Exam 1 Study Guide Flashcards
How have movies moved into our lives beyond the tradition movie theater exhibition?
Streaming, cable, satellite, buy online, redbox, record them, watch on TV, phone, or computer
How long were motion pictures popular before they were considered worthy of serious study?
50+ years
Why are movies worthy of serious study, as opposed to being merely entertainment?
They shape the way we view the world around us and our place in that world. Can tell us about the artist, society, or industry that created it.
How does the book differentiate between the terms “film,” “cinema,” and “movies?”
film - a motion picture that critics and scholars consider to be more serious or challenging than the movies
movies - entertain the masses at the multiplex.
cinema - seems reserved for groups of films that are considered works of art
What essential quality separates movies from all other two-dimensional pictorial art forms?
Movement
How is a shot defined?
an unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of a motion-picture camera
What is the joining together of discrete shots called?
Editing
What is the “invisibility” of meaning in movies?
Cinematic language - how meaning is implied from the way the movie is shot (i.e. a fade-out/fade-in implies the passage of time)
What does a fade-out/fade-in usually convey when used in a narrative film?
the passage of time
What does a low-angle shot usually convey when used in a narrative film?
that the character is important or powerful (we are looking up to them)
When “cutting on action” what does the cut conceal?
The shift from one camera viewpoint to another
What kinds of stories does the film industry usually favor?
stories and themes that reinforce viewers’ shared belief systems
Why is cultural invisibility not always a calculated decision on the part of filmmakers?
Directors, screenwriters, and producers are products of the same
society inhabited by their intended audience that chooses movies based on an unconscious, emotional level. That may make them blind to the implied political, cultural, and ideological messages that help make the movie so appealing.
What is implicit meaning? What is explicit meaning?
implicit meaning - lies below the surface of a movie’s story and presentation, is closest to our every day sense of the word meaning. It is an association, connection, or inference that a viewer makes on the basis of the explicit meanings available on the surface of the movie.
Why do film scholars pay special attention to blockbuster and other popular entertainment?
This satisfying combination of the comfortably predictable and the thrillingly unexpected is the same formula that keeps viewers returning to similarly convention-driven film genres such as horror and science fiction. The stories at the heart of Star Wars are more deeply rooted in our culture than those of any single film genre. The quests led by the series’ chosen ones—first Luke Skywalker, and now Rey—have their narrative origins
in a basic pattern found in the folktales, myths, and religions of multiple cultures.
What elements are included in mise-en-scene?
- lighting
- setting
- props
- costumes
- makeup
How is content defined? How is form defined?
Content - subject of an artwork (what the work is about)
Form - the means by which that subject is expressed and experienced.
When watching a film, narrative expectations make viewers ask questions about ________.
the story’s outcome, questions we will be asking ourselves repeatedly and waiting to have answered over the course of the film.
How do screenwriters organize narrative structure for viewers?
around the viewer’s desire to learn the answers to central questions such as, “Will Dorothy get back to Kansas?” or “Will Frodo destroy the ring?”
What does Hitchcock’s term “MacGuffin” refer to?
an object, document, or secret within a story that is vitally important to the characters, and thus motivates their actions and the conflict, but that turns out to be less significant to the overall narrative than we might at first expect.
How are movie images (technically) made?
Movie images are made when a camera lens focuses light onto either film stock or a digital video sensor.
What is the difference between light and lighting in movies?
- Light is responsible for the image we see on the screen, whether photographed (shot) on film or video or created with a computer.
- Lighting is responsible for significant effects in each shot or scene. It enhances the texture, depth, emotions, and mood of a shot.
How do movies appear to move?
watching a quick succession of still photographs called frames
What is persistence of vision?
When viewing successive images depicting only slight differences from frame to frame at a high enough speed, the brain’s visual systems respond using the same motion detectors used to perceive and translate real motion in our everyday lives
What is the main difference between the camera eye and the human eye?
The camera captures space differently than do the eyes, which have peripheral vision and can only move through space (and time) along with the rest of the body. The camera’s viewpoint is limited only by the edges of the frame. It fragments space into multiple edited images that can jump instantaneously between different angles and positions, looking through variable lenses that present depth and perspective in a number of way
What is a freeze-frame?
a still image is shown on‑screen for a period of time
How is antirealism defined?
speculative and fantastic, uses the viewer’s perceptions of reality as a starting point to expand upon or even purposely subvert
Why can realism be considered a form of illusion?
What is the definition of “verisimilitude?”
the appearance of being true or real p. 54
What is meant by cinematic language?
the accepted systems, methods, or conventions by which the movies
communicate with the viewer
What does the term mise-en-scene refer to?
A film’s mise-en-scène is everything we see in every shot: every object, every person, everything about their surroundings, and how each of these components is arranged, illuminated, and moved around.
What visual elements contribute to the meaning of a shot?
- design
- lighting
- composition
- movement
What is the definition of composition when referring to a shot?
the organization, distribution, balance,
and general relationship of objects and figures, as well as of light, shade, line, color, and movement within the frame.
Which offers more control over a production, a studio set or location shooting?
Studio setting
This person is hired by the director to help develop the overall look of a movie.
The production designer
What aspects of production does the production designer supervise?
- Art
- Costume design and construction
- hairstyling and makeup
- wardrobe
- location
- properties
- carpentry
- set construction and decoration
- greenery
- transportation
- visual effects
- special effects
What influence has CGI had on filmmaking in recent years?
During the first twenty years of moviemaking what type of environment did directors prefer?
On location
What factors led to more interior shooting?
location shooting proved expensive and unpredictable, and the evolution of larger studios made it possible to build interior spaces (or sets) that could be more easily configured to meet the needs of the story as well as the film-production process
An object held by a character is known as a _______?
prop
What is the function of a soundstage?
To accomodate multiple large sets and virtually unlimited lighting and camera equipment
During the classical Hollywood period what things did studios order male actors to do to maintain and ideal kind of masculinity?
dyed and restyled their hair, had their teeth fixed or replaced, and even subjected them to cosmetic surgery
What determines the design of costumes in a film?
costumes are selected and designed by the filmmakers to provide a sense of authenticity regarding the story’s time period and setting and also to help communicate the character’s social station, self-image, state of mind, and the public image that the character is trying to project.
During the studio era how did historical costuming differ in authenticity from a film’s original era?
They were more concerned with selling their stars than historical accuracy.
What person is responsible for visual continuity during the production process?
Editor?
What are the two fundamental styles of film design?
How did German Expressionist cinema influence American horror films of the 1930s?
used dramatically painted sets to reflect the anxiety, terror, and madness of the film’s characters
What are two key aspects of composition?
?
The planning of the placement and movement of figures and cameras is a process known as _______.
kinesis
The Cinematographer is also known as _______.
Director of photography
What kinds of decisions are made by the cinematographer?
- cinematographic properties of the shot (film stock, lighting, lenses)
- framing of the shot (proximity to the camera, depth, camera angle and height, scale, camera movement)
- speed and length of the shot
- special effects
What is the basic building block of a movie?
shot
What are the responsibilities of the “gaffer?”
Chief electrician, electricity and lighting
What cinematographic properties are controlled by the DP?
- recording medium
- lighting
- lenses
What crew members are most closely associated with the camera?
- camera operator
- assistant camerapersons
- loader
- digital imaging technician
What does a film stock’s speed refer to?
how sensitive it is to light
When did color film become the dominant choice for film production?
1968
What color film system recorded images on three separate strips of film simultaneously?
technicolor
What are the four basic properties of lighting?
quality, ratios, direction, ?
What are reflector boards used for during filming?
to redirect daylight
What is three-point lighting? What is the main source of illumination?
The system uses three sources of light, each aimed from a different direction and position in relation to the subject: key light, fill light, and backlight.
What is the name given to the lighting technique often associated with horror films and film noir?
low-key lighting
What lighting source helps to separate a subject from the background?
backlight
What does the camera lens aperture do?
The aperture of a lens is an adjustable iris (or diaphragm) that controls the amount of light passing through the lens
What does the term depth of field refer to?
the distance in front of a camera (and its lens) in which the subjects are in apparent sharp focus.
What is a rack focus?
a change of the point of focus from one subject to another.
What is the aspect ratio of the frame?
The relationship between the frame’s two dimensions is known as its aspect ratio, the ratio of the width:height
Up until the 1950s what was the standard aspect ratio?
the Academy ratio of 1.375:1
What is an establishing shot?
at the beginning of a scene to indicate where the scene is taking place, who is involved, and what they are doing
What is a long shot, a medium shot?
- The long shot (LS) presents background and subject
information in equal measure and is as much about setting and situation as any particular character - The 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. The MS is the most frequently used type of shot because it replicates our human experience of proximity without intimacy.
What is a close-up, an extreme close-up?
- In a close-up (CU), the subject’s face fills the frame, so the camera (and, by extension, the viewer) is up close and personal with the subject. The character’s face is close enough to communicate maximum physical and psychological detail
- An extreme close-up ( XCU or ECU) fills the frame with a part of a subject’s face or, oftentimes, with an object revealed in great physical detail.
What quality does deep-focus cinematography enable?
Keeps all three planes of depth in sharp focus.
When naming a shooting angle what relationship is described?
the level and height of the camera in relation to the subject being photographed.
What is a Dutch-angle shot?
the camera is tilted so that horizontal and vertical lines on set appear as diagonals in the frame. Doing so 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.
What kind of moving camera work was popular in 1960s cinema verite?
handheld camera
What is a tilt shot? A dolly in/out?
- For a tilt shot, the camera pivots vertically; in other words, it “looks” up and down
- (also known as a tracking shot) is one taken from a camera mounted on a wheeled platform called a dolly, which can be equipped with either large rubber wheels for smooth soundstage floors or grooved wheels that run on tracks over uneven surfaces.
Because it moves smoothly and freely along the ground, the dolly shot is one of the most effective (and consequently most common) uses of the moving camera
What is a “setup?”
one camera position and everything associated with it.
