Exam 3

Question 1

Sleeper (1973)

Answer 1

Movie directed by Woody Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner of a health food store (played by Woody Allen) who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200 years later in an ineptly-led police state to find out about the Aries project since he’s the only one without a identification chip.

Question 2

The General (1927)

Answer 2

One of the most revered comedies of the silent era, this film finds hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the American Civil War. When Johnny’s fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in comic action scenes that highlight Keaton’s boundless wit and dexterity.

Question 3

Vertigo (1958)

Answer 3

Movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars James Stewart as former police detective John “Scottie” Ferguson. Scottie is forced into early retirement because an incident in the line of duty has caused him to develop acrophobia (an extreme fear of heights) and vertigo (a sensation of false, rotational movement). Scottie is hired by an acquaintance, Gavin Elster, as a private investigator to follow Gavin’s wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who is behaving strangely.

Question 4

Medium Cool (1969)

Answer 4

John Cassellis (Robert Forster) is a hardened TV news cameraman who manages to keep his distance while he captures daring footage of a nation in the throes of violent change. He maintains this professional detachment when he covers the social unrest in Chicago surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention. But, when he discovers that the TV network has been quietly cooperating with the FBI, the enraged Cassellis realizes that he too must join the fight against the establishment.

Question 5

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Answer 5

Directed by Steven Spielberg and Music by John Williams.
Science fiction adventure about a group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a “sunburn” from its bright lights to prove it. Roy refuses to accept an explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his life to pursue the truth about UFOs.

Question 6

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Answer 6

A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist’s patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder. Murderer turns out to be psychiatrist with dissociative identity disorder.

Question 7

The Impossible (2012)

Answer 7

The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Question 8

White Heat (1949)

Answer 8

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. Shortly after the plan takes place, events take a crazy turn

Question 9

Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Answer 9

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Question 10

The Seven-Year Itch (1955)

Answer 10

When his family goes away for the summer, a so far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.

Question 11

North By Northwest (1959)

Answer 11

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

Question 12

Dolly shot

Answer 12

a shot taken from a moving vehicle. Originally, tracks were laid on the set to permit a smoother movement of the camera.

Question 13

Zoom shot

Answer 13

a lens of variable focal length that permits the cinematographer to change from wide-angle to telephoto shots (and vice versa) in one continuous movement, often plunging the viewer in or out of a scene rapidly.

Question 14

Handheld shot

Answer 14

a shot taken with a moving camera that is often deliberately shaky to suggest documentary footage in an uncontrolled setting.

Question 15

Aerial shot

Answer 15

essentially a variation of the crane shot, though restricted to exterior locations. Usually taken from a helicopter.

Question 16

Reaction shot

Answer 16

a cut to a shot of a character’s reaction to the contents of the preceding shot.

Question 17

Swish pan

Answer 17

a horizontal movement of the camera at such a rapid rate that the subject photographed blurs on the screen

Question 18

Pull-back dolly

Answer 18

withdrawing the camera from a scene to reveal an object or character that was previously out of frame

Question 19

Animation

Answer 19

a form of filmmaking characterized by photographing inanimate objects or individual drawings frame by frame, with each frame differing standard speed of 24 frames per sec, the results is that the objects or drawings appear to move, and hence seem “animated”

Question 20

Fast motion

Answer 20

shots of a subject photographed at a rate slower than 24 fps which when projected at the standard rate, convey motion that is jerky and slightly comical, seemingly out of control

Question 21

Slow motion

Answer 21

shots of a subject photographed at a faster rate than 24 fps, which when projected at the standard rate produce a dreamy, dancelike slowness of action

Question 22

Reverse motion

Answer 22

a series of images are photographed with the film reversed. When projected normally, the effect is to suggest backward movement- an egg “returning” to its shell, for example

Question 23

Freeze frame

Answer 23

a shot composed of a single frame that is reprinted a number of times on the filmstrip; when projected, it gives the illusion of a still photograph

Question 24

Dissolve

Answer 24

the slow fading out of one shot and the gradual fading in of its successor, with a super imposition of images, usually at the midpoint

Question 25

Psychology of movement

Answer 25

there are considerable psychological differences between lateral movements on the screen and depth movements, that is, movements toward or away from the camera. A script might simply call for a character to move from one place to another, but how the director chooses to photograph this movement will determine much of its psychological implications. If the character moves from right to left or vice versa, he or she will seem determined and efficient, a person of action.

Question 26

Lengthy take

Answer 26

a shot of lengthy duration

Question 27

Jump cut

Answer 27

an abrupt transition between shots, sometimes deliberate, which is disorienting in terms of the continuity of space and time

Question 28

Two shot

Answer 28

a medium shot featuring two actors

Question 29

Master shot (schema)

Answer 29

an uninterrupted shot, usually taken from a long- or full-shot range, that contains an entire scene. The closer shots are photographed later, and an edited sequence, composed of a variety of shots, is constructed on the editor’s bench

Question 30

First cut

Answer 30

the initial sequence of shots in a movie, often constructed by the director

Question 31

Final cut

Answer 31

the sequences of shots in a movie as it will be released to the public

Question 32

Cover shots

Answer 32

extra shots of a scene that can be used to bridge transitions in case the planned footage fails to edit as planned. Usually long shots that preserve the overall continuity of a scene

Question 33

180 degree rule

Answer 33

this convention involves mise en scene as well as editing. The purpose is to stabilize the space of the playing area so the spectator isn’t confused or disoriented. An imaginary “axis of action” line is drawn through the middle of a scene, viewed from the bird’s eye angle. Camera 1 is on both actors. Camera 2 is on actor A. Camera 3 is on actor b.

Question 34

Parallel editing

Answer 34

the switching of shots of one scene with another at a different location

Question 35

Cross-cutting

Answer 35

the alternating of shots from two sequences, often in different locales, suggesting that they are taking place at the same time

Question 36

Montage

Answer 36

transitional sequences of rapidly edited images, used to suggest the lapse of time or the passing of events. Often uses dissolves and multiple exposures. In europe, montage means the art of editing.

Question 37

Wipe

Answer 37

an editing device, usually a line that travels across the screen, “pushing off” one image and revealing another

Question 38

Matched out

Answer 38

a cut joining two shots whose compositional elements strongly match. matched cutting establishes continuity of action

Question 39

Cue sheet

Answer 39

a breakdown of a scene’s action, listing and timing all sections requiring musical cues

Question 40

Functions of editing

Answer 40

1) continuity, 2) dramatic focus, 3) tempo and mood, 4) narration and pov

Question 41

Rough cut

Answer 41

eliminates all footage of technical or performance error

Question 42

linear system of editing

Answer 42

searching manually through the footage

Question 43

Nonlinear system

Answer 43

digital footage converted to videotape, digitized and stored on a computer disc. gives instantaneous access to any frame, shot or sequence– “fast pace” editing in today’s films

Question 44

Shot-reverse-shot series

Answer 44

often over the shoulder ping pong effect, still observes 180 rule

Question 45

errors of continuity

Answer 45

things appear or disappear from shot to shot or placement or movement will be inconsistent

Question 46

Matched cut

Answer 46

a cut joining two shots whose compositional elements strongly match

Question 47

Eyeline match

Answer 47

eye level matches on two shots to show that the characters are looking at each other

Question 48

Soviet montage tradition

Answer 48

1920’s (Sergei Eisenstein) “conflict” between and among shots

Question 49

Thematic montage

Answer 49

draws an explicit comparison between two or more images

Question 50

Sequence shots (long take)

Answer 50

no editing for the whole scene

Question 51

Synchronous

Answer 51

the agreement or correspondence between image and sound, which are recorded simultaneously, or seem so in the finished print. Synchronous sounds appear to derive from an obvious source in the visuals

Question 52

Blimp

Answer 52

a soundproof camera housing that muffles the noise of the camera’s motor so sound can be clearly recorded on the set

Question 53

Booms

Answer 53

an overhead telescoping pole that carries a microphone, permitting the synchronous recording of sound without restricting the movement of the actors

Question 54

Continuity

Answer 54

the kind of logic implied between edited shots, their principle of coherence. Cutting to continuity emphasizes smooth transitions between shots, in which time and space are unobtrusively condenses. More complex classical cutting is the linking of shots according to an event’s psychological as well as logical breakdown. In thematic montage, the continuity is determined by the symbolic association of ideas between shots, rather than any literal connections in time and space.

Question 55

Dubbed

Answer 55

the addition of sound after the visuals have been photographed. Dubbing can be either synchronous with image or non synchronous. Foreign language movies are often dubbed in english for release in this country

Question 56

ADR (Automated dialogue replacement)

Answer 56

a postproduction practice in which actors re-record lines or add new ones not present at the point of filming

Question 57

Silence

Answer 57

Absolute silence in a sound film tends to call attention to itself. Any significant stretch of silence creates an eerie vacuum - a sense of something impending, about to burst. Silence, like the freeze frame, in a sound film can be used to symbolize death, because we tend to associate sound wit the presence of ongoing life.

Question 58

Realistic vs. formalistic musicals

Answer 58

realistic musicals are generally backstage stories, in which the production numbers are presented as dramatically plausible.
Formalist musicals make no pretense at realism. Characters burst out in song and dance in the middle of a scene without easing into the number with plausible pretext.