Chapter 5 Flashcards
Editing
The process of selecting and joining film footage and shots into a finished film with a distinctive style and rhythm. The individual responsible for this process is the editor.
Storyboard
A shot-by-shot graphic representation of how a film or a film sequence will unfold
Cut
In the editing process, the join or splice between two pieces of film; in the finished film, and editing transition between two separate shots or scenes achieved without optical effects
Crosscutting
An editing technique that cuts back and forth between actions in separate spaces, often implying simultaneity
Parallel Editing
An editing technique that alternates back and forth between actions in separate locations, often implying simultaneity
Montage
A term for editing most frequently used for style to emphasize the dynamic relationship between images, following Soviet silent era filmmakers use of the term; also designates rapid sequences in Hollywood films used for descriptive purposes or to show the rapid passage of time
Dialectical Montage
Sergei Eisenstein’s term for the cutting together of conflicting or unrelated images to generate an idea or an emotion in the viewer
Intercutting
Interposing shots of two or more actions or locations
Continuity Editing
Hollywood editing that uses cuts and other transitions to establish for verisimilitude, to construct a coherent time and space, and to tell stories clearly and efficiently; sometimes called invisible editing. Continuity editing follows the basic principle that each shot has a continuous relationship to the next shot.
Jump Cut
An edit that interrupts a particular action and intentionally or unintentionally creates discontinuities in the spatial or temporal development of shots
Shock Cut
A cut that juxtaposes two images whose dramatic difference creates a jarring visual effect
Fade-out
An optical effect in which an image gradually darkens to black, often ending a scene or a film
Fade-In
An optical effect in which a black screen gradually brightens to a full picture; often used after fade out to create a transition between scenes
Dissolve
An optical effect that briefly superimposes one shot over the next, which takes place: one image fades out as another image fades in
Wipe
A transition used to join two shots by moving a vertical, horizontal, or sometimes diagonal line across one image to replace it with a second image that follows the line across the frame
Verisimilitude
The quality of fictional representation that allows readers or viewers to accept a constructed world – it’s events, it’s characters, and their actions – as plausible (literally, “having the appearance of truth”)
Continuity Style
An approach to filmmaking associated with classical Hollywood cinema that uses a broad array of technical choices (from continuity editing to scoring) that efface technique in order to emphasize human agency and narrative clarity
Establishing Shot
An initial longshot that establishes the location and setting and that orients the viewer in space to a clear view of the action
Two-Shot
A shot depicting two characters
Over-the-shoulder-shot
Frame compositions where the camera is positioned slightly behind an over the shoulder of one character, focussing on another character or object; often used when alternating between speaking characters
Reestablishing Shot
A shot that reestablishes the space in which an edited sequence unfolds, orientating the spectator to changes in figure location and restoring an objective view of the action
Insert
A brief shot, often a close-up, that points out details significant to the action or interpretation
180-degree Rule
A central convention of continuity editing that restricts possible camera set ups to the 180° area on one side of an imaginary line (the axis of action) drawn between the characters or figures of a scene. If the camera were to cross the line to film from within the 180° field on the other side, on screen figure positions would be reversed
Axis of Action
An imaginary line bisecting a scene corresponding to the 180° rule in continuity editing
30-degree Rule
A cinematography and editing rule that specifies that a shot should be followed by another shot taken from a position greater than 30° from that of the first
Shot/Reverse Shot
An editing pattern that begins with a shot of one character looking offscreen in one direction, followed by a shot of a second character, who appears to be looking back; also called shot/counter shot. The first shot is taken from an angle at one end of the access of action, the second from the reverse angle at the other end of the line; often used in conversations
Eyeline Match
A cut that follows a shot of a character looking offscreen with a shot of a subject whose screen position matches the gaze of the character in the first shot
Match on Action
A cut between two shots continuing a visual action
Graphic Match
An edit in which a dominant shape or line in one shot provides a visual transition to a similar shape or line in the next shot
Reaction Shot
A shot that depicts a characters response to something shown in a previous shot
Story Time
The sequence of events inferred during the telling of a film story
Plot Time
The length of time a movie depicts when telling its story
Screen Time
The actual length of time that a movie takes to unfold
Chronology
The order according to which shots or scenes convey the temporal sequence of the story’s events
Flashback
A sequence that follows an image set in the present with an image set in the past
Narrative Frequency
The number of times a plot element is repeated throughout a narrative
Flashforward
A sequence that connects an image set in the present with one or more future images
Narrative Duration
The length of time used to present an event or action in a plot
Ellipsis
An abridgement in time in the narrative implied by editing
Cutaway
A shot that interrupts an action to “cut away” to another image or action, often to abridge time, before returning to the first shot or scene at a point further along in time
Overlapping Editing
An edited sequence that presents two or more shots of the same action across several cuts
Pace
The tempo at which the film seems to move, influenced by the duration of individual shots and the style of editing
Average Shot Length
The average duration of time (usually measured in seconds) of individual shots in a particular movie
Long Take
A shot of a relatively long duration
Sequence Shot
A shot in which an entire scene is played out in one continuous take
Slow Cinema
Movies, often contemporary international art films, where shots are sustained for a lengthy time, reinforcing the durational aspect of the medium
Rhythmic Editing
The organization of editing according to different paces or tempos determined by how quickly cuts are made
Scene
One or more shots that depict a continuous space and time
Sequence
Any number of shots or scenes that are unified as a coherent action or an identifiable motif, regardless of changes in space and time
Segmentation
The process of dividing a film into large narrative units for the purposes of analysis
Disjunctive Editing
Editing practices that call attention to the cut through spatial tension, temporal jumps, or rhythmic or graphic patterns
Distanciation
Derived from the work and theories of Bertolt Brecht, an artistic practice intended to create an intellectual distance between the viewer and work of art in order to reflect on the works production or the various ideas and issues that it raises
Montage Sequence
A series of thematically linked shots or shots meant to show the passage of time, joined by quick cuts or other devices, such as dissolves, wipes, and superimpositions
