In film and video, a freeze frame is when a single frame of content shows repeatedly on the screen—"freezing" the action. This can be done in the content itself, by printing (on film) or recording (on video) multiple copies of the same source frame. This produces a static shot that resembles a still photograph.

Before it was used in film and video, the freeze frame, commonly known as the tableau (or tableaux), originated as a technique in live stage performance where actors freeze at a particular point to enhance a scene or show an important moment in production. It is considered a widely used convention in drama. Michael Fleming describes the technique as a way for performers to use their motionless bodies to illustrate a particular event or idea.

Spoken word may be used to enhance the effect of the tableau, with a narrator or one or more characters telling their personal thoughts regarding the situation. There is evidence that the technique of holding a pose was used in the commedia dell'arte tradition, in the Japanese theatre arts such as Kabuki, where it was known as mie, and in the English Renaissance theatre period, where the technique was made popular in productions of plays by William Shakespeare. Theatre historian Joseph Roach notes the tableau was used during English Renaissance theatre to emphasize the importance of a scene and even to give the audience a chance to clap.

Much later usage, such as the tableau vivant, draws upon the influence of photography and mime. In the performing arts, the technique goes by more than one name, including "tableau, photograph, sculpture, freeze frame, wax works, and statues".