Film final Wilson
What is chiaroscuro lighting?
a pictorial arrangement of light and dark to create depth and contrast
stop-motion photography
a process that records inanimate objects or actual human figures in different positions in separate frames and then synthesizes them on film to create the illusion of motion and action
dolly shot
a shot in which the camera is moved on a wheeled dolly that follows a determined course
femme fatale
an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her
What's block booking?
an early tactic of movie studios to control exhibition, involving pressuring theater operators to accept marginal films with no stars in order to get access to films with the most popular stars
Oscar Micheaux
an African-American filmmaker who produced "race movies", showing all African-American casts in a variety of roles
actualities
Early films that documented everyday events, such as workers leaving a factory.
developmental documentary
Follows a non narrative structure but still follows change or progress
Cinema Verite
French term for truth film, a documentary style that records fragments of everyday life unobtrusively; it often features a rough, grainy look and shaky, handheld camera work
Know what the director of photography is responsible for in a film
Their job is to translate the director's vision into usable footage, using all of the photographic skills listed above and only after making a series of crucial decisions which we will get to below
What does the inciting incident accomplish and when does it occur in a film?
This particular moment is when an event thrusts the protagonist into the main action of the story, occurs in act 1
four principal frameworks to documentary
To explore the world and its people, interrogate or analyze an event or problem, to persuade an audience, to reflect the presence of a filmmaker
What is the main light that illuminates a subject in a shot?
key light
Women in Film Noir
painted as mysteries, either in need of savior or guilty.
Propaganda films
political documentaries that visibly support, and intend to sway viewers toward, a particular social or political issue or group
What stereotype in film and literature featured a character that was narratively doomed because of their mixed-race ancestry?
tragic mulatto
sound bridge
(1) At the beginning of one scene, the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins. (2) At the end of one scene, the sound from the next scene is heard, leading into that scene.
Bechdel Test
(1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man
rack focus
A cinematographer can change the depth of field within a shot to shift our attention from one subject to another.
foley artists
A crew member who works in post-production in a specially equipped studio to create the sounds of the story world, such as the shuffling of shoes on various surfaces for footsteps
anticipation
Anticipation is used to let the audience know that a major action is about to take place
What is the very problematic D.W. Griffith film that was one of the first fulllength feature films, the first film screened at the White House, and an early example of cinema perpetuating the white hegemonic patriarchy?
Birth of a nation
What led to the decline of the blaxploitation genre by the late 1970s
But as the popularity of the films grew, so did their profits, and with those profits, came increasing interest from white producers and Hollywood itself. Sound familiar? By the late 1970s, the films had become a parody of themselves, often backed by white producers and directed by white directors. Suddenly, "blaxploitation" took on a new meaning, with white filmmakers reducing the characters intended to resist hegemony to the same tired, old stereotypes
The primary narrator in cinema is...?
Camera
Claymation
Clay characters or moquettes moved in small increments between still photographs
What film did some critics suggest would inspire race riots, prompting police to be dispatched to early screenings?
Do the right thing
take
Every repeated shot
first "appealing" character in animation and use of keyframes
Gertie the dinosaur
What happens at the end of the first act?
Hero is thrusted into their journey
What is Chuck Jones responsible for?
Highly exaggerated
Know whether or not silence is part of the soundtrack of a film
It is a huge part of the soundtrack
Who is known as the father of documentary?
John Grierson
What led to the decline of Black Cinema and the closure of many niche movie-houses around the country who exhibited "race films
Larger studios began producing similar films
Know who's generally credited with making the first motion picture
Lumiere Brothers
Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Melvin Van Pebbles
Know the main difference between WB's early Merrie Melodies and Disney's content
More satirical view of american society
Appeal
Obviously, not every character should be appealing. But this principle posits that animators should strive to create images that will be interesting and compelling to audiences.
What movie did critics call "Disney's Folly" before it was released?
Snow white and the 7 dwarfs
What film features the most infamous example of the Uncle Tom stereotype? Hint: its' locked away in a "vault."
Song of the South
What is associated with with Russian filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein?
Soviet Montage Movement
Know what the first cartoon with sound printed directly on the film was
Steamboat willie
Also proposed by Laura Mulvey, how does the visual presence of a woman tend to influence the "story line" of the film
The Male Gaze.
What was The New Hollywood Era?
The New Hollywood emphasized the authority of the director and star over the material, not the central producer. And rather than control costs to maximize profits, studios allowed the freelance artists they employed to experiment with the form and take creative risks
ADR
They simply play the scene in a repeating "loop" as the actors record the lines over and over until it matches the performance on screen. Then the sound editors adjust the quality of the recording to match the setting of the scene.
timing
Timing helps create the illusion that an action is abiding by the laws of physics
Shot
a single piece of film uninterrupted by cuts
Know which series set the standard to the anime aesthetic in film and TV
astro boy
What genre of films including Shaft (1971) and Super Fly (1972) paved the way for Black filmmakers to reclaim old Hollywood stereotypes
blaxploitation
blonde bombshell
blonde, very attractive woman
Know what principle the classical Hollywood style is built upon
continuity or invisible editing
cross cutting
cutting back and forth between two or more narratives, also known as parallel editing
What is the 180 degree rule?
defines an axis of action, an imaginary line that runs through the characters in a scene, that the camera cannot cross
Voyeurism
desire to watch others having sexual relations or to spy on nude people
keyframe
drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of any smooth transition
Scenics
early nonfiction films that offered exotic or remarkable images of nature or foreign lands
Who's the head of the lighting department?
gaffer
set-up
move the camera - and everything associated with it - to a new shot, sometimes just a slightly different angle on the same scene
What is the most weighty criticism of the Bechdel test?
not taking into account the quality of the works it tests
cumulative documentary
presents a catalog of images and sounds throughout a film
contrastive documentary
presents a series of images with opposing points of views
What is xerography?
process where an animator's drawings are printed directly onto a cell.
What technological advancement gave rise to newsreels and documentaries with embedded social commentary?
sound
What was The Paramount Decision of 1948?
the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended vertical integration in the film industry by forcing the studios to divest themselves of their theaters
What does "mise-en-scene" literally mean?
the action of putting onto the stage
focal length
the distance from the center of a lens to the focal point
depth of field
the distance in front of a camera and its lens in which objects are in apparent sharp focus
gender performativity
the notion that gender is not inherent, but constructed and maintained through gendered acts
content curve
the point at which we have absorbed everything we need to know in a particular shot and are ready to see the next shot
What is generic transformation?
the process by which a particular genre is adapted to meet the expectations of a changing society
From the section entitled "Modern Hollywood Cinema and Representations of Blackness," what do all the modern stereotypes have in common? (This will be reviewed in your pre-recorded lectures)
their role in shaping a shared cultural narrative about race in America
Final Girl
usually a virgin, last person in a horror film, usually kills the monster
What key development in the 1980s led to a resurgence in modern Black Cinema? (This will also be reviewed in you pre-recorded lectures)
when more and more filmmakers had access to cheaper and cheaper equipment and were able to take control over the creative process outside of the Hollywood system