Study Guide #2

Question 1

Production Code

Answer 1

The American film industry’s censorship arm. The Code was introduced in 1930 but not enforced until 1934. It was revived in the 1950’s and was scrapped in favor of the present rating system in 1968.

Question 2

Close-up

Answer 2

A detailed view of a person or object, usually without much context provided. A close-up of an actor generally includes only is or her head.

Question 3

Shot

Answer 3

Those images that are recorded continuously from the time the camera starts until the time it stops. That is, an unedited strip of film.

Question 4

slow motion

Answer 4

Shots of a subject photographed at a faster rate than twenty-four frames per second, which when projected at the standard rate produce a dreamy, dancelike slowness of action.

Question 5

Surrealistic

Answer 5

An Avant-Garde movement in the arts stressing Freudian and Marxist ideas, unconscious elements, irrationalism, and the symbolic association of ideas. Dreamlike and bizarre, surrealist movies were produced roughly from 1924 to 1931, primarily in France, though there are still surrealistic elements in the works of many directors.

Question 6

Scene

Answer 6

An imprecise unit of film, composed of a number of interrelated shots, unified usually by a central concern–a location, an incident, or a minor dramatic climax.

Question 7

Setup

Answer 7

The position of the camera and lights for a specific shot.

Question 8

Lengthy takes

Answer 8

A shot of lengthy duration.

Question 9

Epic

Answer 9

A film genre characterized by bold and sweeping themes, usually in heroic proportions. The protagonist is usually an ideal representative of a culture–national, religious, or regional. The tone of most epics is dignified, the treatment larger-than-life. The western is the most popular epic genre in the United States.

Question 10

Deep Focus

Answer 10

A technique of photography which permits all distance planes to remain clearly in focus, from close-up ranges to infinity.

Question 11

Take

Answer 11

A variation on a specific shot. The final is often selected from a number of possible takes.

Question 12

Oeuvre

Answer 12

From the French “work.” The complete works of an artist, viewed as a
whole.

Question 13

Stars

Answer 13

A film actor or actress of great popularity

Question 14

Expressionism

Answer 14

A style of filmmaking that distorts time and space as ordinarily perceived in reality. Emphasis is placed on the essential characteristics of objects and people, not necessarily on their superficial appearance. Typical expressionist techniques are fragmentary editing, extreme angles and lighting effects, and the use of distorting lenses and special effects.

Question 15

Producer-director

Answer 15

A filmmaker who finances projects independently to allow maximum creative freedom.

Question 16

Crane shot

Answer 16

A shot taken from a special device called a crane, which resembles a huge mechanical arm. The crane carries the camera and the cinematographer and can move in virtually any direction.

Question 17

Program films (programmers)

Answer 17

A low-budget movie usually shown as the second feature during the big studio era in America. B films rarely included important stars and took the form of popular genres, like thrillers, westerns, horror films, etc. The major studios used them as testing grounds for the raw talent under contract and as their filler product.

Question 18

Tracking shot/Dolly shot

Answer 18

A shot taken from a moving vehicle. Originally tracks were laid on the set to permit a smoother movement of the camera. Today even a smooth hand-held traveling shot is considered a variation of the dolly shot.

Question 19

Dissolve

Answer 19

The slow fading out of one shot and the gradual fading in of its successor, with a superimposition of images, usually at the midpoint.

Question 20

Serials

Answer 20

A now extinct genre, used as a prelude to the main feature. Serials were installments of a continuous story (usually a melodrama or fantasy), strung out for twelve or fifteen weeks, one chapter (twenty minutes) per week. Each chapter concluded with a cliff-hanger ending.

Question 21

Editing

Answer 21

The joining of one shot (strip of film) with another. The shots can picture events and objects in different places at different times. Editing is called montage in Europe.

Question 22

New Wave

Answer 22

A group of young French filmmakers who came to prominence during the late 1950’s. The most widely known are Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Goddard, and Alain Resnais.

Question 23

Avant-Garde

Answer 23

From the French, meaning “in front ranks.” Those minority artists whose works are characterized by an unconventional daring and by obscure, controversial, or highly personal ideas.

Question 24

Realism

Answer 24

A style of filmmaking which attempts to duplicate the look of reality as it’s ordinarily perceived, with emphasis on authentic locations and details, an unobtrusive camera style, and a minimum of editing and special effects.

Question 25

Double exposures

Answer 25

The superimposition of two literally unrelated images on film.

Question 26

Matte shot

Answer 26

The process of combining two separate shots on one print, resulting in an image that looks as though it had been photographed normally. Used mostly for special effects, such as combining a human figure with giant dinosaurs, and so on.

Question 27

Animation

Answer 27

A form of filmmaking characterized by photographing inanimate subjects or individual drawings frame by frame, with each frame differing minutely from its predecessor.

Question 28

Film noir

Answer 28

A French term–literally, “black cinema”–referring to a kind of urban American genre that sprang up after World War II. Archetypal film noir revolve around an existentially despairing universe where there is no escape from mean city streets, loneliness, and death. Stylistically, film noir emphasizes low-key and high-contrast lighting, complex compositions, and a strong atmosphere of dread and paranoia.

Question 29

Pan

Answer 29

Short for panorama, this is a revolving horizontal movement of the camera from left to right or vice versa.

Question 30

Fade

Answer 30

A fade-out is the snuffing of an image from normal brightness to a black screen. A fade-in is the slow brightening of the image form a black screen to normal.

Question 31

Freeze

Answer 31

A shot composed of a single frame that is reprinted a number of times on the filmstrip which, when projected, gives the illusion of a still photograph.

Question 32

Angles

Answer 32

The camera’s angle of view relative to the subjects being photographed. A high angle shot is photographed from above; a low angle from below the subject.

Question 33

Chiaroscuro lighting

Answer 33

Dramatic use of light and dark, with little use for midrange grays. Often used for intense, dramatic subjects or by particularly visual directors.

Question 34

Flashback

Answer 34

An editing technique that suggests the interruption of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the past.

Question 35

Rushes

Answer 35

The selected footage of the previous day’s shooting, which is usually evaluated by the director and cinematographer before the start of the next day’s shooting.

Question 36

Montage

Answer 36

Transitional sequences of rapidly edited images, used to suggest the lapse of time or the passing of events. Often employs dissolves and multiple exposures. In Europe, “montage” means the art of editing.

Question 37

Social Realism

Answer 37

A loose term encompassing films that point out flaws in the social structure. Examples include the Warner Brothers films of the 1930’s, the neorealist films of post world-war 2 Italy , and the British “Kitchen Sink” school of the late 1950’s

Question 38

Genre

Answer 38

A recongizable type of movie, characterized by pre-established conventions. Some common american genres are westerns, musicals, thrillers, comedies.

Question 39

Neorealism

Answer 39

An Italian film movement that produced its best works between 1945 and 1955. Strongly realistic in this technical biases, the movement emphasized documentary aspects of film are, stressing loose episodic plots, natural lighting, actual location settings, nonprofessional actors, and a preoccupation with poverty and social problems.

Question 40

Mise en Scene

Answer 40

The arrangement of visual weights and movements within a given space. In the live theatre, the space is usually defined by the proscenium arch; in movies, by the frame which encloses the images. Cinematic mise en scene encompasses both the staging of the action and the way that it’s photographed.

Question 41

Voice-over

Answer 41

A non-synchronous spoken commentary in a movie, often used to convey a character’s thoughts or memories.

Question 42

Go-fer

Answer 42

A minor functionary or assistant whose job is mainly to assist a major functionary. a go-fer, goes for coffee, sandwiches and so on

Question 43

Production Values

Answer 43

The box office appeal of the physical mounting of a film, such as sets, costumes, and special effects. Spectale pictures are generally the most lavish in their production values.

Question 44

Marxist

Answer 44

A person who subscribes to the economic. social, political, and philosophical theories of Karl Marx. Any artistic work reflecting these values.

Question 45

Back Lot

Answer 45

During the studio era in the United States, standing exterior sets of such common locales as a frontier town, a turn-of-the-century city block, a European village, and so on.

Question 46

Tilt shot/oblique angle

Answer 46

A shot photographed by a tilted camera. When the image is projected on the screen, the subject seems to be tilted on a diagonal.

Question 47

High contrast lighting

Answer 47

A style of lighting emphasizing harsh shafts and dramatic streaks of lights and darks.

Question 48

Widescreen

Answer 48

movie image which has an aspect ratio of approximately 5 by 3, though some widescreens posess horizontal distances that extend as wide as 2.5 times the vertical dimension of the screen

Question 49

close-up

Answer 49

A detailed view of a person or object, usually without much context provided. A close-up of an actor generally includes only his or her head.

Question 50

Medium shot

Answer 50

A relatively close shot revealing a moderate amount of detail. A medium shot of a figure generally includes the body from the knees or waist up.

Question 51

Left wing

Answer 51

A political term used to describe the acceptance, at least in part, of the economic, social, and philosophical ideas of Karl Marx.

Question 52

Blacklisted

Answer 52

During the anti-Communist hysteria of the late 1940’s and 1950’s, many writers, actors, and directors were forbidden employment in the American studios, because of their political beliefs or former beliefs. Blacklisted artists were left-wing in their values.

Question 53

Neorealism

Answer 53

An Italian film movement that produced its best works between 1945 and 1955. Stongly realistic in its technical biases, the movement emphasized documentary aspects of film art, stressing loose episodic plots, natural lighting, actual location settings, nonprofessional actors, and a preoccupation with poverty and social problems.

Question 54

Social Realism

Answer 54

A loose term encompassing films that point out flaws in the social structure. Examples include the Warner Brothers films of the late 1930’s, the neorealist films of post-World War II Italy, and the British “Kitchen Sink” school of the late 1950’s.

Question 55

The Method

Answer 55

An interior style of acting derived from the theories of Constantin Stanislavsky, emphasizing emotional intensity, psychological truth, ensemble playing, and the illusion of spontaneity. Since the 1950’s, the Method has been the dominant american style of acting.

Question 56

Subtext

Answer 56

A term used in drama and film to signify the dramatic implications beneath the language of a play or movie. Often the subtext concerns ideas and emotions that are totally independent of the language of the text.

Question 57

Realists

Answer 57

A style of film-making which attempts to duplicate the look of reality as it’s ordinarily perceieved, with emphasis on authentic locations and details, an unobtrusive camera style, and a minimum of editing and special effects.

Question 58

Story Values

Answer 58

The narrative appeal of a movie, which can reside in the popularity of an adapted story, the high craftsmanship of a script or both.

Question 59

Persona

Answer 59

From the Latin “mask”. An actor’s public image, based on his or her previous roles and often incorporating elements from his or her actual personality as well. A form of precharacterization.

Question 60

First run

Answer 60

A film’s initial release pattern, in which most of it’s profits are earned. After it’s first run, the movie is then rented to second-run “neighborhood” theaters, television, cable stations, etc.

Question 61

Storyboarding

Answer 61

A previsualization technique in which shots are sketched in advance and in sequence, like a comic strip, thus allowing the film-maker to outline the mise en scene and construct the editing continuity before the production begins.

Question 62

Editing

Answer 62

The joining of one shot (strip of film) with another. The shots can picture events and objects in different places at different times. editing is called a “montage” in Europe.

Question 63

Setup

Answer 63

The position of the camera and lights for a specific shot.

Question 64

Motif

Answer 64

any obtrusive technique, object, or thematic idea that is systematically repeated throughout the film

Question 65

Revisionist

Answer 65

The latter phrase of a genre’s evolution in which many of its values and conventions are challenged or subjected to skeptical scruntiny.

Question 66

HUAC

Answer 66

Congressional house Un-american activities committee