Visual Literacy Flashcards
What are visual techniques used to do?
- establish a context/location
- emphasize an element of character
- emphasize a plot detail
- increase tension
- establish a connection between plot elements
- highlight a relationship
- evoke an emotional response
- speed up or slow down the pace of the film
What is static art?
Still images in photographs, drawings, paintings, posters, ads.
What is sequencial art?
Images which move from frame to frame in print form which appears in storyboard, graphic novel, comic strips, and the photo essay.
What is film study?
Study of a moving image which is filmed.
What is a shot?
Continuous, unedited piece of film of any length.
What is a scene?
A series of shots edited together.
What is a sequence?
A series of scenes edited together.
What is parallel action?
Narrative strategy that crosscuts between two or more seperate actions to create the illusion that they are occuring simultaneously.
What is objective camera?
Scene is shot from the viewpoint of a spectator watching from outside the scene.
What is subjective camera?
Scene is shot from the viewpoint of a character directly involved in the scene.
What is off-screen action?
Something we hear but takes place outside the frame. (character/actor heard outside of camera view)
What is screen?
Refers to the actual physical screen on which we play a film.
What is voice-over (VO)?
Words spoken off-screen and heard over the visual shots. (narrator)
What is blocking a shot/scene?
Process of finding camera position, lighting, actor positions, and movements for each shot.
What is a set?
Refers to the actual construction in which the actors are filmed.
What is a prop?
Any object on a set, though clearly, the objects that characters will touch become more important.
What are costumes?
What the characters are wearing.
What is a hook?
The opening sequences in a film catching the audiences’ attention and draw them into the plot.
What is a caption?
Printed line(s) of text appearing at the bottom of the screen to describe the setting or to translate foreign words.
What is mise-en-scene?
French for ‘‘put in scene.’’ It means placing on stage. Refers to everything in the frame of a static/moving image (ex. lighting, props, setting, noise, etc).
What is space?
Used in individual shots to create symbolic meaning or dramatic effect. People and objects may be places in formal patterns and shapes to add another layer of meaning.
What are proxemics?
Camera shots; refers to spatial relationships among characters in the mise-en-scene and the apparent distance of the camera from the subject being filmed/photographed.
What is an extreme long shot?
(ELS) shows landscapes or view of whole world, town, or city. Purpose:
- establishing shot
- emphasize vulnerability
- establish ‘‘awe-inspiring’’ mood
What is a long shot?
(LS) overall view from a distance of a character’s environment; subject’s whole body and entire area of action is shown.
Purpose: - establish setting
- introduce main characters
- indicate emotional separation
What is a full shot?
(FS) variation of the long shot, showing the full subject to head/top to toe/bottom.
What is a medium (mid) shot?
Shows the subject from the mid shin or mid-thigh up.
Purpose: - emphasize the relationship between two characters
- separates characters from the background (often in a dialogue scene)
What is a close shot?
(CS) subject is shown typically from the waist up.
What is a close up shot?
(CU) focuses on the subject’s face (details, expressions, and reactions). Shows head or head/shoulders. May also focus on a small object (ex. a flower).
Purpose: - for emphasis
What is an extreme close up shot?
(ECU) variation of the close-up and singles out a portion of the face or isolates a detail (ex. a person’s eyes). May magnify the image to the point of distortion. Often used as a cut-in and instantaneous shift from a distant framing to a closer view of some portion of the same space.
Purpose: - to call attention to key elements often for symbolic significance
- may intensify an expression
What is a tracking/dolly shot?
Single continuous shot made with a camera moving along the ground usually on a dolly.
What is a subjective shot?
Point of view shot; framed from a particular character’s point of view. Audience sees what the character sees.
What is an aerial shot?
Filmed from a helicopter, plane, balloon, kite, blimp, now more commonly drone.
What is a crane shot?
A shot (usually a pan or tilt) in which a crane is used to lift the camera above the action looking down on it.
What is an arc shot?
Subject is filmed by an encircling or moving camera.
What is a boom shot?
A continuous single shot made from a pole with a camera suspended from it (held just above the action).
What is an establishing/ master shot?
Shows overall view of a location or all of the actors in a scene. Usually wide or long shot to orient the viewer to the scene. Other shots often edited.
purpose: - establish the relationship of details which will be emphasized in later shots
What is a hand-held shot?
Tripod and dolly are not used on purpose; camera is held by hand.
Purpose: - creates a sense of anxiety/confucion (unsteady movement)
- involves audience directly in scene with character movement
- add realism
What is a reaction shot?
Medium shot which shows a subject’s reaction.
What is a shot/reverse shot?
two shots commonly linked- frequently used to show two people talking and listening to each other.
What is an over-the-shoulder shot?
Gives us a character’s point of view but includes part of that character’s shoulder or side of the head in the shot.
What is the bird’s eye view angle?
Camera seems to be places virtually on top of the subject looking straight down towards the subject and ground.
What is high angle?
The camera shoots down at the subject.
purpose: - used to increate vulnerability
- shows powerlessness (inferiority)
- shows small size
What is low angle?
Camera shoots up at the subject.
purpose: - used to show large size
- shows power (status/superiority)
- used to inspire awe
What is a straight/flat angle?
Camera is at eye level (most common shot)
purpose: - shows equality, sincerity, and honesty between the subject and audience
What is an oblique/dutch/canted angle?
Shot by tilting the camera frame off of its normal vertical axis and making subjects look asknew (off-kilter).
purpose: - creates a sense of confusion and disorientation
- emphasizes a strange mood
- suggest a subjective viewpoint (ex. character is drunk)
- could suggest a symbolic imbalance
What is a wide angle?
Offers a greater panorama without having to pan or move the camera.
What is fisheye lens?
It is like looking into a mirrored glass ball; it creates an exaggerated linear distortion.
What is fourth wall?
Idea comes from a stage by 3 walls with an imaginary 4th wall that marks the boundary of the on-stage action. In movies it exists to separate the story from the viewer. ‘‘Breaking the fourth wall’’ character talks directly to the audience, can be funny or disturbing.
What is a bridging shot?
Used to ‘‘bridge’’ a jump in time, place, or other discontinuity (ex. map).
What is a jump cut?
Cut that visually jars or disturbs the viewer, most often by mkaing a break in the continuity of a scene.
What is a cut?
The end of a shot.
What is a cutway?
A shot inserted into the master/establishing shot to focus on some elements of the scene.
What is cross cutting?
Cutting back and forth between 2 scenes to create the impression that they are happening at the same time.
What is a fade in?
Going from black (nothing on screen) to a shot.
What is a fade out?
Go from a shot to black.
What is a dissolve?
One image gradually fades in while siumultaneously, another fades out so far a moment both are visible. ‘‘bleed into each other’’
What is match-cut dissolve?
Any audio/visual transition that uses audio/visual transition that uses elements from a previous scene to fluidly go to the next scene.
What is a match on action cut dissolve?
Connect two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in the first shot by possibly a different character.
What is a graphic match cut dissolve?
Connects two shots cut together by having an object in one shot connect to the same object or a similar one (in shape) in a second shot for various purpose. (ex. jump in scene or time)
What is a colour graphic match cut dissolve?
Connects two shots cut together by having a key colour in one shot connect to the similar colour in a second shot.
What is a symbolic graphic match cut dissolve?
Connects two shots cut together by having a significant object in one shot connect symbolically to a dissimilar object in a second shot.