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English 20-2 > Film Study > Flashcards

Film Study Flashcards

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1
Q

What does a film do?

A

A film does:

  • tells a story like a novel or short story
  • dramatizes a story like a play
  • contains sub text like music
  • present composed, coloured, and lit images like painting
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2
Q

What are the types of film study?

A

The types of film study are:

  • CLASSICISM is the style of the Golden Age films also known as Hollywood Classic Style
  • EXPRESSIONISM is the type where distortion of reality through the depiction of the tortured soul in a waking nightmare.
  • REALISM is the type to attempt to duplicate reality by using no -professional actors, or else achieving actors altogether in favour of “real” people on actual locations.
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3
Q

What terms comprise film language?

A

Film language includes the following terms:

  • The Shot
  • Camera Angle
  • Movement
  • Editing
  • Light
  • Sound
  • Colour
  • Composition
  • Shape
  • Line
  • Juxtaposition
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4
Q

Compare the basic elements of literature and media.

A

LITERATURE MEDIA
Diction - word choice Colour
Composition
Shots and angles

Figurative language Shapes and lines
Light

Symbolism Images
Juxtaposition
Movement

Point of a View Angles

Tone/mood Sound/music

Syntax - sentence construction Editing

Style Miss-en-scene

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5
Q

How do you create tone in literature?

A

In order to create tone in literature, authors use:

  • Diction (word choice)
  • Images (word picture)
  • Details (selective)
  • Language style
  • Sentence structure
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6
Q

How do directors create tone in a film?

A

Directors use the following to create tone in a film:

  • Choice of images
  • Sound/light
  • Selective details
  • Motion/music
  • Editing
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7
Q

How do you construct meaning in film?

A

To construct meaning in film, directors use:

  • storyboarding
  • shot construction
  • shot size
  • point of view
  • lighting
  • sound
  • set design and construction
  • costume and make-up
  • editing
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8
Q

What are some shot examples?

A

Some shot examples include:

  • long shot
  • medium shot
  • close-up
  • extreme close-up
  • establishing shot (low angle)
  • low angle
  • high angle
  • low, wide angle
  • aerial shot
  • crane shot
  • high key light
  • low key light
  • back lit
  • composition
  • light and colour influence perception and meaning
  • deep focus
  • the camera directs audience gaze
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9
Q

Define: FRAME

A

A frame is one still image on a strip of film (24 per second)

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10
Q

Define: SCENE

A

A scene is a single continuous action. It may be one master shot, but more often it is made up of many shots spliced together. The action that takes place in one location at one point of time.

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11
Q

Define: SEQUENCE

A

Sequence is a series of related scenes that are cut back to back.

For example, a car chase may be made up of several scenes shot in different locations and then edited together to make up a single significant dramatic unit.

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12
Q

Define: COMPOSITION

A

Composition is the arrangement of the parts of a picture within the frame. The predominant lines in a scene create an effect on the viewer.

For example, in the photography, the placement of visuals within a frame affects one’s response. The eye may be directed to a particular part of the picture and the picture may be deliberately cut off or “imprisoned” in the frame.

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13
Q

Define: MISE-EN-SCENE

A

Muse-en-scene is a holistic approach to constructing a frame. Everything that is visible in a given scene is selected by the director to communicate information to the viewer, both on a conscious level and subconscious level. It is a French term that means “put in the scene”. In film, it refers to almost everything that goes into the composition of the shot, including the composition itself: framing, movement of the camera and characters, lighting, set design, and general visual environment even sound as it helps elaborate the composition.

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14
Q

Define: SHOT

A

Shot is a continuous photographic “take” (uninterrupted) from “camera on” to “camera off”.

Editors assemble parts of or complete shots with other shots. Shots are linked by splices, dissolves, fades, or wipes.

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15
Q

Define: PROXEMICS

A

Proxemics is the apparent distance of the camera from the subject

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16
Q

Define: ANGLE

A

The angle is the camera’s view relative to the subject

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17
Q

Define: COMPOSITION

A

Composition is the placement of the elements of the visual in relation to one another

18
Q

Define: COMPOSITING

A

Compositing are shots from different sources are combined by computers or during the film processing stage to produce one image or effect

19
Q

Define/: PAN

A

Pan happens when the camera rotates horizontally on a fixed based from left to right or right to left.

20
Q

Define: TILT

A

Tilt is when the camera moves vertically on a fixed base to look up or down

21
Q

Define: ZOOM IN

A

In zoom in, the viewing field gradually closes in on the subject. This can be done at different speeds - fast or slow. The term “pull in” means the same thing.

22
Q

Define: ZOOM OUT

A

In zoom out, the viewing field gradually pulls away from the subject. This can be done at different speeds - fast or slow. This means the same as “pull out”

23
Q

What are the types of focus?

A

The types of focus are:

  • Deep focus is when the foreground and background images are in focus simultaneously and every element of the background and foreground remains in sharp focus
  • Dominant focus or Point of Focus is where the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to in the visual image
  • Shallow focus (aka soft focus) is one specific portion of the visual is i sharp focus while other elements of the composition remain blurred
  • Rack focus is when focus changes within a single shit, bringing certain objects into focus and making others blur
24
Q

What are the types of shot?

A

The types of shots are:

  • Long shot establishes the subject within the environment (establishes setting). The physical distance between camera (audience) and subject implies an emotional distance.
  • Extreme long shot is a panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter mile. In a extreme long shot, the human figure is barely visible or not visible at all.
  • Medium shot is one that approximates normal human perception as we tend to see others in a waist-to-head perspective. It separates characters from background and is often used in dialogue scenes.
  • Close shot (aka close-up) suggest more intimacy with a subject by isolating an element within the image. Because the close shot restricts vision, it can provide tension depending on the context of the shot. A close shot is a detailed shot showing just the head or a small, significant object. It is used largely to isolate a subject from the setting and from all other details so that the viewer will pay attention only to that point of focus.
  • Extreme close up shit offers close scrutiny and detail of a subject. It singles out a portion of the body or isolates a detail. It is used for symbolic purposes to reinforce the significance of an object, it may also be used to intensify an emotion or to create a horrific impression.
  • Full shot is when the subject fills the vertical space in the frame.
  • Point of view shot is a shot from the point of view of line of sight of a character. The camera see what’s the character supposedly sees. This may indicate that the camera is viewing the scene: from above (a high angle shot), from below (a low angle shot), from overhead (camera is directly above the scene), from ground level (camera is on the ground pointing upward), and from other positions that result in a specific effect.
  • Crane shot offers a “God’s eye view” of a subject. The camera is mounted on a moveable crane. A variation to the crane shot is an aerial shot taken from an airplane or helicopter.
25
Q

Define: REACTION SHOT

A

Reaction shot is form of medium shot that shows an actor’ reaction to a previous event.

26
Q

Define: ESTABLISHING SHOT

A

Establishing shit is a form of long shot used to describe where people or objects are located in the scene. It used to establish relationships of details that will be shown in later shots.

27
Q

Define: SHOT/REVERSE SHOT

A

Shot/reverse shot is two shots commonly linked. It is frequently used to show two people talking and listening to each other.

28
Q

What are the types of angles?

A

Types of angles are:

  • High angle is when the camera looks down on a subject. The impression produced is a diminished and vulnerable image. The point of focus often gets swallowed up by the setting - the point of focus may seem insignificant.
  • Low angle is when the camera looks up at a subject. The impression produced is an imposing, dominating one - sometime threatening. The audience is made to feel submissive, fearful, or insecure.
  • Wide angle offers a greater panorama without the camera have to move. The closer a wide angle lens is to a subject, the more the subject’s image will distort.
  • Flat angle (aka eye level shot) happens when the camera is at eye level and on the same plane as the subject - a neutral shot. It communicates a sense of equality between character and the audience. It also communicates a sense of sincerity and honesty as we look the character “in the eye”.
  • Bird’s eye angle is when the camera shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. This angle does out the audience in a godlike position - looking down on the action.
  • Canted angle (aka Dutch angle) is when the camera is tilted (not placed horizontal to floor level) to suggest imbalance, transition, and instability. The world may be considered “out of joint”.
  • Angle of Destiny is when the camera is positioned at a high angle from a diagonal in the “ceiling” (or where a ceiling would be). This angle suggests omniscience - a moment of great contemplation of decision. It is often held for an extended period of time.
29
Q

What are the terms to Sequential Images?

A

The terms to sequential images are:

  • Panel is a box which gives a given scene.
  • Border is the outline of a panel.
  • Gutter is the space between panels.
  • Balloons is the container of the text dialogue spoken by a character.
  • Timing and rather is the manipulation of the elements of time to achieve a specific message or emotion
30
Q

What are the terms specific to describe the movement of a camera?

A

The terms to describe the movement of a camera are:

  • Cut is an instantaneous change from one shot to another.
  • Dissolve is the gradual disappearance of one shot while another shot gradually appears and comes into clear focus.
  • Dolly shot (aka tracking shot) is when the camera follows action from a position that moves with the subject and parallel to its movement. The camera is mounted in a cart or some other vehicle so that it can move steadily alongside the subject and keep pace with it. It creates a smooth effect while the entire action is captured.
  • Fade in/out is ending the scene by underexposing to black or overexposing to white or the beginning the scene in the same manner. The fade in/out is usually used to indicate the passage of time or a change in location in the narrative.
  • Flash cut is when the cut is a bright flash of light.
  • Iris in/out is when the new image appears as an expanding circle in the middle of the old image or the old image becomes a contracting circle that disappears into the new image.
  • Jump cut is several cuts in succession creating a sense of discontinuity by violating the rules if temporarily.
  • Match cut is when an action begins in one scene and is connected by a similar action in the next scene. This implies a connection between the two
  • Match dissolve is an image from the first sequence retains its “shape” as the image from the second sequence dissolves in. A match dissolves implies a symbolic connection between the two images and sequences.
  • Pan is a contraction of the panoramic and is used to describe the movement of the camera from side to side (horizontal movement) on a vertical axis to follow the action in a scene. A left to right pan mimics our normal reading style and therefore, is comfortable to the audience. A right to left pan is unusual and crates a sense of tension.
  • Point of view is a shot that is taken from the perspective of a character in a sequential or moving image; we see what the character sees.
  • Superimposition is exposure of more than one image on the same film strip.
  • Swish pan is an extremely quick pan, appearing as a blurred image. It links the two sequences with a sense of action or urgency.
  • Tilt is when the camera moves vertically up or down on a horizontal axis to record a person climbing a flight of stairs or an object falling from a height.
  • Transitions is the editing technique that joins two scenes of a moving image together.
  • Wipe is a transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating the first shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one. The images do not blend as in a dissolve.
  • Zolly (also known as a dolly zoom or a trombone) happens as the camera lens zoom in on a point of focus, the camera Unit dollies backwards, creating a sense of dizzying epiphany
31
Q

How do actors move?

A

Actors movements include:

  • Movement away from the camera gives a feeling of depth to the scene. Psychologically it tells the audience that someone is “out of the picture” - is leaving physically and possibly symbolically.
  • Movement towards the camera can be used to shock an audience. It invites the audience into the action.
  • Slow motion emphasizes all aspects of the shot for maximum emotional effect.
  • Fast motion creates a comic effect or frenzied mood.
32
Q

What are the types of sound used in films?

A

The types of speech, noise, and music used in films are:

  • Diegetic sound is sound that has a source I. The story (spoken words, natural sounds, etc.)
  • Nondiegetic sound is sound coming from a source outside the film (most common is music artificially added to enhance the film’s action or drama)
  • Voice over is a voice of a non-visible narrator over the picture. It gives the effect if steaming with knowledge or authority.
  • Onscreen sound is the source of the sound is in the story - diegetic - and visible onscreen within the shot.
  • Offscreen sound is the sounds that come from within the story - diegetic - but are in a space outside the limits of the frame (for example, we may hear a character speak but we may not see him/her onscreen).
  • Music often enhances the emotion the director and/or the s writer is trying to portray.
33
Q

Define: EDITING

A

Editing is the process of joining shots together. Editing creates rhythm, influences the pace if the film, creates atmosphere, indicates relationships and achieves transitions. It is probably one of the most important and least notices aspects of filming.

34
Q

What are the components of editing?

A

The components of editing are:

  • Fade is when the scene gradually disappears into gray or black.
  • Dissolve to is when one scene gradually fades away as the next scene becomes clearer over top
  • Cut to is an instant shift from one scene or shot type to another
  • Superimpose is when an image is put overtop of or behind another image.
  • Background is the area of a visual that appears to be in the distance and provides context for objects in the foreground.
  • Foreground is the area of a visual that appears closest to the viewer.
  • Subsidiary details is when the viewer’s eye is drawn after the point of focus. Accomplished through the use of directionality, depth of focus, light,and interval framing. The artist’s intention is that the eye will move to “read” subsidiary details while reinterpreting the whole frame only after recognizing the initial effect created by the point of focus. An interpretive reading of the visual can thus be described as the synthesis of the interplay between the point of focus and details.
  • Rule of Thirds is a composition in photography to the arrangement of elements in a image. Those elements can be subjects, foregrounds, background, and subsidiary details. They can also be colour, focus, and balance. A visual is more appealing and can better establish the point of focus, create tension, and motion by implying the rule.
  • Depth of field is the distance in front of and beyond the subject that appears in focus. It is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptable sharp focus in a photograph. When everything is focused, a photograph is describes as having a wide depth of field.
  • Vanishing Point is parallel lines that move away from the viewer until they converge at the horizon and look like they vanish.
  • Internal framing is a frame that limits the point of focus, symbolically suggesting entrapment, protection, and isolation.
  • Open space is the point of focus surrounded by space that is purposefully left empty or uncluttered. The subject appears vulnerable, isolated, or solitary.
  • Negative space is used to describe parts of an image within a frame that are not the subject. It is used to create anxiety or anticipation.
35
Q

How do you edit using the Rule of Thirds?

A

Rule of Thirds:

  • Divide a photograph into an imaginary 3 x 3 grid and place points of interest at the points where the lines on the grid intersect. In theory, the point of focus should be position at one-third distance from the edges of the frame,
36
Q

Define: LIGHTING

A

Lighting adds to mood and tone of images. The absence of light and use of shadows is a critical as the presence of light in filming.

37
Q

What are the terms associated with lighting in filming?

A

The terms associated with lighting in filming are:

  • Back lighting is lighting from behind that produces silhouettes.
  • Chiaroscuro is the arrangements of light and dark elements in a visual. It is used usually for symbolic intent or to establish mood.
  • Direction of Light Source can be overhead, side lighting, back lighting, light from below, angel light (back lighting which creates a halo of light around subject’s hair).
  • Directionality is the elements of the visual (lines, light source, etc) that direct the viewer to “read” the image in a particular manner, such as from left to right or bottom to top.
  • High key Lighting is when the scene is lit brightly, as if in mid day sunlight. The ratio of key light to fill is small, creating brilliant illuminations, few shadows and a minimum contrast. Bright, even illumination and few conspicuous shadows, comparatively little contrast between the light and dark areas of the shot. It is favored in Hollywood comedies and light dramas.
  • Line may be used as an element of directionality (encouraging the perception of “movement”) or as a literal or figurative boundary within the frame.
  • Low key Lighting is a lighting style in which the majority of a scene is scarcely lit. It produces shadows and darkness around the subject which emphasizes diffused shadows and atmospheric pools of light. There is strong contrast between light and dark areas of the shot. Sometimes only a portion of the subject isl it. It usually enhanced by dark costumes and sets.
  • Siding lighting is when the point of focus is half lit while the other half is in darkness. The photographer/filmmaker may be suggesting a certain ambiguity or perhaps a psychological self-division.
  • Three Point Lighting is a common arrangement using three directions of light on a scene: from behind the subjects (back lighting); from one bright source (key light); and from a dimmer source opposite the key light (fill light).
  • Top Lighting is when the lighting of a subject from above may create a romantic “halo” effect. It suggests purity.
  • Under Lighting is lighting of the subject from below which makes the point of focus sinister and threatening.
  • Unmotivated Lighting is intense, bright light from an unseen, impossible source that illuminates the point of focus.
38
Q

Define: COLOR VALUES

A

Color values are consideration of color used for symbolic intent. Cultural context must always be considered.

Color values also refer to the coloration of visual texts in that a brilliant vs subdued, monochromatic vs natural palate reinforces and/or conveys mood and theme.

Costuming choices is a good place to consider color values in film.

39
Q

What are the meanings of colors in filming?

A

The meanings of colors in film are:

  • Red commands attention. It is exciting, stimulating, evocative of danger, love and lust.
  • Blue is nonthreatening. It is calm, wholesome and healthy.
  • Yellow is welcoming. It is friendly, happy and secure.
  • Green is youthful and fresh. It is associated with nature, growth, and relaxation.
  • Purple is royal. It is dignified, expensive (especially when paired with gold).
  • Black is mysterious, sophisticated, gloomy and threatening.
  • Brown is earthy, warm, comforting and homey.
  • White is purity and innocent. Healthy.
  • Pastels (blue and pink) is innocent and calming.
  • Orange is energy, blaance, heat, fire, enthusiasm and autumn
40
Q

What kinds of effect or information do shapes mean in films?

A

The effects of information shapes provide are:

  • Rounded shapes convey relaxing, feminine, inviting and sensual.
  • Angular and straight shapes convey masculine, and power.
  • Jagged shaped convey upsetting and threatening emotions.
41
Q

What kinds of effects or information do lines provide in films?

A

The kinds of effects or information lines provide in films are:

  • Horizontal Lines convey soothing, relaxing and peaceful feelings
  • Vertical lines inspire awe
  • Diagonal lines implies action or movement
42
Q

What are some considerations for Film Analysis?

A

Considerations for Film Analysis include:

NARRATIVE

  1. Is this a linear narrative or a fragmented one? Does it contain a definite beginning, middle and end or does is unfold through a series of flashbacks, contrasting or varied points of view, and/or seemingly unrelated events.
  2. Consider the protagonist’s purpose or goal.
  3. What information is implied, leaving the audience to interpret it?
  4. How are we encouraged to identify with the protagonist and to see the protagonist as an idealized version of ourselves?
  5. Are there key symbols, images, or motifs that define character and theme?
  6. Are effects used to support character and narrative, or do they exist for their visceral impact?
  7. What contrasting messages are presented in the film?
  8. Are there are controversial elements in the film such as language, sex, or violence?

CHARACTER

  1. How is the central character introduced to the audience? Is there an element of mystery to the character’s personality that the audience discovers as the plot unfolds?
  2. What details are provided in the images that help define the protagonist’s personality?
  3. In what way can you identify with the film’s protagonists or central character?
  4. Are there familiar character “types’ and archetypes in the film, such as lone hero, maverick her, anti-hero, foreign villain, rich villain, cruel villain, conventional female types of mother, fallen woman as helpmate or temptress?

EDITING

  1. How is tension created through editing?
  2. How does editing contribute to an objective point of view of events versus a character’s subjective pint of view?
  3. Does editing contribute to varied pints of view simultaneously?

LIGHTING

  1. Are scenes brightly lit?
  2. What is the purpose of such lighting?
  3. Does lighting focus on a character or object? Why?

COLOR

  1. Consider how color is applied to the overall “look” of the film, to character costuming, and to props.
  2. Consider the purpose of color choices.

CAMERA PLACEMENT

  1. What do we see? How do we see it? Why do we see action, events, characters and objects this way?
  2. How does a shot serve the narrative?
  3. What sounds accompany the shot?
  4. Are subjects center framed on the screen?
  5. How do details in the frame contribute to character, plot advancement or commentary on theme?

MUSIC

  1. How does music define the atmosphere, mood, and tone of a scene?
  2. Does music comment on a character. Does music define or identify characters?

SPACE
1. How does use of space within the frame comment on character or situation?
Does use of space relate to a character’s state of mind?

TIME

  1. How is time shown to elapse?
  2. How does spatial change relate to time passing?

GENRE CONSIDERATION

  1. What are familiar elements, settings, environment, images, props, situations, events, character types, themes, mood, atmosphere of a particular genre?
  2. What social or political commentary does the genre film contain?

CODES AND CONVENTIONS
These are film making shortcuts that the audience understands to save time and move the narrative forward without undue explanation. Determine what codes and conventions have been used to relate to the narrative.

STARS

  1. Is the star’s role typical of other role the star has played?
  2. Does the star’s character conform to audience expectations based on previous characters the star has portrayed or is the star playing against type?

DIRECTOR

  1. Are this film’s themes representative of themes in other films made by this director?
  2. What features of style make this director’s films recognizable and identifiable as belonging to the director’s body of work?

COMPOSITION
Full screen vs wide screen

English 20-2 (7 decks)

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