CTVA 210 Midterm
model maker
(1) member of production design unit who prepares architectural models for sets to be built (2) Member of the special-effects unit who fabricates scale models of locales, vehicles, or characters to be filmed or scanned as substitutes for full size ones
narrative space
..., the setting or physical context in which the work takes place. The narrative space may or may not coincide with the actual space that the writer may claim for the story
5 principles of film form
1 function 2 similarity/repetition 3 differences/variation 4 unity/disunity 5 development
classical Hollywood cinema
1. story is character driven; 2. narrative is driven by desires or goals; 3. cause and effect can change characters and narrative action; 4. time is subject to change; 5. narrative is generally objective and unrestrictive unless its supposed to be a mystery; 6. strong degree of closure. Continuity Editing or Invisible editing.
Four categories of style
1. the arrangement of people places objects 2. cinematography; use of cameras & other machines 3. editing; the piecing together of shots 4. sound, voices, effects, and music blend
artistic implications of distribution/exhibition
??collective film production creates collective authorship: the author is the entire group??
realism
A loose term that can refer to any work that aims at honest portrayal over sensationalism, exaggeration, or melodrama. Technically, realism refers to a late 19th century literary movement that aimed at accurate, detailed portrayals of ordinary, contemporary life.
frame
A single image on the strip of film. When a series of frames is projected onto a screen in quick succession, an illusion of movement is created.
conventions and experience
A tradition, a dominant style, a popular form- elements like these will be common in several different artworks. These common traits are called conventions. // A guide to your expectations is your prior experience...
mise-en-scene
All of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the setting and props, lighting, costumes, and makeup, and figure behavior
referential meaning
Allusion to particular items of knowledge outside the film that the viewer is expected to recognize.
implicit meaning
An association, connection, or inference that a viewer makes on the basis of the given (explicit) story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of explicit meaning, implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word meaning.
motif
An element in a film that is repeated in a significant way
setting
Arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted
letterboxing
Dark bands at the top and bottom of screen to approximate the film's theatrical proportions
explicit meaning
Everything that a movie presents on its surface. Compare implicit meaning. exposition The images, action, and dialogue necessary to give the audience the background of the characters and the nature of their situation, laying the foundation for the rest of the narrative.
form vs. content
Form is how something is communicated Content is what is communicated
continuity
How the pictures and sound of a shot lead smoothly from one shot to the next shot in succession.
temporal order
In a narrative film the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the sequence in which the chronological events of the story are arranged in the plot
plot
In a narrative film, all the events that are directly presented to us, including their casual relations, chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial locations; opposed to story, which is the viewers imaginary construction of all the events in the narrative.
story
In a narrative film, all the events that we see and hear, plus all those that we infer or assume to have occurred, arranged in their presumed casual relations, chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial locations; opposed to plot which is the films actual presentation of events in the story
temporal frequency
In a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the number of times any story event is shown in the plot
temporal duration
In a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the time span presented in the plot and assumed to operate in the story
pan and scan
Is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen
Exploitation / Independent Production
Low-budgeted production films
depth of narration
Our access to the character's inner states, thoughts, and feeling
form and meaning
Patterns in representation also cue us to particular reactions, emotions, and interpretation
development
Places similar and different elements within a pattern of change
sound track
Runs down along the side of the filmstrip // Most films today have an optical sound track
Large-scale production
Studio filmmaking/production
closings
The plot typically resolves its causal issues bt bringing the development to a high point or climax.
plot segementation
The process of dividing a film into parts for analysis
principal photography
The process of shooting the principal performers and every dialogued scene in the script; the core activity of the production phase of filmmaking.
narration
The process through which the plot conveys or withholds story info. the narration can be more or less restricted to character knowledge and more or less deep in presenting characters perceptions and thoughts
film style
The repeated and salient use of film techniques characteristic of a single film or group of films
film gauge
The width of the film strip measured in millimeters
cause and effect
Triggering and reacting to events, characters play causal roles within the films narrative form
First assistant director (AD)
a jack-of-all-trades who, with the director, plans each days shooting schedule. The AD sets up each shot for the directors approval while keeping track of the actors, monitoring safety conditions, and keeping energy level high.
ideology
a relatively coherent system of values, beliefs, or ideas shared by some social group and often taken for granted as natural or inherently true
point-of-view shot
a shot taken with the camera placed approximately where the characters eyes would be showing what the character would see; usually cut in before or after a shot of the character looking
ancillary markets
a venue other than theatrical release in which a film can make money, such as foreign sales, airlines, pay television, cable or home video
video assist
a video camera attached to the motion picture camera that allows immediate playback of shot. this allows director and cinematographer to check lighting, framing, or performances
difference and variation
although motifs may be repeated, those motifs will seldom be repeated exactly. Variation will appear. Employ some changes in the film.
apparent motion
an optical illusion of motion produced by viewing a rapid succession of still pictures of a moving object
artistic implications of production process
collective film production creates collective authorship: the author is the entire group
convergence of film and video
convergence of film and video???
greenery man
crew member who chooses and maintains trees, shrubs, and grass in settings
clapper boy
crew member who operates clapboard that identifies each take
additional photography
crew shooting footage apart from the principal photography typically supervised by director of photography
concept artist
designer who creates illustrations of the setting and costumes that the director has in mind for the film
ASC
director of photography; american society of cinema photographers, a professional association
range of narration
how much we know compared to what the character know
Second assistant director
is the liaison among the first AD, the camera crew and the electricians crew
timer, color timer
laboratory worker who inspects the negative film and adjust the printer light to achieve consistency of color across the finished product. In digital postproduction, the timer is sometimes called the colorist
disunity
lack of unity (usually resulting from dissension)
boom operator
manipulates the boom mic and conceals radio mics on actors
still photographer
member of crew who takes photos of scenes and behind-the-scenes shots of cast members and others. these photos may be used to check lighting or set design or color, and some will be used in publicizing the film
loader
member of photography unit who loads and loads camera magazines, as well as log gin the shots taken and sending the film to the laboratory
publicist, unit publicist
member of producers crew who creates promo material regarding the production. the publicist may arrange for press and tv interviews with the director and casts and for coverage of the production in the mass media
lead man
member of set crew responsible for tracking down various props and items of decor
property master
member of set crew who supervises the use of all props, or movable objects in the film
Matte artist
member of special effects unit who paints backdrops that are then photographically or digitally incorporated into a shot to indicate a setting
casting director
member who searches for and auditions performers for the film, and suggest actors for leading roles and character parts. They may also cast extras
scenic artist
members of set crew responsible for painting surfaces of set
production
one of the three branches of the film industry; the process of creating the film
formal expectations
patterns in form creates certain expectations for the progression through the film
patterns of development
patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation/persuasion
form and feeling
perception of a film's elements = based on a complex set of cues + responses // Emotions represented vs. emotional response.
third man
places other mics, lays sound cables, and is in charge of controlling ambient sound
openings
provides a basis for what is to come and initiates us into the narrative
non-linear editing
random-access editing of video and audio on a computer, enabling edits to be processed and reprocessed at any point in the timeline, at any time. Non-Linear editing eliminates the need for rewinding and allows for multiple dubs without generational loss.
Third assistant director
serves as a messenger for director and staff
aspects of mise-en-scene
setting and props, lighting, makeup costumes, staging and space
symptomatic meaning
significance that the film divulges, often against its will, by virtue of its historical or social context--manifestation of a wider set of values characteristic of a whole society
dialogue editor
sound editor specializing in making sure recorded speech is audible
foley artist
sound-effects specialist who creates sounds of movement by walking or by shifting materials across large trays of different substances. Named for Jack Foley, a pioneer in postproduction sounds
digital image technician
specialist who assists the cinematographer on image capture in digital formats. Also known as video controller
key grip
supervises the grips. these workers carry and arrange equipment, props, and elements of the setting and lighting
best boy
term from the classic studio years, originally applied to the gaffer's assistant. today film credits may list both a best boy electric and a best boy grip the assistant to the key grip
similarity and repetition
that your main character reappeared often enough for him or her to be sees as central to the plot, and you'd probably have dialogue that reiterated main points about goals, conflicts, and themes. Parallels cue us to compare two or more distanct elements by highlighting some similarity
narrative time
the chronological time presumably elapsed between the beginning of a story and its end, usually a few days, sometimes several centuries
unity
the degree to which a films parts relate systematically to one another and provide motivations for all the elements included
ACE
the editor; abbreviation for the american cinema editors, a professional association
gaffer
the head electrician who supervises the placement and rigging of the lights
motivation
the justification given in the film for the presence of an element. This may be an appeal to the viewers knowledge of the real world, to genre conventions, to narrative causality, or to a stylistic pattern within the film.
critical flicker fusion
the number of frames that flash while projecting onto a screen , shutter breaks light once when image arrives in place and once when it is held in place (i.e. each frame projected twice); older films 'flicked' b/c they were shot at lower rate (16-20 fps); today it's 24 fps
film form
the overall patterning of a film, the ways its parts work together to create specific effects//The overall system of relationships among the parts of a film
post-production
the phase of film production that assembles the images and sounds into the finished film
preproduction
the phase of filming that prepares for production on the basis of a screenplay, design, and financing.
narrator
the process by which the plot presents story info to the spectator; some agent who purports to be telling us the story
distribution
the process of marketing the film and supplying copies to exhibition venues
exhibition
the process of showing the finished film to audiences
previsualization
the process reworks the storyboards into three-dimensional animation, complete with moving figures, dialogue, sound effects, and music
function
the role or effect of any element within the films form
storyboard
tool used in planning film production, consisting of comic-strip-like drawings of individual shots or phases of shots with descriptions written below each drawing
narrative form
type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to one another through a series of causally related events taking place in time and space
Small-Scale production
usually documentary and experimental films with not many people working on it
interpretation
viewers activity of analyzing the implicit and symptomatic meanings suggested in a film
evaluation
when people make claims if something is good or bad
Second unit director
who films stunts, location footage, action scenes, and the like at a distance from where principals shooting is taking place.