Film Analysis Flashcards
film script / screenplay
A text containing a film’s action narrative and dialogue.
storyboard
A comic-strip version of a filmic sequence. Like the physical film itself, a storyboard consists of a series of frames (‘panels’, in comic-strip terms) picking out a shot’s main situation.
What are units?
Frame, shot, scene
Frame
Smallest unit on a film’s visual plane, showing a single picture.
Shot
Shot: A sequence of frames filmed in a continuous (uninterrupted) take of a camera.
Scene
A sequence of action segments which take place, continuously, at the same time and in the same place.
What are camera angles?
Straight-on angle
High angle
Low angle
straight-on angle
The camera is positioned at about the same height as the object, shooting straight and level (this is the default angle).
high angle
The object is seen from above (camera looking down).
low angle
The object is seen from a low-level position (camera looking up).
Whats camera height?
Regular height
Low height
High height
regular height
Camera is positioned at the height of the human face.
low height
Camera is positioned below the height of the human face.
high height
Camera is positioned above the height of the human face.
canted (oblique) framing
Object is not parallel, creates tension.
Whats distance of framing?
extreme long shot
long shot
medium long shot
medium shot
medium close-up
close-up
extreme close-up
Extreme long shot
Depiction of a building, a landscape or crowd of people.
Long shot
A person’s body nearly fills the height of the frame.
Medium long shot
A view of a person’s body from the knees up.
Medium shot
A view of a person’s body from the waist up.
Medium close-up
A view of a person’s body from the chest up.
Close-up
Full view of, typically, a human face.
Extreme close-up
A small object or part of an object shown large (a speaking mouth, a telephone receiver). Often a detail shot shows a plot-relevant object – a ring, a telephone number on an envelope, the countdown display of a bomb detonator, etc.
What are camera movements?
pan
tilt
push in, pull back
zoom
Pan
The camera surveys a scene by rotating on a vertical axis.
Tilt
The camera surveys a scene by rotating on a horizontal axis.
Push in, pull back
The camera moves in on or away from a stationary object.
Zoom
The camera moves in on or away from an object (zooming in, zooming out) by smoothly extending or shortening its focal length.
Different ways how to install the camera
hand-held camera
dolly shot
Steadycam
crane shot
Hand-held camera
Produces irregular movement
Dolly shot
A shot taken from a camera mounted on a wheeled platform (a dolly).
Steadycam
Apparatus around cameraman’s hips holds camera steady but allows movement
crane shot
Camera moves up or down on a crane structure.
What are different joins (cuts)?
long take
(straight) cut
gradual joins
What are different kinds of gradual joins?
Dissolve
Fade in/fade out
Wipe
Long take
No cuts
(Straight) cut
An immediate shift to the next shot without transition
Dissolve
gradual transition by fading out of current shot and at the same time fading in the new shot
Fade out/in
fading out into or fading in from a black screen
Wipe
Second shot replaces the first shot by means of a boundary moving across the screen
What are different kinds of audio codes?
Diegetic sound
Nondiegetic sound
Off-screen/on-screen sound
Voice over
Diegetic sound
Noise, speech or music coming from an identifiable source in the current scene (‘diegetic’ refers to ‘diegesis’, i.e., the narrative world). For instance, we hear a weather report and we see that it comes from a car radio which somebody has just turned on.
Nondiegetic Sound
Noise, speech or music which does not come from a source located in the current scene. For instance, we see waves breaking on a desolate sea-shore and we hear a full- orchestra playing Vaughan-Williams’s Sea Symphony.
Off-screen/on-screen sound
Diegetic source of sound but on or off screen
Voice over
voice over: There are two major meanings: (1) Representation of a non-visible narrator’s voice (voice-over narrator); (2) representation of a character’s interior monologue (the character may be visible but her/his lips do not move).
What are features of continuity editing? (8)
establishing shot
gaze shot
point of view shot, POV shot
over-the-shoulder shot
shot/reverse-shot
Crosscutting
match cut
jump cut
Establishing shot
A shot, usually involving distant framing, that shows the spatial relations among the important figures, objects, and setting in a scene.
Gaze shot
A picture of a character looking (‘gazing’) at something not currently shown. A gaze shot is usually followed by a POV shot
POV shot
point of view shot, POV shot: The camera assumes the position of a character and shows the object of his or her gaze.
Over-the-shoulder shot
The camera gets close to, but not fully into, the viewing position of a character
Shot/reverse shot
Sequence of two over-the-shoulder shots, typical for conversations.
Crosscutting
alternating shots from one line of action in one place with shots of events in other places, gives knowledge of causal, temporal or spatial connections.
Match cut
cut from one shot to another where the two shots match by action, subject matter
or composition.
Jump cut
elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a single shot (figure or
background changes instantly)
Whats representation of interiority?
Use of music and sound effects
Dual-perspective shots
Subtitles, captions, voice-over
Enacted mindscreen
Use of music and sound effects
non-diegetic sound signals emotional states
Dual-perspective shots
character is shown from an external perspective but image imitates character perception.
Subtitles, captions, voice over
immediate rendering of thought
Enacted mindscreen
visual representation of what goes on in character’s mind (e.g. dream, flashback, fantasy)
