Film Vocab Quiz #1

Question 1

Aerial shot

Answer 1

A shot from a helicopter or plane that gives a “birds eye” view of a location.

Question 2

Auteur

Answer 2

Literally, French for “author.” Term used to describe directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplain, and others who had personal technique and vision.

Question 3

Camera Angle

Answer 3

The area of sight that a camera takes in when it is set up to shoot. The norm is arbitrarily based on a 35 mm camera with a 2-inch lens pointed at a scene from shoulder height.

Question 4

Closeup

Answer 4

A moving shot in which the camera, mounted on a crane, rises and/or descends as it views the action.

Question 5

Cut

Answer 5

A simple break in the film where two shots are joined together. Also, the term that the director says to the film crew to signal the end of a shot during filming.

Question 6

Deep Focus

Answer 6

A style of filming that relies upon a wide-angle lens, coated lenses, fast film, and powerful illumination to produce an image that possesses extreme depth of field (that is, in which the extreme foreground and extreme background appear in sharp focus). A film technique pioneered by Orsen Welles in Citizen Kane that is still used today.

Question 7

Director

Answer 7

The person who supervises the actual production of the motion picture. It is their interpretation of the script that gives the film its style and polish.

Question 8

Establishing Shot

Answer 8

A shot that functions to present the spatial parameters within which the action of a scene takes place. In classic “Hollywood Style,” establishing shots are used at the beginning of the movie to introduce the setting to the viewer.