TFM 160 Unit 3 Quiz

Dutch-angle shot

A shot in which the camera is tilted from its normal horizontal and vertical positions so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance; aka Dutch tilt or oblique-angle shot

crane shot

A shot that is created by movement of a camera mounted on an elevating arm (crane) that, in turn, is mounted on a vehicle that, if shooting requires it, can move on its own power or be pushed along tracks.

process shot

Live shooting against a background that is front- or rear-projected on a translucent screen.

cameo

A small but significant role often played by a famous actor.

bit player

An actor who holds a small speaking part.

What is meant when an actor is "typecast"?

when an actor is chosen for particular kinds of roles because of their looks or "type" rather than for their acting talent or experience-they continue to be awarded such parts as long they bring in good box-office receipts

What are the differences among a setup, a shot, and a take?

Setup -one camera position and everything associated with it -the basic component of the film's production process Shot -one uninterrupted run of the camera -the recording on film, video, or other medium resulting from that run -the basic building block of the film Take -one of sometimes multiple recordings of a pre-determined shot -refers to each time that planned shot is captured

dolly in

Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the subject appear larger and more significant. Such gradual intensification is commonly used at moments of a character's realization and/or decision, or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the character's realization.

stunt-person/stunt double

a performer who doubles for another actor in scenes requiring special skills or involving hazardous actions, such as crashing cars, jumping from high places, swimming, or riding (or falling off) horses

motion capture (mocap)

a process in which the movements of objects or actors dressed in special suits are recorded as data that computers subsequently use to render the motion of CGI characters on-screen; aka motion tracking, or performance capture

walk-on

a role even smaller than a cameo, reserved for a highly recognizable actor or personality

major roles

a role that is a principal agent in helping to move the plot forward; whether movie stars or newcomers, actors playing these roles appear in many scenes and-ordinarily, but not always-receive screen credit preceding the title; aka main role, featured role, or leading role

low-angle shot

a shot that is made with the camera below the action; it typically places the observer in a position of inferiority; aka low shot

mechanical effect

a special effect created and photographed mechanically by an object or event on the set and in front of the camera; aka practical effect

Halloween Lighting

aka bottom lighting; lighting directed at a subject from below; a direction that casts dramatic shadows on vertical surfaces and distorts facial features by reversing the normal placement of illumination and shadows

tracking shot

aka dolly shot; a shot taken by a camera fixed to a wheeled support called a dolly

high-angle shot

aka down shot; a shot that is made with the camera above the action; it typically implies the observer's sense of superiority to the subject being photographed

backlight

aka rim light; lighting positioned behind the subject and the camera, used to create highlights on the subjects as a means of separating it from the background; when the subject is positioned directly between this lighting and the camera, the subject is thrown into silhouette; using shadows to eliminate recognizable surface detail abstracts the character, which can make him or her (or it) more frightening or impressive, depending on the context of the story at that moment

long take

aka sequence shot; an uninterrupted shot that lasts significantly longer than a conventional shot; long takes may be as short as 1 minute or as long as an entire feature film; there are two basic approaches to the long take: 1. those that exploit the mobile frame; and 2. those that hold the viewer in a state of relative stasis

minor roles

aka supporting roles; a role that helps move the plot forward-and thus may be as important as a major role-but is played by an actor who does not appear in as many scenes as the featured actors do

What is method acting? And what was it based upon?

aka the Method; a naturalistic acting style, loosely adapted from the ideas of Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky (the Stanislavsky system of acting) by American directors Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, that encourages actors to speak, move, and gesture not in a traditional stage manner, but in the same way they would in their own lives; an ideal technique for representing convincing human behavior, it is used more frequently on the stage than on screen

dolly shot

aka tracking shot; a shot taken by a camera fixed to a wheeled support called a dolly

extra

an actor who usually appears in a nonspeaking or a crowd role and receives no screen credit

eye-level shot

an angle in which the camera is positioned at the eye level of the subject; the standard camera angle used for most shots; if the camera is functioning as narrator, this type of shot functions as a neutral view of the action on screen; if the shot represents the point of view of a character, the eye level is a natural angle to represent how and what the character sees; camera angles take on a wider range of expressive meetings as soon as the filmmakers deviate from this "normal and neutral viewpoint"

handheld camera

an approach to operating the moving camera in which the operator holds the camera (as opposed to mounting the camera on a tripod, dolly, or Steadicam); the relatively unstable frame typical of this is often used to invoke distressed states of mind or documentary realism

visual effect

an effect created and integrated using computers in postproduction

optical effect

an effect created manipulating an image captured on celluloid in the camera during production and/or film stock processing after the negative has been exposed; created by manipulating the image and/or film negative "in-camera" during production and/or during the film-stock processing after the negative had been exposed

Aerial-view Shot (Bird's Eye View)

an extreme high angle shot that is typically taken from a crane, drone, or aircraft

three-point lighting

perhaps the best-known lighting convention in feature filmmaking, a system that used three sources of light-key light, fill light, and backlight-each aimed from a different direction and position in relation to the subject; it allows filmmakers to control the ratio between illumination and shadow; also known as three point system

animal actors

play major, minor, cameo, and walk-on roles; animals specially trained to work in front of the camera, and many were sufficiently valuable that they, like other stars, had stand-ins for setups and stunt doubles for hazardous work; more complicated than working with human actors

What are the differences between acting for screen and acting for the stage?

stage actors play to the audience, screen actors play to the camera stage actors must project vocally and physically, small gestures are fundamental tools for the screen actor stage actors memorize their lines and then speak and act them in the story order screen actors learn only the lines needed for the moment and act out of sequence screen actors: -personae includes appearance and mannerisms of moving and delivery of dialogue -personae may often be rooted in the actor's natural behavior, personality, and physicality

CGI (computer generated imagery)

the application of computer graphics to create images, backgrounds, animated characters, and special effects

Who was Lillian Gish and how did she serve in the evolution of screen acting?

-American film pioneer D.W. Griffith needed actors who could be trained to work in front of the camera, and by 1913 he had recruited a group that included some of the most important actors of the time such as Lillian Gish -Lillian Gish invented the act of screen acting, under Griffith's guidance -Gish's performance in Broken Blossoms (1919) was the first great film performance by an actor; in a certain scene she was able to invoke a span of emotions that no movie audience had seen before and few have seen since; her acting illustrated the qualities of great screen acting

What is persona?

-The image of character and personality that we want to show the outside world -the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others -the 'mask'

What are the four key types of actors presented early in your reading?

-actors who take their personae from role to role (personality actors) -actors who deliberately play against our expectations of their personae -actors who seem to be different in every role (chameleon actors) -actors who are often nonprofessionals or people who are cast to bring verisimilitude to a part

How is the lighting for any movie look determined by its quality, ratio, and direction? Explain these terms and the effect each has on the overall lighting.

-in relation to mise en scene, we concern ourselves with three aspects of the lighting setup: quality, ratios, and direction -the quality of light used in any situation falls somewhere between hard light and soft light; hard light is direct: the beams of light shine directly from the source to the subject, hard light creates a clear, sharp border between areas of bright illumination and dark shadows, hard light is high contrast, details are crisp and defined; soft light is diffused: the beams of light are broken up or scattered on their way from the source to the subject, low contrast, details less defined -lighting ratio is the level of illumination on a subject, as compared with the depth of the corresponding shadow; filmmakers use a number of techniques to regulate this relationship between light and shadow: three-point system, key light, fill light, backlight, low-key lighting, high-key lighting -direction: light can be thrown onto an object or actor from virtually any direction: front, side, back, below, or above; by direction, we mean the angle of that throw that helps produce the contrasts and shadows that suggest the source of the illumination and the time of day: backlighting, halloween lighting, top lighting, frontal lighting

Steadicam

A camera suspended from an articulated arm that is attached to a vest strapped to the cameraperson's body, permitting the operator to remain steady during "handheld" shots; removes jumpiness and is now often used for smooth, fast, and intimate camera movement.

stand-in

An actor who looks reasonably like a particular movie star (or at least an actor playing a major role) in height, weight, coloring, and so on, and who substitutes for that actor during the tedious process of preparing setups or taking light readings.

character role

An actor's part that represents a distinctive character type (sometimes a sterotype): society leader, judge, doctor, diplomat, etc.

deep-space composition

An approach to composition within the frame that places significant visual and narrative information on two or more of the three planes of depth (background, middle-ground, and foreground) in such a way that not only emphasizes depth, but also coveys information, mood and meaning; it is often, though not always, shot with deep-focus cinematography.

When evaluating an actor's performance, the textbook stresses four criteria for analysis. What are the four qualities of great screen acting and what does each represent?

Appropriateness/ Transparency: physically and vocally, do they fit the part? do they look like the part? do they sound like the part? looking at their physicality Inherent Thoughtfulness/ Emotionality goes inside the inner life, when they are in a moment where there is a personal reflection, do you believe that moment of inner reflection? we are talking about individual moments within their performance from beginning to end; do you believe that commitment that is happening within their imagination, their emotions?; whether it is believable for you as an audience member Expressive Coherence -is looking at their performance from beginning to end; just that performance alone; the sense of the entire character from beginning to end where it feels true for us as an audience member Wholeness and Unity -integrating this within the entire filmmaking process; your actor is then working with the other actors, their character with the other characters; dealing with a lot of special effects, dealing with the realities and the limitations with performing within the motion picture; integrating that with the production, does their performance integrate as part of the whole? is there unity with their character among the other characters

high-key lighting

Lighting that produces an image with very little contrast between darks and lights. Its even, flat illumination expresses virtually no opinions about the subject being photographed.

dolly out

movement of the camera away from a subject

What are the basic types of camera movement?

Pan shot: Horizontal movement of the camera mounted on the gyroscopic head of a stationary tripod Tilt shot: Pedestal: Moving the camera up or down without changing its vertical or horizontal axis. A camera operator can do two types of pedestals: pedestal up means "move the camera up;" pedestal down means "move the camera down." You are not tilting the lens up, rather you are moving the entire camera up. Dolly shot: roll in or out, taken by a camera fixed to a wheeled support Crane Shot: camera is mounted on an elevated arm that is on a vehicle capable of moving around and turning Handheld Camera: small and handheld, shaky Steadicam: device attached to camera assistant's body to steady it and Zoom, but is not a camera movement per se, can provide the illusion of the camera moving toward or away from the subject

pan shot

The horizontal movement of a camera mounted on the gyroscopic head of a stationary tripod; like the tilt shot, the pan shot is a simple movement with dynamic possibilities for creating meaning.

digital double

a digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity

deep-focus cinematography

The process of rendering the figures on all planes (background, middle-ground, and foreground) of a deep-space composition in focus.

lighting ratio

The relationship and balance between illumination and shadow—the balance between key light and fill light; if it is high, shadows are deep and the result is called low-key lighting; if it is low, shadows are faint or nonexistent and illumination is even, and the result is called high-key lighting

Who is the Director of Photography? What are their general duties?

They are the primary person responsible for transforming the other aspects of movie-making into moving images; they translate the director's vision into specific decisions about how each shot will be photographed; every choice they make-the lighting, lenses, exposure, focus, camera positions and movements, even the camera model and media format-is largely driven by the needs of the story

zoom

a lens with a variable focal length, which permits the camera operator during shooting to shift from the wide-angle lens (short focus) to the telephoto lens (long focus) or vice versa without changing the focus or aperture settings; it is not the camera movement per se, because only the optics inside the lens are moving in relation to each other and thus shifting the focal length; it can provide the illusion of the camera moving toward or away from the subject; one result of this shift is that the image is magnified when shifting from short to long focal length or demagnified by shifting in the opposite direction

What is the rule of thirds?

breaks the frame into three vertical sections and three horizontal sections, resulting in a grid; this grid acts as a guide that filmmakers use to balance visual elements in a frame; the composition is built in basic units of three: top, middle, bottom; left, center, right; foreground, middle ground, and background; usually, for every visual element placed on one section, there will be a corresponding element in the opposite section to counterbalance the composition

What are the factors involved in casting?

casting is the process of choosing and hiring actors for both leading and supporting roles -although casting takes many factors into account, in theory the most important is how the prospective actors' strengths and weaknesses relate to the roles they are being considered for -depends heavily on the movie's budget and expected revenues -an actor's popularity in one film often leads to casting in other films -the key factor in casting is who brings in the most money, which after all considerations is what movie business is all about -other general factors considered in casting include an actor's reputation and popularity; prior experience on the screen or stage; chemistry with other actors, particularly if ensemble acting scenes are part of the script; results of a screen test or reading, often required for newcomers or those about whom the director and others are uncertain; the actor's reputation for professionalism, reliability, ability to withstand the physical challenges of filming certain productions, and personal behavior on the set

What are the names of the most commonly used shots used in a movie? Be able to describe them based on proximity.

implied proximity is the reason behind some of the most common terms for shots used in movies: a close-up implies close proximity, a medium shot is a medium distance, a long shot is a longer distance, and an extreme long shot is a much longer (great) distance

low-key lighting

lighting that creates strong contrasts; sharp dark shadows, and an overall gloomy atmosphere

fill light

lighting, positioned at the opposite side of the camera from the key light, that can fill in the shadows created by the brighter key light; it may also come from a reflector board

The movie camera can shoot from various angles. What are they? What meaning does each imply? Do these implications always hold true?

the camera angle is the level and height of the camera in relation to the subject being photographed; there is eye-level (setting the camera angle at roughly the same level as the eyes of the characters in the scene) -if the camera is functioning as the narrator: the eye-level functions as a neutral view of the action on-screen; if the shot represents the point of view of a character, they eye level is a natural angle to represent how and what the character sees -camera angles take on a wider range of expressive meetings as soon as the filmmakers deviate from this "normal and neutral" viewpoint high-angle (the camera is positioned above eye level so that it aims down at the subject) -characters shot with the camera looking down on them are portrayed as vulnerable or weak (inferior) -however, no cinematic meaning is carved in stone; how we experience and understand any shot depends on the surrounding context low-angle (the camera is positioned below the eye level, so it aims up at the subject) -usually suggests superiority -when used in a different context, the low-angle shot can take on very different meanings Dutch angle (the camera is titled so that horizontal and vertical lines on set appear as diagonals in the frame) -causes the world on-screen to appear off-balance or misaligned, which is why the Dutch angle is primarily used in scenes depicting unnatural or chaotic events bird-eye view (taken from directly over the subjects, often from an elevated view with cranes, drones, or aircraft) -can be used to impart a sense of disorientation or strangeness to the action on-screen -in a different context, the view from on high can be used to convey omniscience in terms of narration or point of view -in some contexts, the angle can be read figuratively-or even literally-as a God's POV on the earthly action

shooting angle

the level and height of the camera in relation to the subject being photographed; the five basic camera angles produce high-level shots, high-angle shots, low-angle shots, Dutch-angle shots, and bird's-eye-view shots

key light

the primary source of illumination in a shot; positioned to one side of the camera, it creates deep shadows, which are modified by the fill light

tilt shot

the vertical movement of a camera mounted on the gyroscopic head of a stationary tripod; like the pan shot, this shot is a simple movement with dynamic possibilities for creating meaning