Exam Flashcards
What are the 4 categories of actors?
Extras
Nonprofessional performers
Trained professionals or character actors
Personality stars
What are the star types?
The anti-establishment star: Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, James Dean
The vamp or femme fatale: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Theda Bara
The “cheap” blonde: Mae West, Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield
Name 5 acting styles.
Realist Expressionist Pantomime Romantic British Classically Trained Method
What is the method?
Focuses on an interior style of acting. Most character actors also consider themselves method actors.Live the part
Use of emotional recall
Emphasis on the subconscious, the psychology of the character
Never take the script at face value—think subtext
Research background, locale, and history of the character
Emphasis on accurate re-creation of externals (costume, set, etc.)
Explain realist acting.
Improvisation was used in silent cinema, but is primarily considered a convention of cinema verité
Godard and Truffaut, French New Wave directors, showed a particular affinity for improvisation
While improvisation is not new, nor solely used by realist directors, it has probably been favored and used to its fullest by them
Explain realist acting.
Improvisation was used in silent cinema, but is primarily considered a convention of cinema verité
Godard and Truffaut, French New Wave directors, showed a particular affinity for improvisation
While improvisation is not new, nor solely used by realist directors, it has probably been favored and used to its fullest by them
Time in theatre vs. film
Theatre:Generally “real” time, at least for each scene. Usually continuous, progressively moving forward.
Film:Through editing, time and space can be altered. instantaneously
Can be expanded or contracted
Space in theatre vs. film
Theatre: Governed by the proscenium arch
Typically a unified space (the stage) depicting a specific place and time during which action takes place
Necessarily a “closed” space, rarely leading the audience’s attention to imagine action taking place elsewhere in the theater
Considered a medium of low visual saturation despite its actual three-dimensional space, tangible people and objects.
Film: Can be “opened up” and allow the audience to feel more mobile or involved in the action
Can show actions through flashbacks or other means that can only be described or alluded to in theater
Allows small objects, important to the action, or subtle facial expressions to be captured in close-up
Is considered to be of high visual saturation, despite its actual two-dimensional form
Directors in theatre vs. film
In theatre director has most control in rehearsals and must follow the play-write. In film the director has control of all aspects throughout the entire process, is the dominant artist.
What are the 8 elements of a set?
Exterior or interior Style Studio of location Period Class Size Decoration Symbolic function
What are the 12 elements of a costume?
Age Silhouette Fabric Accesories Colour Body exposure Function Body Attitude Image
What are the 12 elements of a costume?
Age Silhouette Fabric Accesories Colour Body exposure Function Body Attitude Image
Define Mimesis?
(showing) the province of the live theater, plays acted out tell themselves
Define Diegesis.
(telling) the literary way; epics, novels, novellas, and short fiction convey stories through language
What do narratologists mean by plot?
the storyteller’s method of superimposing a structural pattern over the story; involves the implied author’s point of view as well as the structuring of the scenes into a pattern (or how events happen)
What do narratologists mean by story?
the general subject matter, the raw materials of a dramatic action in chronological sequence (or what happens)
What are the genre cycles?
primitive
classical
revisionist
parodic
what is the classical paradigm?
s a set of conventions, considered the “norm” particularly in American cinema
Is a narrative structure based on the dramatic conflict between protagonist and antagonist
Builds intensity to a dramatic conflict in which one force must “win” and one must “lose” the climax
Ends with a clear sense of closure, resolution
What are the genre cycles?
primitive
classical
revisionist
parodic
Define motif
any unobtrusive technique, object or thematic idea systematically repeated
Define symbol
A figurative device in which an object, even or cinematic technique had significance beyond its literal meaning.
Define metaphor
an implied comparison between two otherwise unlike elements
Define allegory
symbolic technique in which stylized characters and situations represent obvious ideas.
Define Allusion
a reference to an event, person, or work of art, usually well known
