Knowing these terms lets you direct precisely. Use the prompt terms in briefs and storyboards.
| Term | What it is | Use it for | Prompt terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinetic typography | Text itself is the animation: words slide, scale, split, rotate, reveal, change emphasis | Hooks, title sequences, product statements | word-by-word reveal, staggered text, per-character animation, masked reveal, tracking expansion |
| Easing and springs | Easing shapes acceleration; a spring adds a physical response, possibly with overshoot. The biggest difference between robotic and polished motion | Every move | ease-out, cubic-bezier, spring animation, subtle overshoot, settling motion, no linear movement unless intentional |
| Staging and hierarchy | Staging decides what the viewer notices first; hierarchy decides what matters most. Don't animate everything equally | Every frame | single focal point, negative space, foreground / midground / background, parallax, asymmetric composition, controlled hierarchy |
| Transitions and match cuts | A transition connects scenes; a match cut uses a shared shape, position, motion or idea so the change feels continuous | Scene changes | match cut, shape morph, directional wipe, camera-driven transition, overlapping transition, motivated cut |
| Lighting, texture, depth | Make flat graphics tactile or cinematic. Use selectively: too much glow, blur and grain look cheap | Hero moments, backgrounds | rim lighting, soft bloom, ambient occlusion, subtle film grain, depth of field, specular highlights |
Animation principles worth naming
- Anticipation: a small move against the direction before the main move.
- Follow-through and overlap: parts settle at different times; the label lands after the card.
- Overshoot and settle: passes the target slightly, returns. Small for UI and type, larger for playful brands.
- Stagger: items start one after another (40 to 80 ms), or each on its spoken word.
- Arcs: natural moves curve; straight lines read mechanical.
- Hold: stillness so the viewer can read. A hold is a decision, not dead time.
- Squash and stretch: for characters and playful shapes; avoid on UI and type.
Camera and transition words
push in / pull out, dolly, truck, crane, whip pan (both shots on screen), rack focus, parallax, screen-recorder zoom (content scales inside a fixed frame), flood (a shape grows past the corners to become the next scene), shared element (an object becomes the next scene), mask reveal, iris, hard cut on the beat, J-cut / L-cut (sound leads or trails the picture).
Sound words
bed (music under everything), sting (short musical accent), riser (builds into a moment), impact / hit, whoosh (by its peak, on the move), UI click / tick, room tone, ducking (music dips under voice), silence as accent, -14 LUFS (web loudness).
Frame-based reminder (for whoever builds it)
Every animation is a pure function of the frame: in Remotion useCurrentFrame(), interpolate(), spring(), useVideoConfig(); no CSS transitions, requestAnimationFrame, timers or unseeded randomness. Same frame in, same image out.
Added terms (research round)
| Term | What it is | Prompt terms |
|---|---|---|
| X becomes Y | The storyboard form of a transition: outgoing object, carried content, incoming object | iris, accordion squeeze, flood-and-contract, line carry, label carry |
| Velocity-matched cut | Cut at the fastest frame; the next shot starts at that speed and brakes | exit ramp, entry decay, momentum across the cut |
| Occluder cut | A soft foreground object covers the screen and the cut hides inside it | hidden cut, no-cut transition |
| Light-leak burn | A wash ramps up, the cut hides at the peak, it recedes faster; the old picture washes out | leak, burn (tint with the accent, no flare) |
| Fragment chain | Copy as 1 to 4 word pieces, build mode (append, newest in accent) or replace mode | fragment, build, replace, one giant keyword |
| Karaoke fill, weight pump | Word fills at speaking rate; variable-font weight pulses on the beat | word fill, weight envelope |
| Earned stillness | One hold on the key claim, then the biggest spike; spend it once | hold, drop-out, silence hole |
| Golden scene | An approved scene used as the working example for the rest | reference scene |
Named moves written in the card format (intent, core motion, parameters with what happens if wrong, pitfalls) belong to the shot library: skills/shot-library. Draw 3 to 5 moves from it when a film risks repeating the familiar fade-up, push-in and end card.