Intro to Fim (COMF 220) mid-term

middle-focal-length lens

(often called the normal lens) Lenses in this range create images that correspond to our day-to-day experience of depth and perspective.

frames

1. A still photograph that when recorded in rapid succession with other still photographs creates a motion picture; 2. the borders of a motion picture, within which formal elements are composed.

Shots

1. In an edited film, an unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of the camera that lasts until it is replaced by another shot by means of a cut or other transition. 2. During the pre-production and production process: a specific arrangement of elements to be captured in a particular composition from a pre-determined camera position. (page 32)

Narrative

A cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time.

Pixels

A combination of the words picture and element; the smallest unit of visual information in a digital image.

scenes

A complete unit of plot action taking place in a continuous time frame in a single location.

Verisimilitude

A convincing appearance of truth; movies are verisimilar when they convince you that the things on the screen—people, places, and so on, no matter how fantastic or antirealistic—are "really there."

sequences

A series of edited shots characterized by inherent unity of theme and purpose.

high angle shot

A shot in which the subject is photographed from above.

extreme long shot

A shot that is typically photographed far enough away from the subject that the subject is too small to be recognized, except through the context we see, which usually includes a wide view of the location as well as general background information. When it is used to provide such informative context, the extreme long shot is also referred to as an establishing shot.

Close Up (CU)

A shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame—traditionally a face, but possibly a hand, eye, or mouth.

Medium Close Up (MCU)

A shot that shows a character from the middle of the chest to the top of the head. A medium close-up provides a view of the face that catches minor changes in expression, as well as some detail about the character's posture.

antirealism

A treatment that is against or the opposite of realism. However, realism and antirealism (like realism and fantasy) are not strict polarities.

subtractive color system

Adopted in the 1930s, this technique involved shooting three separate black-and-white negatives through three light filters, each representing a primary color (red, green, blue). Certain color components were subtracted (or removed) from each of the three emulsion layers, creating a positive image in natural color

grips

All-around handyperson on a movie production set, most often working with the camera crews and electrical crews.

parallel editing

Also called crosscutting. The cutting back and forth between two or more lines of action that occur simultaneously.

speed

Also known as film speed or exposure index. The rate at which film must move through the camera to correctly capture an image. Very fast film requires little light to capture and fix the image, whereas very slow film requires a lot of light.

low angle shot

Also known as low shot. A shot that is made with the camera below the action and that typically places the observer in a position of inferiority.

cutting on action

Also known as match-on-action cut. A continuity editing technique that smoothes the transition between shots portraying a single action from different camera angles. The editor ends the first shot in the middle of a continuing action and begins the subsequent shot at approximately the same point in the matching action.

medium long shot

Also known as plan américain or American shot. A shot that shows a character from the knees up and includes most of a person's body.

mediation

An agent, structure, or other formal element, whether human or technological, that transfers something, such as information in the case of movies, from one place to another.

Implicit meaning

An association, connection, or inference that a viewer makes on the basis of the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the 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.

widescreen aspect ratio

Any aspect ratio wider than 1.33:1, the standard ratio until the early 1950s.

Internal composition

Camera must reframe to maintain compositional balance

film stock

Celluloid used to record movies. There are two types: one for black-and-white films, the other for color. Each type is manufactured in several standard formats.

Silent Era

D.W. Griffith made "Birth of a Nation."

Early Era

Edwin Porter "The Great Train Robbery"

color grading

In postproduction, the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture (or video or still image) with electronic, photochemical, or digital techniques.

assistant cameraperson (AC)

Member of the camera crew who assists the camera operator. The first AC oversees everything having to do with the camera, lenses, supporting equipment, and the material on which the movie is being shot. The second AC prepares the slate that is used to identify each scene as it is being filmed, files camera reports, and feeds film stock into magazines to be loaded into the camera. (page 228)

take

On a film production, one of sometimes multiple recordings of a predetermined shot. Multiple takes of a shot may be taken to remedy mistakes or to provide the editor with varied performances, blocking, or camera movements.

Studio Era

Orson Welles made "Citizen Kane"

High- Key lighting

Overall brightness, strong key light with little shadow.

Lighting Design (Thematic)

Pictorial design- no regard for realism, Light is used symbolically

Point of View

Refers to the reality the viewer most identifies with at any given time.

Lighting Design (Realistic)

Simulates the explicit source on screen -organic

Lighting Design (Pictorial)

Stresses visual values unrelated to explicit sources

camera crew

Technicians that make up two separate groups—one concerned with the camera, the other concerned with electricity and lighting.

gaffer

The chief electrician on a movie production set.

Mise-en-scene

The composition, or staging, of all of the elements within the frame, including setting, costumes and makeup, actors, lighting, and figure movement.

focal length

The distance from the optical center of a lens to the focal point (the film plane that the cameraperson wants to keep in focus) when the lens is focused at infinity.

Dynamic composition

The elements in a picture can move and disturb composition.

Camera operator

The member of the production crew who operates the camera under the supervision of the director of photography.

lens

The piece of transparent material in a camera that focuses the image on the film or digital processor. Lenses are classified by focal length. See short-focal-length lens, middle-focal-length lens, long-focal-length lens, and zoom lens.

Protagonist

The primary character whose pursuit of the goal provides the structural foundation of a movie's story.

framing

The process by which the cinematographer determines what will appear within the borders of the moving image (the frame) during a shot.

Editing

The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole; the basic creative force of cinema.

aspect ratio

The relationship between the frame's two dimensions: the width of the image related to its height.

color temperature

The variations of light wavelengths emitted by different light sources. These wavelengths register as different colors when captured on film or digital video.

fade-out/fade-in

Transitional devices in which a shot fades in from a black field on black-and-white film or from a color field on color film, or fades out to a black field (or a color field).

Sound

Transmitted vibrations received by the ear and thus heard by the recipient. In cinematic terms, the expressive use of auditory elements, such as dialogue, music, ambience, and effects.

Color Cinematography

Used to convey symbolic meaning Establishes narrative organization conveys mood and tone Available for film since the late 1890s

formats

When referring to film stock, also called gauge, the dimensions of the film stock and its perforations, and the size and shape of the image frame as seen on the screen. Formats extend from Super 8mm through 70mm (and beyond into such specialized formats as IMAX), but they are generally limited to three standard gauges: Super 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm. In reference to digital cinematography, format may refer to a specific codec or digital sensor.

digital imaging technician (DIT)

Working in collaboration with the cinematographer, during production the DIT is responsible for managing media capture that will result in the highest image quality.

rack focus

a change of the point of focus from one subject to another within the same shot; rack focus guides our attention to a new, clearly focused point of interest while blurring the previous subject in the shot

Codec

a computer program that encodes or decodes data captured by a digital camera.

slate

a device used to identify the shot, scene, Whereas the shot is the basic building block of the film, the setup is the basic component of the film's production.

medium shot

a shot framed to show the subjects waist up

establishing shot

a shot whose purpose is to briefly establish the viewer's sense of the setting of a scene--the relationship of figures in that scene to the environment around them; this shot is often, but not always, an extreme long shot

speed ramping

a technique in which action speeds up and slows down within a single shot.

Freeze framing

also known as stop-frame or hold-frame. A still image within a movie created by repetitive printing in the laboratory of the same frame, so that it can be seen without movement for whatever length of time the filmmaker desires.

iris

an adjustable diaphragm that controls the amount of light passing through the lens of the camera.

formalism

an approach to style and storytelling that values conspicuously expressive form over the unobtrusive form associated with realism

flashback

an interruption of the chronological plot time with a shot or series of shots depicting an event that has happened earlier in the story.

Back

behind the subject

long-focal-length lens

compresses the appearance of depth, which makes distant subjects look closer and makes objects and subjects on different planes of depth appear to be closer together

External Composition

cutting to a new shot that relates to the previous

Stages of Filmmaking

development, pre-production, production, post-production, distribution (printing)

Hard light

direct source, hard shadows

explicit meaning

everything that a movie presents on its surface

loader

feeds stock into magazines that are then loaded onto the camera

best boy

first assistant electrician to the gaffer on a movie production set

Graduated Tone

gray, non-contrasted look - few in any shadows, no directional light

additive color system

in early filmmaking, techniques used to add color to black-and-white images, including hand-coloring, stenciling, tinting, and toning

Soft Light

indirect, soft shadows

prime lenses

lenses that have one fixed focal length; The short-focal-length, middle-focal-length, and long-focal-length lenses are all prime lenses; the zoom lens is in its own category.

Practical

light fixture in the scene

Key

main light source

setup

one camera position and everything associated with it, Whereas the shot is the basic building block of the film, the setup is the basic component of the film's production.

Good composition

organizes the content in an accessible way

Low-key lighting

overall dark, selected areas of light - distinct shadows

First AC

oversees everything having to do with the camera, lenses, supporting equipment, and the material on which the movie is being shot

zoom lens

permits the assistant cameraperson to reduce or increase the focal length of the lens between takes or setups without having to change lenses.

Second AC

prepares the slate that is used to identify each scene as it is being filmed, files camera reports, and feeds film stock into magazines to be loaded into the camera.

long shot

presents background and subject information in equal measure and is as much about setting and situation as any particular character.

short-focal-length lens

produces wide-angle views and stretches the appearance of depth

Implied Proximity

refers to the distance between the camera (and thus the viewer) and the subject on-screen.

visual rhythm

rhythm you receive through your eyes rather than through your ears Film viewers have little time to contemplate each image as movie goes forward

scoop

soft light- round bowl shape

Broad

soft light- wide dispersion

fill

softens shadows opposite of key

Fresnel

spotlight with ringed lens

Superior composition

stimulates the viewer's perceptions

resolution

the concluding narrative events, that follow the climax and celebrate, or otherwise reflect upon, story outcomes. Also, the capacity of the camera lens, film stock, and digital sensors to provide fine detail in an image.

form

the means by which a subject is expressed; the form for poetry are words; for drama, it is speech and action; for movies , it is picture and sound

acerture

the opening in an iris through which light passes to fall upon the camera film or sensor.

depth of field

the portion of the space in front of a camera and its lens in which objects are in apparent sharp focus

cinematography

the process of lighting, framing, and capturing moving images on film stock or a digital medium

Tonality

the range of tones from pure white to darkest black

Content

the subject of an artwork

cinematic language

the systems, methods, or conventions by which the movies communicate with the viewer