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CTAT 145 > Exam 2 Study Guide > Flashcards

Exam 2 Study Guide Flashcards

1
Q

What is narration?

A

the act of telling the story.

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2
Q

What is the primary narrator in every movie?

A

the camera is the primary narrator

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3
Q

What is direct address narration?

A

the first-person narrator character interrupts the narrative to deliver direct address narration directly to the audience, thus breaking the “fourth wall”

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4
Q

What is omniscient narration?

A

it knows all and can tell us whatever it wants us to know

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5
Q

What is a “round” character?

A

complex characters

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6
Q

What is a flat character?

A

exhibit few distinct traits and do not change significantly as the story progresses

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7
Q

Why must a protagonist have a goal in a narrative?

A

The goal does not just give the character something to do (although that activity is important). It also gives the audience a chance to participate in the story by creating expectations that viewers want to see either fulfilled or surprised.

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8
Q

What is an anti-hero?

A

unsympathetic protagonists chasing less than noble goals

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9
Q

What is character motivation?

A

the inspiration for protagonists to pursue their goals

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10
Q

What is the primary function of secondary characters?

A

to serve the narrative by helping to move the story forward or flesh out the motivations of the protagonist.

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11
Q

What does the first act accomplish in a typical narrative movie?

A

tell us what kind of a story we’re about to experience by establishing the normal world.

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12
Q

What is an antagonist?

A

The person, people, creature, or force responsible for obstructing our protagonist

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13
Q

What does it mean when the stakes rise in a movie?

A

the deeper we get into the story, the greater the risk to our protagonist

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14
Q

What is a crisis in a movie?

A

Eventually, our protagonist must face a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, and our story must reach a turning point and work its way toward resolution in the third and final act

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15
Q

Why do filmmakers sometimes tell stories out of chronological order?

A

to emphasize importance or meaning or establish desired expectations in audiences.

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16
Q

What is a backstory?

A

A fictional history behind the cinematic narrative that is

presented on-screen

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17
Q

What is screen duration?

A

the actual time elapsed while presenting the movie’s plot; that is, the movie’s running time

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18
Q

Why must filmmakers pay particular attention to screen duration?

A

it’s constrained by financial and other considerations.

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19
Q

What aspect of a film is most likely to draw an audience to a movie?

A

Casting

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20
Q

What kind of challenges do movie actors face that stage actors do not?

A
  • They use soft speech, subtle facial expressions, or small gestures
  • learn only those lines that they need for the moment.
  • create continuity between scenes
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21
Q

What aspects define a personality (persona) actor?

A

their appearance and mannerisms of moving and delivering dialogue—unique creations that are relatively consistent. Actors’ personae are usually rooted in their natural behavior, personality, and physicality.

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22
Q

Why would Johnny Depp’s acting career seem unusual compared to other major Hollywood actors?

A

makes quick and frequent changes in the roles he plays, has reached star status without any fixed persona.

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23
Q

How did 19th century theater (stage) acting influence early filmmaking?

A

succeeded in attracting an audience interested in serious drama on the screen, made the cinema socially and intellectually respectable, and therefore encouraged further respect for the industry and its development

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24
Q

What two people “invented” early film acting techniques?

A

D.W. Griffith and Lillian Gish

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25
Q

How did Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly satirize the film industry in Singin’ in the Rain?

A

This movie vividly and satirically portrays the technical difficulties of using the voice of one actor to replace the voice of another who hasn’t been trained to speak, trying to move a camera weighted down with soundproof housing, and forcing actors to speak into microphones concealed in flowerpots

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26
Q

How did actor negotiations with studios during the Golden Age of Hollywood compare to today’s system?

A

Every 6 months, the studio reviewed an actor’s standard 7-year option contract: if the actor had made progress in being assigned roles and demonstrating box-office appeal, the studio picked up the option to employ that actor for the next 6 months and gave him or her a raise; if not, the studio dropped the option, and the actor was out of work.
The decision was the studio’s, not the actor’s.

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27
Q

What is “The Method?” When did Method acting become part of Hollywood filmmaking?

A

Stanislavsky system of acting trained students to start by conducting an exhaustive inquiry into their characters’ background and psychology. They had to be the character before successfully playing the character. 1950s came to Hollywood

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28
Q

What is typecasting?

A

The casting of actors because of their looks or “type” rather than for their acting talent or experience.

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29
Q

Why are stand-ins used when shooting a film?

A

substitute for stars during the tedious process of preparing setups or taking light readings.

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30
Q

Stage actors play to an audience, screen actors play to _________.

A

the camera

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31
Q

What is the basic building block of film editing?

A

The basic building block of film editing is the shot, and its most fundamental tool is the cut.

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32
Q

How had film editing become more difficult in the last fifty years?

A

digital cinematography makes capturing numerous takes relatively cost-effective, creating sky high shooting ratios (240:1 for Mad Max: Fury Road)

33
Q

What is a common ratio of unused to used footage in Hollywood productions?

A

20:1

34
Q

How does a film editor typically fulfill his or her responsibilities for the spatial relationships between shots?

A

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. The master shot can be integrated whenever setting or spatial relationships need to be reestablished.

35
Q

What is a flashback?

A

A shot that references an earlier time in the plot.

36
Q

What is a cinematic ellipsis?

A

These cuts often interrupt the action of a scene unexpectedly, usually in the middle of a continuing action, and involve significant leaps of time. The direct connection of images and actions that would normally
be temporally and spatially distant empowers the filmmaker to create meaning with juxtaposition that otherwise would have been impossible.

37
Q

What is a montage in the Hollywood sense of the word?

A

A montage sequence is an integrated series of shots that rapidly depicts multiple related events occurring over time. Music or other sound often accompanies the sequence to further unify the presented events

38
Q

How does an editor control the rhythm of a film?

A

duration of each of the assembled shots, as measured in frames, seconds, and minutes. Our perception of the duration of any shot is affected by the content that shot presents.

39
Q

What is the ultimate goal of continuity editing?

A

seeks to keep viewers oriented in space and time, to ensure a smooth and subtle (preferably invisible) flow between shots, and to maintain a logical connection between adjacent shots and scenes

40
Q

What are the fundamental building blocks of continuity editing?

A

master shot coverage and maintaining screen direction with the 180-degree system

41
Q

Why are establishing shots particularly important for continuity editing?

A

So the scene may be between different implied proximities and avoid jarring leaps in spatial perspective.

42
Q

Why is the master shot also called a “cover shot?”

A

The editor uses the master shot to provide the viewer with a kind of reference map: whenever the location, background detail, and spatial relationship of the characters need to be established (or reestablished), she can simply cut to the master shot before proceeding with the rest of the scene.

43
Q

What is screen direction?

A

The direction of a figure’s or object’s movement on the screen.

44
Q

What is the purpose of keeping the camera on one and only one side of the axis of action?

A

the characters on-screen will remain in the same relative spatial orientation regardless of which shots the editor chooses

45
Q

How does the 180-degree system influence screen direction?

A
46
Q

What is a “shot/reverse shot,” and what type of situation does it typically depict?

A

One of the most prevalent and familiar of all editing
patterns, in which the camera is repeatedly crosscutting
between shots of different characters, usually in a conversation or confrontation. When used in continuity editing, the shots are typically framed over each character’s shoulder to preserve screen direction.

47
Q

What is a match-on-action cut?

A

AKA cutting on action. A match cut that shows us the continuation of a character’s or object’s motion through space without actually showing the entire action.

48
Q

What is an eye-line match cut?

A

An editing transition that shows us what a particular
character is looking at. The cut joins two shots: the character’s face, with his or her eyes clearly visible, then whatever the character is looking at.

49
Q

What is parallel editing?

A

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

50
Q

What is a jump-cut?

A

The removal of a portion of a continuous shot, resulting in an instantaneous advance in the action—a sudden, perhaps illogical, often disorienting ellipsis.

51
Q

What is the purpose of the fade-in and fade-out?

A

Fades are traditionally used as transitions from one scene to another

52
Q

What is a dissolve?

A

the first shot is gradually replaced with the second shot, with no intervening period of a solid color. Instead, the first shot appears to dissolve into the second, so that both images exist simultaneously for a moment before the first shot is completely replaced with the new image.

53
Q

What is the crucial difference between sound and silent films?

A

The option of using silence is one crucial difference between silent and sound films; a sound film can emphasize silence, but a silent film has no option.

54
Q

During the overall making of a film, when are most film sounds constructed?

A

post-production processes

55
Q

What is the group responsible for the sound in movies called?

A

Sound crew

56
Q

Why has the role of the sound designer become more prominent over the years?

A

As motion-picture sound has become increasingly innovative and complex, the result of comprehensive sound design, the sound designer’s role has become more well known

57
Q

How is a sound designer’s approach to a soundtrack similar to how a painter treats a canvas?

A

“Sound design is the art of getting the right sound in the right place at the right time.”

58
Q

Why is the digital format fast becoming the standard for recording movie sound?

A

Newer digital slates place matching electronic mark on the corresponding elements instead of relying on actual visual and sound cues. This system allows both for maximum quality control and for the manifold manipulation of sound during postproduction editing, mixing, and synchronization.

59
Q

What type of sound is typically recorded during production?

A

Dialogue

60
Q

Why is ADR used?

A

If ambient or other noises have marred the quality of the dialogue recorded during photography, the actors are asked to come back and perform the dialogue again so it can be edited in

61
Q

Why would filmmakers use the extremes of near silence or shocking loudness in a scene?

A

to signal something important or to complement the overall mood and tone of a scene

62
Q

What is the difference between diegetic and nondiegetic sound?

A

Diegetic sounds come from a source within a film’s world; they are the sounds heard by both the movie’s audience and characters. Nondiegetic sounds, which come from a source outside that world, are heard only by the audience.

63
Q

What type of sound tends to dominate most films?

A

vocal sounds

64
Q

What kind of dialogue did the screwball comedies of the 1930s invent?

A

a fast, witty, and often risqué style of dialogue that was frankly theatrical in calling attention to itself.

65
Q

How do environmental sounds typically function in a film?

A

environmental sounds usually provide information about a film’s setting and action

66
Q

What was unusual about the sound production of Citizen Kane?

A

used sound to establish, develop, and call our attention to the meanings of what we see.

67
Q

What are the four traditional approaches to film history?

A
  1. Aesthetic
  2. Technological
  3. Economic
  4. Social History
68
Q

What is the name for a device that projects an exterior image onto one side of a darkened room?

A

Camera Obscura

69
Q

What type of photography serves as the bridge between still photography and cinematography?

A

series photography

70
Q

What is the name given to the first motion picture camera?

A

Kinetograph

71
Q

For what characteristic are George Melies’ films best known?

A

Special effects

72
Q

What contributions to film are credited to Edwin S. Porter credited?

A
  1. multiple camera positions
  2. interior and exterior settings
  3. crosscutting (intercutting) parallel actions
  4. the shot was the basic structural unit of a movie
  5. continuity editing
73
Q

What director is considered most important and stylistically influential from the early years of Hollywood filmmaking?

A

D.W. Griffith

74
Q

Why did Birth of a Nation (1915) spark nationwide controversy upon its release?

A

Racist depictions of blacks

75
Q

How did Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s view montage?

A

(they adopted the French word for “editing”) to fragment and reassemble footage so as to manipulate the viewer’s perception and understanding.

76
Q

Why is The Jazz Singer (1927) considered historically significant?

A

First movie with sound

77
Q

What is the cinematographic achievement in Citizen Kane (1941) by Greg Toland?

A

deep-focus cinematography

78
Q

What elements of Italian Neorealist films gave them a greater air of realism?

A
  1. On-location shooting
  2. non-professional actors
  3. natural light
  4. deep-space cinematography
79
Q

Filmmaking that seeks to express the identity of the filmmaker’s country is called _______ cinema.

A

National

CTAT 145 (3 decks)

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