A question about a term used in Anatomy of a murder

[JoeKryten]

To elaborate even further on what others have said, at that point in time almost everything about getting a shot to "turn out (to be good)" was based on camera settings that were all done manually.

The three primary settings (IIRC):

f-stop = shutter speed (how long the shutter remains open for the shot)
aperture = how wide the aperture is set (wider = more light let in to the film)
focus = all lens focusing done manually back then of course

Also you need to take into account the ASA rating of the film (how reactive to light the film is, I think).

And, as others have pointed out, you didn't know if you got any of this right until you developed the film or had it developed.

ASA speed and f-stop setting are especially important for night time and low light shots.

edit - I'm probably misremembering some of this stuff as its' been more than 40 years since I took a photography class...