LOOKING AT MOVIES: Chapter 3-Chapter 6; Chapter 8-10
In this scene from The 39 Steps (Hitchcock, 1935), the actor onstage is the only figure moving; the theater and audience are from a previous shot, miniaturized and then reflected in an etched mirror. What is this effect called?
The Schüfftan process-
What is authorship?
The idea that an individual film director has a unique style
Camera proximity terms
establishing shot bird's eye view shot medium shot
Terms Used to describe the general characteristics of film sound:
loudness quality pitch
A filmmaker decides to photograph a single scene with a variety of shot types and angles to choose from in the editing phase. What is this process called?
master scene technique
Speeding vs. Slowing frame rate
speeding- achieves a slow-motion effect slowing- achieves a fast-motion effect
Narrative
story structure defined by Aristotle: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement fiction film cinematic structure
What is editing?
the selection and arrangement of shots and sounds
Who is responsible for generating and controlling the sound in movies?
the sound crew
Four phases of sound production
(1) editing (2) mixing (3) design (4) recording
Heavy Influences on Middle Eastern and North African Cinema:
-civil unrest -political repression -government censorship -revolution
The first female director is ____
Alice Guy Blance
Recording sound is the least technologically complicated aspect of filmmaking.
False
Types of Duration
Screen duration- movie's running time Plot duration- the elapsed time the film explicitly shows us Story duration- how long it takes for the story to occur
Way(s) of Looking at Narrative in Film
tells a story way of structuring stories in films type of movie
Why did filmmakers begin to move their production companies to Hollywood, California, in the 1900s?
the consistently warm weather and was good for location shooting
What is cinematography?
the process of capturing images on film or digital video
New American Cinema began around ___ and was born out of _____
1965 practical adaptions to market changes
Aspects of the Dogma 95 Movement
- shooting is done on location -the film is in color -the director must not be credited -the camera is handheld
True Statements about classical cutting
- the same action in a scene is photographed multiple times, in shots of varying length and speed -uses coverage (the method of shooting a single scene multiple times from a variety of angles)
Aspects of a French New Wave Film
- visually unconventional -self-reflexive -direct address
What was the Hays Office?
a regulatory agency that censored film content
Plot
not a story element itself definition: the actions and events that the filmmakers select, and the order in which they place those events to convey narrative examples: a date is superimposed over the film, telling us when the action is taking place the order of events the structure of the narrative
In The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Alec Baldwin narrates in a way that indicates that he already knows the story of the film, as well as the backgrounds and futures of the characters, including their private thoughts. What kind of narration is this?
omniscient
Different types of camera movements
pan zoom-in dolly-out
Chapter 10: Film History Vocab
photography- means "writing with light" and technically, "the static representation or reproduction of light" camera obscura- latin for "dark chamber" negative (or negative photographic image on transparent material)- makes possible the reproduction of the image ----William Henry Fox Talbot invented this revolver photographique (or chronophotgraphic gun)- a cylinder-shaped camera that creates exposures automatically, at short intervals, on different segments of a revolving plate magic lantern- early projector zoopraxiscope- a version of the magic lantern with a revolving disk that had his photographs arranged around the center fusil photographique (another form of chronophotographic gun)- a single, portable camera capable of taking 12 continuous images Kinetograph- the first motion-picture camera ---Thomas Edison's research laboratory invented this Kinetoscope- a peephole viewer Black Maria- the first movie studio
The level of illumination on a subject, as compared with the depth of the corresponding shadow, is called its lighting ___
ratio
In Rashomon (1950), each character tells the same story from his or her limited perspective, restricted to his or her own information, prejudices, and motivations. What kind of narration is this?
restricted
Which approach to film history would examine inventions like widescreen processes and Smell-O-Vision?
Technological
Due to years of conditioning, audiences associate black-and-white film with realism.
True
If filmmakers want to keep the viewer oriented in space and time, with a smooth and subtle flow, CONTINUITY editing is a useful tool. If filmmakers would prefer to call attention to the cinematic form, DISCONTINUITY editing may be the better choice.
True
In filmmaking, what do we call the relationship between the frame's two dimensions (width and height)?
aspect ratio
Some Sound Terms
pitch- level (either high or low) volume- loudness fidelity- a sound's faithfulness or unfaithfulness to its source quality- timbre, texture, or color
The basic building block of film editing is the _____ and its most fundamental tool is the _____
(1) shot (2) cut
Editing Process steps in chronological order
(1) rough cut (2) fine cut (3) picture lock
Deep-space composition vs. compositional stress
Deep-space composition: allows us to consider multiple visual fields simultaneously (foreground, middle ground, and background) (Citizen Kane good ex) Compositional stress:
In the 1920s, __________ conducted an experiment in which he juxtaposed a shot of an actor wearing a neutral expression with a number of other shots and then screened them in sequence for a test audience. With this simple experiment, he demonstrated a creative capacity of film editing that editors still use: the juxtaposition of images to create new meaning not present in any single shot by itself.
Lev Kuleshov
Why are the films of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, and Mrinal Sen called "Parallel Cinema"?
They existed alongside mainstream Indian Cinema
Film noir was both delayed and heavily influenced by ___
WWII
A FADE transitions between shots over multiple frames. These are traditionally used as transitions from one scene to another, and they're often used to convey the passage of time. A DISSOLVE is also used to emphasize a passage of time between scenes, but because it combines the two shots so that they momentarily share the screen, the technique is also often used to imply a relationship between the people. objects, or events depicted in the scenes connected by the transition.
True
A TAKE is an instance of capturing a shot, and a SETUP is a particular camera position that can be used to capture one or more shots.
True
A digital filmmaker's camera stores the image information as PIXELS, which are compressed into specialized formats called CODECS.
True
What best describes the role of a sound designer?
identifies necessary sounds, supervises recording, and aids in editing
What is it called when a sound editor mixes sounds from multiple sources, including diverse quality, levels, and placement?
montage
The basic organizing structure of most movie narratives is ___
cause & effect
True statements about physical film stocks:
comes in variety of formats it is a physical object we can hold and touch its speed defines how sensitive it is to light
When sound links two shots with an overlap, it can help to create which of the following?
continuity
To create "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", an artist painted each individual frame; the film needed 24 frames per second. What is this process called?
hand-drawn/traditional animation/cel animation
Which member of the crew works closely with the director to make decisions that determine a film's mise-en-scène?
production designer
Which member of the crew finds and selects props?
prop master
Most directors edit their own films
False
Influenced by Italian Neorealism
-french new wave -new american cinema -british free cinema
Film Sound Categorizations
Environmental sounds silence vocal sounds music
What was das neue Kino?
New German Cinema
Farewell My Concubine (Chen, 1993) was banned in China. What was the reason for the censorship?
the film's portrayal of homosexuality
What strategy does the director use when shooting the same action of a scene using multiple angles and shot types?
Coverage- gives editors the freedom to select the best possible viewpoint
The member of the camera crew who is responsible for managing data captured by the camera is the _______
Digital imaging technician (DIT)
Four Documentary Approaches
Factual Instructional Persuasive Propaganda
A camera can either change implied proximity or move, but it cannot do both at once
False
Experimental Legacy: American Underground Cinema- SUBGENRES
Formal Self-reflexive
Which French filmmaking movement explored both surrealism and naturalistic psychological studies and included the works of directors Man Ray and Germaine Dulac?
French Avant-Garde
Members of camera crew
Gaffer- electricians camera operator- controls the camera during the shot assistant camerapersons (ACs) (P.190) loader- feeds film stock being used into magazines and then loads them onto camera -------Digital imaging technician (DIT) handles the loader's responsibility if the production uses digital camera; they archive and manage the digital data being captured. best boy- first assistant electrician grips- "all-around handypersons who work with both the camera crew and the electrical crew to get the camera and lighting ready for shooting"
Horror films in the 1950s often reflected a fear of communism; Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel, 1956), for example, focused on the idea that one's neighbors could be replaced with exact replicas that cannot be trusted. In the 1980s, horror films like The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) examined the deterioration of the American family as the divorce rate began to climb. What is the term for this sort of change?
Generic transformation: For genres to remain relevant, they must change to reflect the interests and concerns of society.
Who invented the movies?
Georges Melies the Lumiere brothers Thomas Edison Eadweard Muybridge Edwin S. Porter and others as well
Director to his/her film movement
Germaine Dulac- French avant-garde Sergei Eisenstein- soviet montage Lars von Trier- Dogme 95 Agnes Varda- French New Wave
Which country has regionally driven cinema that generates films in each of its sixteen official languages?
India
Which of the following statements about "The Great Train Robbery" is true?
It pioneered narrative filmmaking and was the first Western.
An actor wears a suit covered in reflective markers that are used to digitally translate the actor's movements into those of a fantastical-looking dragon. What is this special effects method called? (chap 6)
Motion capture
Division of the Chinese film industry
The People's Republic- has portrayed a shifting postwar ideology, often focusing on traditionally taboo subjects with films like "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991) Taiwan- often concerned with realistic depictions of ordinary people, such as in Taipei Story Hong Kong- primarily known for wuxia and kung-fu action movies, such as "A Better Tomorrow" (1986)
Why did Italian Neorealist filmmakers shoot on location and use nonprofessional actors?
Their desire to create realistic films prompted them to strip down their visual style
Some film movements and its descriptions
Classical Hollywood- built upon invisible editing and seamless storytelling German Expressionism- distorted, exaggerated settings and unnatural costumes Soviet Montage- fragmented and reassembled footage
Types of Movies
(1) narrative- films that tell fictional story (2) documentary- records real life events; usually narrative (3) experimental- most difficult to define precisely compared to all; pushes boundaries of what most people think (4) Hybrid- "fusion of 2 or more film types" (ex. Under the Skin, 2013)
Primary functions of film editing (chap 8):
(1) organize fragmented action and events (2) create meaning through juxtaposition (3) create spatial relationships between shots (4) create temporal relationships between shots (5) establish and control shot duration, pace, and rhythm
A fight scene in a film may employ many shots of the same duration, which sets a fast _____ that can be changed up in order to impact the ______.
(1) pace (2) rhythm
What three primary aspects of lighting setup are discussed in connection with mise-en-scène?
(1) ratios (2) direction (3) quality
The transition to sound film began in ______.
1927
On average, for a commercial feature film, for every minute you see on the screen, how many minutes of footage were discarded?
20
At what frame rate are most movies shot and projected?
24 frames per second
What methods did the earliest color films (those made in the 1890s through 1930) use to include color?
Additive color systems
main character who is pursuing a morally questionable goal
Antihero
Editing can suspend the viewer in a single instant. For example, the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Hill, 1969) ends on a still image of Butch and Sundance. The editor accomplishes this by simply repeating the same frame for a certain length of time. What is this editing technique called?
a freeze-frame
The _____ approach to film history is sometimes called the "masterpiece" or "great man" approach.
aesthetic
A film editor provides the director with a video she created by sequencing storyboard images and adding sound. What is this called?
an animatic
Sometimes editors place incongruent images in juxtaposition. As viewers, we often still infer connections between them. What is this called?
associative editing
What does ADR stand for?
automatic dialogue replacement
documentary footage that shows acton as it unfolds
b-roll
What lighting techniques are used to convey Reverend Harry's sinister nature?
backlighting sidelighting
What do sounds and musical themes connected to individuals in a film give the audience a sense of?
characterization
Graphic match cut
creates a cut between two shots that juxtapose their graphically similar images Ex: A filmmaker focuses on a child holding a ball. The following shot is of the moon, framed so that it is the same size as the ball.
What technique allows action in all three planes of depth?
deep-focus cinematography
Types of Film Sounds:
dialogue silence narration ambient- sounds that come from the setting of the environment
What is the part of a lens that controls the amount of light passing through?
iris (aka diaphragm)
If a filmmaker employs animatronic monsters and prosthetics for her actors to wear, she is using ____
mechanical effects (sometimes called practical or physical effects)
Compositional stress
mood or meaning created by framing subjects and objects in a way that denies viewer expectations of balanced composition
What is cinematic time?
our understanding of the fact that movies take place over a human-generated period of time
Which of the following statements about British Free Cinema is true?
primarily a documentary movement
Which of the following was invented first? (series photography or the Kinetoscope)
series photography
General categories of describing film sound:
type perceptual characteristics source
Cutting can be either fast or slow.
False
Editors always follow a strict formula, called the content curve, to determine shot duration
False
Foley sounds are vocal.
False
Hollywood ranks first in annual film production in the twenty-first century.
False
Ida Lupino was the first American woman filmmaker.
False
The subject matter of films in Latin America are currently controlled by dictators and religious groups.
False
In a Hollywood-produced, narrative feature film, most of the sound is recorded during filming.
False- most film sounds are constructed during postproduction
Examples of filmmaking styles that have aspired to realism or authenticity include:
Italian neorealism German Kammerspielfilm Danish Dogme 95 movement
Which of the following is a true statement about Alice Guy Blaché, the first woman film director? (she worked in the early 1900s)
Most of her films have been lost ----"Making an American Citizen" (1912) is one of the few films of hers that has survived
Flat vs. Round Characters
Round: -may possess contradictory traits -changes significantly over the course of the story -displays personal growth Flat: - does not change as the story progresses -is unable or unwilling to transform - easy to understand
Term defintions
Setting- the time and place of the film's story Scope- the overall range- in time and place- of a film's story Duration- a measure of cinematic time
The first "western: narrative film is ____
The Great Train Robbery
A grassroots subculture that has grown out of the affordability of digital video, microcinema is an example of how experimental film continues to grow
True
A movie's normal world tells us what the rules of its universe are (chap 4)
True
Among the most influential Japanese filmmakers, Kurosawa made both samurai and social problem films, Mizoguchi made films about women's issues and gender relationships, and Ozu made films about contemporary family life.
True
Classical Hollywood films were designed to be crowd-pleasers but had stylistic conformity and a lack of innovation, while Franch New Wave films were philosophically challenging, unscripted, and sometimes appeared informal.
True
Eadweard Muybridge gave the first public demonstration of photographic images in motion
True
Events that we see presented on-screen are explicit, whereas events that are hinted at but not shown on-screen are implicit
True
Film sound can help audiences identify the temporal dimensions of what they are watching.
True
George Melies is one of the fathers of science fiction and fantasy, while the Lumiere brothers created some of the first documentaries.
True
In Stagecoach (1939), Luke Plummer and the Apache warriors act as antagonists, working in opposition to the passengers with whom we identify.
True
Most experimental films try to break from the formulas and conventions of mainstream films
True
Sound can help an audience define space in a film (chap 9).
True
The effect of slow motion is achieved by speeding up the frame rate
True
Auteur theory is an example of the aesthetic approach to film history.
True- Auteur theory focuses on the work of a single creative mind, an example of the "great man" or "masterpiece" aesthetic approach
Almost 70 percent of the silent feature films made in the United States have been lost.
True- Earlier film stock was unstable and deteriorated quickly; archivists had not developed methods of film storage
Commercial filmgoing in the United States began in the 1890s.
True- the first Kinetoscope parlor opened in NY in 1894.
Questions a Social History Film Scholar Might Ask
- who made this film, and why? -who saw these films? -how were these films evaluated?
Lighting Terms
-3 aspects of lighting setup: quality, ratios, and direction -Hard light: ---Direct ---Clear, sharp ---High contrast ---Sometimes associated with serious or scary situations -Soft light ---Diffused ---softens features ---Sometimes associated with romantic or comic stories -Low-key lighting- more contrasts -High-key lighting- less contrasts ---Counterintuitive words
Shot types & Rules
-30-degree rule: states that the camera should shift at least 30-degrees between different shot types of the same subject -three-shot salvo: breaks the 30-degree rule; intentionally jumping in at (or away from) a character or object multiple times in quick succession ---ex: Election (303) -180-degree-rule: this system uses an imaginary line (called the line or the axis of action) drawn between the interacting characters being photographed (304)
Main approaches to editing
-continuity: the practice of ensuring that details in a shot are consistent from shot to shot within a film scene (302) ---techniques used: (1) match-on-action cut: multiple shots that main the continuous action (2) eyeline match cut (3) the 180-degree rule ---ensures: ---------what happens on the screen makes as much narrative sense as possible ----------screen direction is consistent from shot to shot -----------graphic, spatial, and temporal relationships are maintained from shot to shot ---ex: Casablanca scene -discontinuity: deliberately arranging shots that seem out of place or confusing relative to a traditional narrative; unique editing style
Duration, Pace, and Rhythm
-duration: the characteristic that determines the speed with which we experience edited sequences -content curve: interplay between duration and information; visualized as a bell curve ---the peak represents the point of optimum duration where a cut will typically occur -pace: the speed at which a shot sequence flows -rhythm: applies to the practice of changing the pace, either gradually or suddenly, during a scene or sequence
Fragmentation (p.286)
-editing relies on fragmentation, which means the breaking up of stories, scenes, events, and actions into multiple shots that provide diversity of compositions and combinations with which to convey meaning -coverage (aka master scene technique): meaning that the action is photographed multiple times with a variety of different shot types and angles so that the editor will be able to construct the scene using the particular viewpoint that is best suited for each dramatic moment--> this practice is called Classical Cutting -master shot: "film recording of an entire dramatized scene from start-finish, from a camera angle that keeps all the players in view ---sets the scene, introduces setting & characters -shot/reverse shot: a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character ---conversations are often recorded this way -parallel editing (or crosscutting): a technique that cuts back and forth between two or more actions happening simultaneously in separate locations -Intercutting: Shots inserted that show a scene outside the action of the primary scene; the insertion of shots into a scene in a way that interrupts the narrative -----ex: flashbacks, flash-forwards, shots depicting a character's thoughts -associative editing (aka intellectual editing): inserts shots to create symbolic or thematic meaning through juxtaposition -split screen: visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye.
Temporal Relationships Between Shots
-ellipsis: narrative device of omitting a portion of the sequence of events, allowing the reader to fill in the narrative gaps -montage sequence (NOT THE SAME THING AS MONTAGE EDITING): integrated series of shots that rapidly depicts multiple related events occurring over time -----ex: Citizen Kane; first love-dovey with his sus and then bitter (295) -overlapping action: the repetition of parts or all of an action using multiple shots ---ex: woman gaping in shock shown 3x in rapid succession -freeze-frame: suddenly stops a shot to hold on a single "frozen" image of the arrested action
Transitions between Shots
-fade: moving onto another scene by progressively getting darker until the screen is entirely black -dissolve: when shots are gradually replaced with another shot, with no intervening period of a solid color -wipe: when shot B wipes across shot A vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to replace it -iris shot --iris-out: begins with the image shown as a large circle, which shrinks and closes in around the subject, leaving the rest of the surrounding screen in black --iris-in: begins with the image as a small circle in a field of black and then expands
Implied Proximity and Shot Types
-implied proximity- refers to the distance between the camera (and thus the viewer) and the subjects-on-screen -extreme long shot (XLS/ELS) ---typically photographed at a great distance ---typically present general background info ---establishing shot -long shot (LS) ---presents background and subject info in equal measure and is as much about setting and situation as any particular character ---often used as establishing shots at the beginning of a scene -medium long shot (MS) ---not a medium shot or a long shot but one in between ---used to photograph one or more characters, usually from knees up ---background is reduced and subject(s) begin to predominate ---often used for moments of physical action ---widely used in Hollywood, so the French calls this shot the plan Américain (american shot) -Medium shot (MS) ---frames subjects from somewhere around the waist and up, making them large enough in the frame to reduce background to the point of insignificance ---most frequently used bc it replicates our human experience of proximity without intimacy ---often used to convey interaction between multiple subjects -Medium close-up (MCU) ---shows a character from approximately the middle of the chest to the top of the head -close-up (CU) ---subject's face fills the frame, so the camera (and, by extension, the viewer) is up close and personal with the subject -Extreme close-up (XCU/ECU) ---fills the frame with a part of a subject's face or, oftentimes, with an object revealed in great physical detail -deep-focus shots ---keeps all three planes of depth in sharp focus ---used alot in Citizen Kane
True statements about Jump Cuts
-it involves multiple shots using the same camera position -it involves multiple shots of the same subject -it can be created using a single shot of ongoing action -often cause the action to seem to jump forward in time -It is created when two shots of the same subject, shot from the same camera position, appear immediately after the other
Examples of precinema:
-photography -zoopraxiscope -magic lantern
Components of Mise-en-Scene
-props -lighting -actors -costumes -hair & makeup
Examples of New American Cinema Directors
-steven spielberg -terrence malick -dennis hopper
Chapter 9 Vocab
double-system recording- when the dialogue sound is recorded using a separate sound recorder dailies (or rushes)- synchronized picture/sound work prints of a day's shooting outtakes- any footage that will not be used frequency- speed amplitude- the degree motion of the air -------the loudness of a sound depends on its amplitude diegetic sounds- comes from a source within a film's world nondiegetic sounds- comes from a source outside that world, only heard by the audience on-screen sound- emanates from a source that we can see off-screen sound- can be either diegetic or nondiegetic; derives from a source that we do not see -----they are both also referred to as simultaneous & nonsimultaneous Simultaneous- diegetic and on-screen Nonsimultaneous- occurs familiarly when a character has a mental flashback to an earlier voice that recalls a conversation or an earlier sound that identifies a place Asynchronous sound- somewhere between on-screen & off-screen sound internal sound-occurs whenever we hear what we assume are the thoughts of a character within a scene external sound- comes from a place within the world of the story, and we assume that it is heard by the characters in that world overlapping sound- carries the sound from a first shot over to the next before the sound of the second shot begins
What do we call a set of films made by like-minded filmmakers attempting to create a particular style and approach?
film movements
What does mise-en-scene mean?
"staging or putting on an action or scene"
Six Major American Genres
(1) Gangster- focus on organized crime (2) Film noir (3) Science fiction (4) Horror (5) Western Musical
Four primary components of mise-en-scene?
(1) lighting (2) composition (3) design (4) movement
Examples of mechanical special effects:
- rain is generated for a scene occurring in a storm - an actor wears a prothetic nose to make him look like the subject of biopic -a small car is made to explode on set
Responsibilities of the Cinematographer (aka director of photography/ DP) (p. 190)
-determining the speed and length of the shot -framing shots -choosing the properties of the shot
Elements of a film's design
-setting -decor -costume -properties (props)
Rule of thirds
Breaking the frame into three vertical and three horizontal sections, the rule of thirds creates a grid that ensures visual balance
A film's scope is always equivalent to its screen duration
False
All commercial movies can be categorized by genre
False
Directors of photography (DPs) are not cinematographers
False
Every contemporary film has direct address narration
False
Film speed refers to how fast the camera is moving in space
False
Genre is the only reliable way of categorizing narrative films
False
Gone with the Wind was the first color film.
False
In a narrative film, lighting is rarely manipulated (chap 5)
False
Most aspects of mise-en-scene are accidental
False
Story and plot are the same thing
False
The catalyst is the moment in a story when the protagonist faces her major obstacle.
False- the catalyst is the inciting incident during which the character is first presented with her goal
In Don't Look Now (1973) John (Donald Sutherland) is haunted by his daughter's death. The girl was wearing a red coat when she drowned, and throughout the film John is distracted by characters wearing similar red coats. What is this sort of repeated visual element called?
Familiar image
Types of Lens
Short-focal-length lens (aka wide-angle lens) ---starts as low as 12.5mm ---produces wide-angle views and stretches the appearance of depth ----exaggerates spatial perspective ----makes subjects on screen seem further away than they actually are Long-focal-length-lens (aka telephoto lens) ---ranges from 85mm to as high as 500mm ---compresses the appearance of depth ---makes distant subjects look closer and objects and subjects on different planes of depth appear to be closer together than they would appear in real life middle-focal-length-lens (aka normal lens) ---35mm to 50mm ---create images that correspond to our day-to-day experience of depth and perspective zoom lens (aka variable-focal-length) ---permits the assistant cameraperson to reduce or increase the focal length of the lens between takes or setups without having to change lenses ---predominantly used for documentary and documentary-style films prime lens (aka fixed focal length) ---predominantly used for most feature films ---
genre conventions
Story formulas themes character types setting presentation stars
In a summary relationship, screen duration is shorter than plot duration
True
Movies based on previously published texts are called adaptions
True
The camera is the primary narrator of a film
True
The categorization of narrative films by the stories they tell is referred to as genre
True
The use of simple mise-en-scène has the same impact on a film's narrative as the use of complex mise-en-scène.
True
settings are not always based on reality
True
what is backstory?
a fictional history behind the film's main story
Which of the following is a specialized digital format for compressing video?
codec
If a filmmaker is unhappy with the color produced in a day's shoot, she can digitally alter and enhance that color using specialized software. What is this process called?
color grading (aka color correction)
Elements that are included when talking about a "story"
diegetic elements implicit narrative elements explicit narrative elements
Shot types that involve camera movement
dolly pan- primarily moves horizontally tilt- primarily moves vertically
Some info on Lenses
lens- "a piece of curved, polished glass or other transparent material" basic properties shared by all lenses: aperture, focal length, depth of field aperture of lens- adjustable iris (or diaphragm)---controls the amount of light passing through the lens -----------the greater the aperture size, the more light goes thru lens focal length- distance (mm) from the optical center of the lens to the focal point on the film stock or other sensor when the image is sharp and clear (in focus) ------------affects how we perceive perspective- the appearance of depth depth of field- refers to the distance in front of a camera (and its lens) in which the subjects are in apparent sharp focus
What are the reasons why filmmakers continue to make genre films?
make sense to us culturally most viewers like predictability may want to challenge the limitations of the genre
Facts about experimental films
most don't tell a story invite interpretation often critique culture and media also called avant-garde
What is kinesis?
movement
If a filmmaker is determining whether to structure a film in chronological order or not, what is she considering?
plot order
If we examine a film's lighting, use of mise-en-scène, and editing, which of its genre conventions are we analyzing?
presentation
What do script doctors do?
review and improve screenplay
Basic narrative structure
rising action crisis climax
Aspects of narrative structure
rising action- conflict intensifies and action builds resolution- wraps up loose ends and concludes setup- establishes character, setting, and tone climax-protagonist confronts obstacle
Which of these filmmaking rules is the result of our minds' seeking equilibrium and order?
rule of thirds
A camera operator on a set is moving the camera to a specific location, then checking the lighting and blocking of the actors for a take. What is she managing?
setup
Three key terms used in shooting a movie
shot- building block of cinema take- refers to each time that planned shot is captured setup- one camera position and everything associated with it
Which of the following is the measure of how sensitive a film stock is to light?
speed
Romantic comedies, like Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Stoller, 2008), frequently feature narratives in which two characters meet and fall in love, are separated by some difficulty, and then return to each other near the end. The genre convention displayed in this example is ______
story formula
work of art that attempts to capture the unedited flow of experience through the mind
stream of consciousness
What are prosthetics?
synthetic materials attached to an actor's face or body
What is narratology?
the study of narrative theory
when an object or animation becomes too humanlike, we tend to feel revulsion instead of empathy, and it falls into the ____
uncanny valley (ex. The Polar Express)
Types of narration
voice-over third-person first-person direct address
What is a stretch relationship?
when a screen duration is longer than plot duration
