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film midterm Flashcards

1
Q

Cinematography

A

what the camera itself contributes to the composition of a cinematic image

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2
Q

Mise-en-scène

A

the arrangement of objects in front of the camera (+lighting, staging, figure behavior, performance, etc.)

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3
Q

Editing

A

the linking of shots

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4
Q

Tonality

A

how the light registers on the film

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5
Q

Exposure

A

how much light passes through the camera lens
underexposed: (parts) too dark
overexposed: (parts) too light

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6
Q

Contrast

A

comparative difference between the darkest and lightest areas of the frame
middle: pure black and white, large range in between
high: bright white, stark black, narrow range between
low: no true black or white, many intermediate shades

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7
Q

Filters

A

to adjust exposure during filming
diffusion filter: spreads out light across frame
‘day for night’: blue filter to suggest night outdoor

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8
Q

Post-filming

A

changing tonality after filming by, e.g.:
tinting, toning, hand-coloring
digital color grading

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9
Q

Standard fps for silent films

A

16 fps

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10
Q

standard fps for sound film

A

24 fps

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11
Q

speeds of filming

A

fast-motion: under-cranking, or project faster than shot
slow-motion: over-cranking, or project slower than shot
ramping: vary frame-rate while shooting

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12
Q

Focal length

A

distance from the center of the lens to the point where light rays converge to a point of focus on the film
the shorter lens, the wider the ‘cone’

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13
Q

short-focal-length lens

A

wide angle
<35mm lens
relatively wide field of view (FOV)
stretches space along frame edges, distorting straight lines near edges of frame, bulging out
exaggerates depth: objects fore-ground appear bigger, objects in background farther away (smaller)

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14
Q

middle-focal-length (normal) lens

A

50mm lens
‘normal’ field of view
seeks to avoid distortion
lines are straight, objects neither stretched nor squashed

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15
Q
  1. long-focal-length (telephoto) lens
A

> 100mm lens
narrow field of view
important: flattens space within that field of view: different planes of image seem squashed together

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16
Q

Depth of field (Focus)

A

range “within which objects can be photographed in sharp focus”
which planes of (deep space) staging are in focus
selective focus: one plane in focus, others blurred. steers attention to what’s important in shot
deep focus: multiple planes in focus. viewer has to decide what to pay attention to
racking/pulling focus: changing focus within shot. switch in attention

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17
Q

aspect ratio

A

the ratio of frame width to frame height; some important standards
1.33:1 (or ca. 4:3) = silent film
1.37:1 (Academy ratio) = sound film
1.75.1 / 1.85:1 / 2.2:1 / 2.35:1 etc = widescreen ratios

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18
Q

Camera position: Angle

A

straight-on
low
high (extreme, combined with distance: bird’s eye)

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18
Q

Camera position: Level

A

‘level’ (parallel to horizon)
canted (‘Dutch angle’)

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19
Q

Camera position: Height

A

eye-level
high/low

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20
Q

Framing: Distance (shot type, shot scale)

A

extreme long (or: wide) shot (human figure tiny)
long shot (bigger human, surrounding still prominent)
medium long shot: human from the knee up
medium shot: human from the waist up
medium close-up: human face from chest up
close-up: showing face (or hands, feet, object)
extreme close-up: singles out part face or object

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21
Q

how does camera position serve story told?

A

framing to perceptual subjectivity (distance, angle suggesting p.o.v.)
e.g. framings associated with character, or visual motifs, or impact because unique within film
e.g. visual interest (photogénie)
e.g. comedy

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22
Q

pan

A

(camera immobile; swivels horizontally)

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22
Q

Mobile framing

A

changing angle, level, height or distance during shot – through camera movement

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23
Q

tilt

A

(camera immobile; swivels vertically)

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24
Q

tracking/dolly shot

A

camera changes position (tracks in or out), along ground

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25
Q

long take (its impact)

A

length itself can cause suspense (tension – how long?)
editing after long take also impactful: prompted to see significance in new framing

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25
Q

‘Vertigo effect’

A

track-out and zoom-in

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25
Q

zoom

A

camera doesn’t move, focal length changed during shot

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26
Q

crane shot

A

camera moves above ground level

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26
Q

Functions of camera movement

A

e.g. add information (reveal off-screen space)
e.g. follow a character (reframing)
e.g. can also be independent of character (suspense?)
e.g. make space/objects come to life
e.g. substitute for our movement (‘kinetic’ effect)
e.g. handheld can suggest subjectivity, emotion

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27
Q

tactile MES components

A

Actors, sets, props, costumes

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27
Q

composition MES components

A

Screen Space, Scene Space, Staging

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27
Q

non-tactile MES components

A

Lighting & Color

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28
Q

lighting quality

A

Hard lighting creating “shadows, crisp textures and shadows”
Soft lighting creating more “diffused illumination

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29
Q

lighting direction

A

front light
top light
side light
under light
back light

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30
Q

lighting source

A

Key Light = the primary light source illuminating the object in question
Fill Light(s) = additional lighting to define and/or eliminate shadows
High-Key Lighting: “low contrast between brighter and darker areas”; “usually, the light quality is soft, making shadows areas fairly transparent”
Low-Key Lighting: “often the lighting is hard, and fill light is lessened”; “effect is chiaroscuro, or extremely dark and light regions”
3 point lighting: key [off left] on face + back light gives edge to hair and shoulders; fill [from front right] to soften shadows
available (ambient) lighting: any light a photographer or cinematographer did not bring to the shoot
Practical lighting (light sources visible in scene; not necessarily only sources to light scene)
Colored lighting

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31
Q

color palette

A

black and white
Monochromatic
Multi-chromatic

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32
Q

Acting

A

the work done by an actor to enact a character and advance the narrative

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33
Q

Performance

A

the way the actor’s work manifests onscreen
Performance is not restricted to actors sets and props can move, feel, look, sound, and otherwise ‘perform’

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34
Q

Set, Props, & Costume as iconography

A

some genres (such as Westerns) and film styles ascribe specific meanings to some sets/props/costumes

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35
Q

Set, Props, & Costume as motifs

A

meaning specific to a film

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36
Q

composition: screen space

A

Analyzing film image as 2-dimensional picture:
(bilateral) symmetry, (un)balance, contrast

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37
Q

scene space

A

Analyzing film image as 3-dimensional area:
depth cues:
overlap
movement
cast shadows
aerial perspective (hazing)
size diminution
linear perspective

Deep-Space
Significant depth; wide distance between planes

Shallow Space
Comparatively little depth; small distance between planes

38
Q

early filmmaking technology

A

“Vitagraph” life, “Bioscope” motion, “Zoetrope” vision, “Cinematographe” writing

39
Q

shutter

A

(blocks light) opens and closes (twice per frame) to obscure intervals between frames

40
Q

name the optical phenomena

A

persistence of vision
phi phenomenon

41
Q

Persistence of vision

A

Phenomenon that brain retains image cast on retina for 1/20 to 1/5 of a second beyond removal of that image from field of vision (prevents us from seeing dark spaces between flickers of light)

42
Q

Phi phenomenon

A

Phenomenon that causes seeing spinning blades of a fan as a unitary circular form, or different hues of a spinning colour wheel as a single, homogeneous colour

43
Q

precursors of cinema

A

Phenakistoscope, Zoetrope, celluloid (for photography), muybridge (created one of the first moving pictures on film), chronophotographic gun, praxinoscope (1st public projection of moving images

43
Q

Which moment is referred to as the ‘birth of cinema’?

A

first public (paid) Lumière screening, on 28 December 1895, in Grand Café in Paris

44
Q

preconditions: insights and inventions necessary for cinema

A
  • realization that “human eye will perceive motion if a series of slightly different images is placed before it in rapid succession (i.e optical toys)
  • “capacity to project a rapid series of images” (praxinoscope)
  • “use photography to make successive pictures”; exposure time for a frame: 1/16th second (Muybridge)
  • to be able to photograph “on a base clear enough to be passed through a camera rapidly” (celluloid)
  • suitable intermittent mechanism for cameras/projectors
45
Q

Main french cinematic inventors
+ their contribution

A

Lumière brothers
- ‘Cinématographe’: camera, printer, part of projector
16 fps
1st public screening in Paris
The made: The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, the workers leaving the factory, the waterer watered
filmed ‘actualities’, everyday life and movement, but also staged stuff like the waterer

46
Q

Main US cinematic inventor
+ their contribution

A

Edison & Dickson
- 1891: Kinetoscope (peephole device (to see motion pictures))
- 35mm film, 4 perforations per frame
- 1893: studio ‘the Black Maria’
- 1896: Thomas Armat devised ‘Edison’s Vitascope’ (projector)

47
Q

Main German cinematic inventor
+ their contribution

A

Skladanowksy Bros
Bioscop (movie projector): first projection screening on 1 Nov 1895

48
Q

Main English cinematic inventor
+ their contribution

A

Paul and Acres
- Built own camera, made films for Kinetoscope
- Paul improved cameras and projectors; + acc sold them

49
Q

dynamism

A

giving movement its most powerful potential (e.g the train film by lumiere brothers moving diagonally makes the image of the train dynamic)

50
Q

in early cinema what were the two means of exhibition

A

individual peepshows and projections for audiences

no specific film theatres yet,
instead vaudeville; musical accompani-ment, showman to announce/comment; exhibitor created program; mixed audiences (gender, age, class) => film as another attraction

51
Q

types of films in early cinema

A

fiction: brief staged scenes, jokes (‘Waterer Watered’)
actualities, incl. scenics (travelogues), topicals (news)

52
Q

what was méliès known for?
+ his effect on cinema

A

fantastical design and ‘special effects’
Ceased production following bankruptcy in 1912

ONE SHOT, ONE STILL CAMERA POSITION (LONG TAKE - CONTINUOUS)

PUT YOURSELF IN THE SPECTATORS’ PLACE

FICTION BECAME KING OVER DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE/ REPORTAGE

53
Q

what were the earliest permanent movie theatres called?
+ their impact

A

nickelodeons
contributed to creating a market for longer films as part of screening programs

54
Q

difference between lumiere and melies

A

realistic tendency and formative tendency

55
Q

character psychology

A

events motivated by characters’ beliefs and desires

56
Q

continuity editing + its techniques:

A

shows a continuous action leading to the next shot (a scene made up of shots, geography of space, films different angles of a scene)
focus on spatial and temporal linking

techniques:
- intercutting - back and forth between locations (likely with narrative framework of comparing what happens in both sequences)
- analytical editing (breaking down single space into separate framings, to convey important narrative information e.g via inserts)
- contiguity editing

56
Q

contiguity editing

A

linking spaces across edits
- “180-degree rule”: camera should stay in semicircle on one side of action.
- eyeline match
- shot-reverse-shot (double eyeline match)

or when the space is broken down into smaller parts e.g long shot broken down into medium shots)

57
Q

Porter

A

most important U.S. filmmaker of this period (worked for Edison Company)

Porter did innovate a more sophisticated narrative style through continuity editing

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

58
Q

The impact of The Great Train Robbery?

A

more scenes in real locations
cameras started to be mobile
cinemas first western
1st film to exploit violent crime
canera movement: panning shots
characters start to become important within a crowd

59
Q

Gunning’s contribution:

A

Cinema of attractions

60
Q

What is the cinema of attraction

A

“an exhibitionist cinema” (topicals + erotic)
“Spoiling the realistic illusion”
“trick film”
Even some CUs are “pure exhibitionism”

cinema based on “its ability to show something”
exhibitionist cinema (voyeuristic narrative cinema)
‘look at the camera’ (no self-enclosed illusion of reality)
cinema itself an attraction: it supplies pleasure through an exciting spectacle

61
Q

position of The Great Train Robbery in Gunnings view

A
  • narrative becomes attractive
  • ‘a direct assault on the narrator’ as it ends with shooting directly at the camera
62
Q

Eisensteins take on the cinema of attraction

A

an attraction is “sensual or psychological impact” (but it is a montage of attractions)

63
Q

hapacity

A

refers to an image that almost makes us want to touch it

64
Q

in which ways was early cinema attractive versus later cinema?

A

Early cinema attractive to avant-garde (due to its freedom from the creation of diegesis)

Later cinema attractive to spectacle (attention, curiosity, pleasure)
- pleasure of spectacle aligned w/ pleasure of narrative
- greater narrative complexity
- ‘narrativization’ of cinema

65
Q

French Cinema after World War I

A

film production declined during WWI and remained that way through the 1920s

66
Q

which factors caused the decline of french film production

A

competition from imports
Small budgets
No reinvestement = outdated (pre-war) technical facilities (lighting: blocking vs. creating)
Less studio, more location than Hollywood
disunity industry: focus on distribution/exhibition

67
Q

Jean Epstein

A

Theorist, critic, and filmmaker
Photogenie

67
Q

major genres in french impressionism

A

serials, historical epics (on location), fantasy films (Méliès tradition), comedies (Max Linder)

68
Q

Abel Gance

A

An innovator of cinematic techniques
He later influenced even the French New Wave

69
Q

Photogenie

A

Film is a unique art
The importance of the Close Up
when object filmed attains new, expressive quality (absent in original object): transformed on screen

70
Q

Cinema pur

A

Dulac
meant to promote nonstory, noncharacter films. These are supposed to convey abstract emotional experiences uniquely through cinematic devices: camera movement and angles; CUs; lens-distortions, super-impositions, etc.

71
Q

What aided the french impressionist movement?

A

call for distinctly ‘French’ cinema (to compete); companies willing to experiment; various ways financing

72
Q

what was captured by french impressionism?

A

pictorial beauty and intense psychological exploration
(first movement exploring cinema as an art)

73
Q

menilmontant and french impressionism style

A

rejected theatre-derived film d’art: instead, own cinematic aesthetic, as “synthesis of other arts”

photogénie: framing, black and white, optical effects
visual rhythm: arises from (juxtaposition of) movement within/ between and length of shots
“spatial” (image: photogénie) and “temporal” (rhythm) “relationships” (91), accomplished through camerawork and editing
character subjectivity: suggest mental states, characters’ perceptions
“emotions, rather than stories,” should be basis for film (emphasize characters’ reactions to story action rather than action itself)

74
Q

Formal Traits of Impressionist Films

A

camera: optical devices (masks, superimpositions, filters), POV-shots, out-of-focus, slow motion, multiple images in one frame, moving camera
editing: fast cutting
mise-en-scène: lighting, striking decor/real location
narrative: conventional; extremely emotion-laden plots that trigger ‘subjective’ portrayal, psychological motivation
180 o rule
throwing lens out of focus
MAIN GOAL: enhance photogenie as much as possible

75
Q

Factors leading to the end of french impressionism

A

Surrealism
Different directions (experimental films)
sound
diffusion of their techniques = lessens their impact

76
Q

Post-WWI Germany

A

horror and trauma of war experience
Treaty of Versailles: ‘war guilt’, reparations, humiliation
reparations = debt and (hyper)inflation

77
Q

What led to the expansion of the German film industry?

A

1916: ban on foreign imports = impacts cinematic style/technique
greater interest in German films
Production studios intact but left with antiquated equipment from trade embargo > renew in 20s
Trade blockage boosted demand for locally produced films
Embrace of current artistic trend (Expressionism)
State funding for local film industry

78
Q

Important directors of german expressionism

A

Murnau, Lang, Sternberg

79
Q

Expressionism in Theatre

A

sets resembled Expressionist painting
distorted performance (shouting, broad gestures [jerky, pausing + suddenly moving], choreographed movement
expression of feelings

80
Q

Major traits of Expressionist films

A

stylized sets, with strange, distorted buildings”; “no attempt at realistic performance
Stress on Mise-en-Scène:
- exaggeration and repetition
- distorted spaces / objects
- ‘un-natural’ acting
- symmetry/juxtaposition of similar shapes

actor becomes part of set (visual component); set dictates action (set as ‘living’, expressive component)

Editing and Camerawork:
- simple editing, slower pace (time to scan composition)
- notable: close-ups to exhibit exaggeration in acting

Narrative:
- focus: ‘fantastic’ – past, exotic, horror; often frame tales

81
Q

difference between impressionism and expressionism?

A

Impressionism: character subjectivity through camerawork
Expressionism: setting/acting express ‘moods’
moods not just expression of individual but of societal situation: interior (character) and exterior (set) are expressive of each other

82
Q

The Kuleshov Effect

A

when leaving out a scene’s establishing shot:
“leading the spectator to infer spatial or temporal continuity from the shots of separate elements”, often relying on “eye-line match”
that in cinema the viewer’s response depended less on the individual shot than on the editing – the montage of shots

83
Q

Constructivism

A
  • art has social function (promoting right society), NOT contemplation or ‘higher truth’
  • artist skilled engineer (using tools)
  • artwork is machine, put together from parts (montage) (to elicit certain reaction)
  • biomechanical acting: machine-like, physical quality
84
Q

Eisenstein’s two successive conceptualizations of how art/film should work

A

montage of attractions
dialectical montage

85
Q

What is dialectical montage

A

the juxtaposition within/between seemingly unrelated shots to create a new meaning or idea that emerges from the collision of these images
montage = an idea that DERIVES from the collision between two shots that are independent of one another

86
Q

montage of attractions

A

series of exciting moments to stimulate viewer
- engage audience emotions for intellectual effect
- grasp ideas that escape attention in conventional form
- defamiliarize, to see anew => ideological conclusion

87
Q

Dialectical materialism

A

material conditions shape intellectual life
contradiction = progress/evolution , political-historical events result from the conflict of social forces (particularly through class struggle)

87
Q

soviet montage genres

A

historical, revolutionary movements

88
Q

Soviet Montage editing

A

dialectical montage: specific editing strategies to create tensions – temporally, spatially, graphically

temporal relations:
- overlapping editing (expands duration)
- elliptical editing (e.g jump cut, condenses duration)
- rapid, rhythmic editing: not subjective but evoke action

spatial relations:
- often no clear guidance: viewer must piece together space
- intercutting
- non-diegetic insert (metaphorical)

graphic relations:
- juxtapose images, creating graphic contrast (reversing orientation, direction composition between shots)

88
Q

soviet montage narrative

A
  • downplay individual characters as causal agents; instead social forces are causal agents
  • physical appearance as social type (person represents a social group)
  • audience engagement not from acting > editing
89
Q

Soviet Montage cinematography

A

aimed at maximizing editing juxtapositions (low and canted angles; avoid conventional framing)

90
Q

End of Soviet Montage movement

A
  • Increasing criticism towards end of 1920s
    accused of formalism: montage more interested in style than in advancing the Soviet ideology (more for ‘sophis-ticated foreigners’ than for peasants at home)
  • success Montage films made it financially possible to focus on domestic audiences
91
Q

Soviet Montage MES

A
  • tends toward realism (bc of historical/social subject matter)
  • costumes signal class position
  • contrasting lines, etc. (screen/scene space) > movement
  • lighting: often no fill (dark background, stark on character)
  • ‘typage’: non-actors based on ‘typical’ physical appearance; at same time: ‘eccentric’ and ‘biomechanic’ acting
92
Q

Editing: ‘The Connections’

A

cut
fade-out/-in
iris-in/-out
dissolve
wipe

ones that start to imply a relationship
cut-in (insert)
graphic match
eyeline match: shot of character looking, cut to what’s looked at

93
Q

Editing: Shot relations

A

graphic (interaction between the purely pictorial qualities (MES + cinematography)) (continuity: graphic match, discontinuity: graphic constrast)

rhythmic (interaction between on-screen duration series of shots => patterning of shot lengths establishes a rhythm)

spatial (editing constructs space: different shots show different points in space => together, reveal space of the film) (analytical - parts of establishing shot are analyzed, constructive - builds space by showing parts)

temporal (order, frequency, duration)

94
Q

discontinuity editing

A

focus more on graphic and rhythmic relations
de-emphasizing clear narrative linkage

95
Q

montage sequence

A

A segment of a film that summarizes a topic or compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images

96
Q

What does Vertov oppose

A

critical of fiction film: “psychological drama”, “adventure film”
Artificiality

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