without thinking.

I came into screen directing straight from 10 years as a theatre director (via the BBC Training programme, who finally accepted me onto the scheme after turning me down for eleven years straight).

I did not know this film language, and it was as if I were in a strange land, not knowing the local lingo, and it took me quite some time before the crew stopped raising their eyebrows when I did not understand a particular bit of their jargon.

Here is a collection of the most usual film directing terms - and if you feel I have left any important ones out, please let me know.