Bordwell's Film Art Terms

Front 1

aspect ratio

Back 1

the relationship of the frame's width to its height

Front 2

axis of action

Back 2

in the continuity editing system, the imaginary line that passes from side to side through the main actors, defining the spatial relations of all the elements of the scene as being to the right or left

Front 3

backlighting

Back 3

illumination cast onto the figures in the scene from the side opposite the camera, usually creating a thin outline of highlighting on those figures

Front 4

canted framing

Back 4

a view in which the frame is not level; either the right or the left side is lower than the other, causing objects in the scene to appear slanted out of an upright position

Front 5

continuity editing

Back 5

a system of cutting to maintain continuous and clear narrative action; relies on matching screen direction, position, and temporal relations from shot to shot

Front 6

crane shot

Back 6

a shot with a change in framing accomplished by placing the camera above the subject and moving through the air in any direction

Front 7

crosscutting

Back 7

editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously

Front 8

cut

Back 8

in filmmaking, the joining of two strips of film together with a splice; in the finished film, an instantaneous change from one framing to another

Front 9

deep focus

Back 9

a use of the camera lens and lighting that keeps objects in both close and distant planes in sharp focus

Front 10

deep space

Back 10

an arrangement of mise-en-scene elements so that there is a considerable distance between the plane closest to the camera and the one farthest away

Front 11

depth of field

Back 11

the measurements of the closest and farthest planes in front of the camera lens between which everything will be in sharp focus

Front 12

dialogue overlap

Back 12

in editing a scene, arranging the cut so that a bit of dialogue coming from a shot is heard under a shot that shows another character or another element in the scene

Front 13

diegetic sound

Back 13

any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a source within the film's world

Front 14

discontinuity editing

Back 14

any alternative system of joining shots together using techniques unacceptable within continuity editing principles, including mismatching of temporal and spatial relations, violations of the axis of action, and concentration on graphic relationships

Front 15

dissolve

Back 15

a transition between two shots during which the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; for a moment the two images blend in superimposition

Front 16

elliptical editing

Back 16

shot transitions that omit parts of an event, causing an ellipsis in plot duration

Front 17

establishing shot

Back 17

a shot, usually involved in distant framing, that shows the spatial relations among the important figures, objects and setting in a scene

Front 18

exposure

Back 18

the adjustment of the camera mechanism in order to control how much light strikes each frame of film passing through the aperture

Front 19

eyeline match

Back 19

a cut obeying the axis of action principle, in which the first shot shows a person looking off in one direction and the second shows a nearby space containing what he or she sees

Front 20

fade

Back 20

fade in: a dark screen that gradually brightens as shot appears
fade out: a shot gradually disappears as the screen darkens

Front 21

fill light

Back 21

illumination from a source less bright than the key light, used to soften deep shadows in a scene

Front 22

frontal lighting

Back 22

illumination directed into the scene from a position near the camera

Front 23

frontality

Back 23

the positioning of figures so that they face the viewer

Front 24

gauge

Back 24

the width of the film strip, measured in millimeters

Front 25

graphic match

Back 25

two successive shots joined so as to create a strong similarity of compositional elements

Front 26

hand-held camera

Back 26

the use of the camera operator's body as a camera support

Front 27

hard lighting

Back 27

illumination that creates sharp-edged shadows

Front 28

high-key lighting

Back 28

illumination that creates comparatively little contrast between the light and dark areas of the shot

Front 29

intellectual montage

Back 29

the juxtaposition of a series of images to create an abstract idea not present in any one image

Front 30

jump cut

Back 30

an elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a single shot

Front 31

key light

Back 31

in the three point lighting system, the brightest illumination coming into the scene

Front 32

long take

Back 32

a shot that continues for an unusually lengthy time before the transition to the next shot

Front 33

low-key lighting

Back 33

illumination that creates strong contrast between light and dark areas of the shot with dark shadows and little fill light

Front 34

match on action

Back 34

a continuity cut that splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted

Front 35

matte shot

Back 35

a type of process shot in which different areas of the image are photographed separately and combined in laboratory work

Front 36

mise-en-scene

Back 36

all of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the settings and props, lighting, costumes and makeup, and figure behavior

Front 37

montage sequence

Back 37

a segment of a film that summarizes a topic or compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images; dissolves, fades, superimpositions and wipes are used to link the images

Front 38

motif

Back 38

an element in a film that is repeated in a significant way

Front 39

narration

Back 39

the process through which the plot conveys or withholds story information

Front 40

narrative form

Back 40

a type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to one another through a series of causally related events taking place in time and space

Front 41

nondiegetic insert

Back 41

a shot or series of shots cut into a sequence, showing objects that are represented as being outside the world of the narrative

Front 42

nondiegetic sound

Back 42

sound represented as coming from a source outside the space of the narrative

Front 43

normal lens

Back 43

a lens that shows objects without severely exaggerating or reducing the depth of the scene's planes

Front 44

180 degree system

Back 44

the continuity approach to editing dictates that the camera should stay on one side of the action to ensure consistent left-right spatial relations between elements from shot to shot

Front 45

overlapping editing

Back 45

cuts that repeat part or all of an action, thus expanding its viewing time and plot duration

Front 46

pan

Back 46

a camera movement with the camera body turning to the right or left

Front 47

plot

Back 47

all the events that are directly presented to us, including their causal relations, chronological order, duration, frequency and spatial locations

Front 48

racking focus

Back 48

shifting the area of sharp focus from one place to another during a shot

Front 49

rear projection

Back 49

a technique for combining a foreground action with a background action filmed earlier

Front 50

reestablishing shot

Back 50

a return to the view of an entire space after a series of closer shots following the establishing shot

Front 51

shot/reverse shot

Back 51

two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation

Front 52

side lighting

Back 52

lighting come from one side of a person or an object, usually in order to create a sense of volume, bring out surface tensions or fill in areas left shadowed by other lights

Front 53

soft lighting

Back 53

illumination that avoids harsh bright and dark areas, creating a gradual transition from highlights to shadows

Front 54

sound bridge

Back 54

at the beginning of one scene, the sound from a previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins; at the end of one scene, the sound from the next scene is heard, leading into that scene

Front 55

sound perspective

Back 55

the sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume, timbre, pitch and, in stereophonic reproduction systems, binaural information

Front 56

story

Back 56

all the events that we see and hear, plus all those that we infer or assume to have occurred, arranged in their presumed causal relations, chronological order, duration, frequency and spatial locations

Front 57

storyboard

Back 57

tool used in planning film production, consisting of comic-strip like drawings of individual shots or phases of shots with descriptions written below each drawing

Front 58

superimposition

Back 58

the exposure of more than one image on the same film strip or in the same shot

Front 59

telephoto lens

Back 59

a lens of long focal length that affects a scene's perspective by enlarging distant planes and making them seem close to the foreground planes

Front 60

three point lighting

Back 60

a common arrangement using three directions of light on a scene: behind the subjects (backlighting), from one bright source (key light), and from a less bright source balancing the key light (fill light)

Front 61

tilt

Back 61

a camera movement with the camera body swiveling upward or downward on a stationary support; scans the space vertically

Front 62

top lighting

Back 62

lighting coming from above a person or object

Front 63

tracking shot

Back 63

a mobile framing that travels through the space forward, backward or laterally

Front 64

underlighting

Back 64

illumination from a point below the figures in the scene

Front 65

wide angle lens

Back 65

a lens of short focal length that affects a scene's perspective by distorting straight lines near the edges of the frame and by exaggerating the distance between foreground and background planes

Front 66

wipe

Back 66

a transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating one shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one

Front 67

zoom lens

Back 67

a lens with a focal length that can be changed during a shot