Film Study

Question 1

Shot

Answer 1

One continuous piece of film footage, ending with an edit, or cut to the next shot

Question 2

Sequence

Answer 2

A series of shots combined to represent a discrete set of actions or a coherent narrative section

Question 3

Scene

Answer 3

Similar to a “sequence”, a series of shots combined to represent a set of actions happening within the same time and place

Question 4

Motif

Answer 4

Anything repeated more than a few times in a film. A motif can be visual (an image or cinematic technique), sonic (a sound or piece of music), or rhetorical (a word, phrase, metaphor, etc)

Question 5

Cinematography

Answer 5

A term used to define the ways in which the camera captures the shot. Includes camera lenses, how frames are shot, angle of the shot and camera movement

Question 6

Editing

Answer 6

How the individual shots are spliced together

Question 7

Mise-en-scène

Answer 7

The arrangement of actors and objects in front of the camera. Includes setting, lighting, costuming and acting

Question 8

Sound

Answer 8

Refers to sounds that come from the scene, e.g. spoken dialogue or ambient noise, and sounds that are imposed on the scene, e.g. voice-overs or musical scores

Question 9

Extreme long shot

Answer 9

Character’s full figure at a great distance, including panoramic view of the surroundings

Question 10

Long shot

Answer 10

Includes the character’s full figure as well as the surroundings

Question 11

Medium shot

Answer 11

Includes the figure from the waist up

Question 12

Close-up

Answer 12

Includes the character’s face with little to no background

Question 13

Extreme close-up

Answer 13

Includes a small part of the character’s body

Question 14

High angle

Answer 14

Looks down on the subject

Question 15

Low angle

Answer 15

Looks up at the subject

Question 16

Canted angle

Answer 16

Framing is tipped or no longer horizontal

Question 17

Pan

Answer 17

Scans horizontally from a fixed axis

Question 18

Tilt

Answer 18

Scans vertically from a fixed axis

Question 19

Track

Answer 19

Follows the action, traveling along a parallel path to capture the movement

Question 20

Deep focus

Answer 20

Objects in background and foreground are equally in focus

Question 21

Shallow focus

Answer 21

Only objects in one plane are in focus, while others are out of focus

Question 22

Rack focus

Answer 22

A shift from one plane of focus to another within a shot

Question 23

Superimposition

Answer 23

Images are overlaid within the frame

Question 24

Digital animation

Answer 24

Images created or modified by computer software

Question 25

Frame

Answer 25

Spatial parameters of a shot within which the scene is composed

Question 26

Composition

Answer 26

Arrangement of subjects, props and environments in a given shot

Question 27

Level of realism

Answer 27

Degree to which the world of the film resembles the audience’s familiar reality

Question 28

Diegetic sound

Answer 28

Sound produced in the world of the film, taking place within the narrative e.g. dialogue, sound effects, etc.

Question 29

Non-diegetic sound

Answer 29

Sound originating from outside the narrative, not produced in the on-screen setting e.g. voice-overs, soundtrack etc.