Cine 104 Mid Term

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Mise-en-scene

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“putting into the scene”; refers to everything you see within the frame, including acting, setting, costume/makeup, and lighting; when an early film theorist, Vachel Lindsay, thought of film as “painting-in-motion,” he was thinking of mise-en-scene.

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human/nonhuman actors

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“acting” can refer to the movement and behavior of figures in
the frame, including animals (e.g. Blade Runner) and props (e.g. Meshes of the Afternoon).

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myth of realism

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what is considered “realistic” acting changes over time, nor is
“realism” always the goal of acting

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theatrical style

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modeled on theater; style used in most Classical Hollywood films, pre-
1950s.

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method/naturalistic acting

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understated, though deliberate, style of acting developed by
Konstantin Stanislavsky in 1940s and 50s; actor tries to fully become the character by drawing on his/her own personal experiences, often using props to convey the characters’ interior state (e.g. Marlon Brando, James Dean).

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components of acting

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facial expressions (eyes, eyebrows, mouth), gestures (hands),
posture (e.g. the way an actor sits or walks), voice.

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motifs

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actors often give their characters certain mannerisms that are repeated throughout
the film (e.g. Breathless).

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types/typecasting/typage

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less individualized, less stylized, more conventional acting often
used used for minor characters.

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setting

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can dynamically enter story and reveal crucial information about characters
or plot (e.g. “milk bar” opening in A Clockwork Orange).

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constructed vs. on-location/”natural”

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(e.g. The Harder They Come)

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monochromatic color design

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single color emphasized throughout film (e.g. grays in Aliens p.145).

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props

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short for “property”; can serve narrative and symbolic functions; use of a prop as a
motif (e.g. trash in Election p.120)

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iconography

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highly symbolic, recognizable images (e.g. Mt. Rushmore as “America” in
North by Northwest).

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functions of costume

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closely coordinated with setting; can reveal elements of and changes
in character’s personality (e.g. Bringing Up Baby); can signify or reinforce a certain time period (e.g. interweaving three different historical periods in The Hours).

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functions of makeup

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used by male and female actors; adds expressiveness to actors’ faces;
elaborate makeup popular in science fiction and horror genres

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function

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light/dark, soft/hard, highlights/shadows: lighting determines what will
be “revealed” to us in the shot, it can give figures a “feel” or texture.

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three-point lighting

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combines backlighting, frontal key lighting, and fill light

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source

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in most cases, the main source of light comes from off-camera

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key light

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primary off-camera lighting source

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fill light

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supplements the key light; less intense light that usually fills in unwanted
shadows cast by the key light.

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high key lighting

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uses fill and backlight to create low contrast between light and
dark areas; can be used for day or night (e.g. Back to the Future

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low key lighting

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elimination of fill light, sharp contrasts between light and dark
areas (e.g. Touch of Evil).

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direction

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refers to direction of main lighting source

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frontal lighting

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comes from “behind” the camera, tends to eliminate shadows

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sidelighting

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comes from the side; creates high contrast shadows, “splits” the screen
into light and dark areas.

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underlighting

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comes from below the subject (often for horror effects)

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top lighting

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comes from above the subject

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quality

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refers to intensity of illumination

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hard lighting

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“creates clearly defined shadows, crisp textures, and sharp edges”

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soft lighting

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characterized by “diffused illumination,” making the actor’s face glow
(e.g. Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus).

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attached shadows/shading

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when light fails to illuminate part of an object because
of the object’s shape or surface features; e.g. actor’s chin shadows his neck.

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cast shadow

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when figure blocks out light directed at another figure, e.g. bars cast
shadows in jail cell; Venetian blind effect in film noir.

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compositional balance

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are figures in the “left” and “right” regions of the frame balanced
or unbalanced?

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depth cues

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give two-dimensional image a three-dimensional feel, e.g. overlapping
of figures indicating that one is in front of the other, or aerial perspective, the hazing of distant planes, and size diminution, objects get smaller as they get farther away (e.g. build-up to cropduster scene in North by Northwest).

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planes

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layers of space within an image: foreground, middle, background

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shallow-space and deep-space composition

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depends on distance that seems
to separate closest and farthest planes.

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open-form composition

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framing that suggests a larger, offscreen space, e.g. objects
“spill over” the frame or actors look offscreen.

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closed-form composition

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framing that suggests no or almost no offscreen
space, feels constrained and even claustrophobic.

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Aspect Ratio

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the ratio of frame width to frame height

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Film Stocks

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distinguished by different chemical mixtures in the celluloid

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“slow” stock

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more expensive, low contrast, capable of subtler gradations of shade and color. (e.g. North by Northwest, Young Frankenstein)

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“fast” stock

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cheaper, produces higher contrast, grainy image, flatter colors.
(e.g. The Harder They Come, Clerks)

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Grainy

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visible speck-like texture on film surface

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Negative

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film stock with light/dark values reversed

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Overexposed

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film deliberately exposed to excess light, to wash out image

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Underexposed

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film deliberately exposed to inadequate light, to make image murky

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Tinting

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dipping developed film into dye; light areas gain color (e.g. Nosferatu)

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Toning

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dye added during developing of film; dark areas gain color

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Filters

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“slices of glass or gelatin put in front of the lens of the camera or printer to reduce
certain frequencies of light”; e.g. day-for-night shooting (The Searchers, p.167)

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Focal length

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distance between center of lens and point where light rays converge on film

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Normal lens

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35-50mm focal length. Horizontal and vertical lines rendered as straight.

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Wide-angle lens

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focal length shorter than 35mm, bulges or distorts lines near the edges of frame; the distance between foreground and background seems much greater (e.g. Touch of Evil, Do the Right Thing, Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane)

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Telephoto lens

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longer than 50mm. Depth of field is reduced, background seems very close to foreground, opposite effect of wide-angle lens (e.g. Koyaanisqatsi, Seven Samurai, Tootsie

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Zoom lens

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allows instantaneous changes in focal length (e.g. Leaving Las Vegas, The Harder They Come, The Conversation)

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Depth of field

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range of distance in which objects can be photographed in sharp focus.

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deep-focus

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when foreground and background elements are in sharp focus (e.g. Citizen Kane)

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Rack focus

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when the lens is refocused within a shot, changing what is sharply focused and
what is blurred; can create dramatic effects (e.g. The Graduate)

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low-angle

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camera placed noticeably below the eye level of a standing person in the frame

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high-angle

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camera placed noticeable above

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bird’s eye-view

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extreme overhead angle (e.g. Thornhill running out of UN building in North
by Northwest)

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canted angle

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the camera is tilted or tipped; tends to produce sense of tension (e.g. Rebel
Without a Cause)

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Extreme long shot

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human figure barely visible (e.g. The Searchers)

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long shot

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background still dominates human figures

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medium long shot

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human figures framed from knees up

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medium close-up

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from chest up

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close-up

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head only

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extreme close-up

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part of head or face only

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two-shot

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a shot depicting two human figures, usually from medium distance or closer.

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velocity

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the speed at which the camera moves; a very slow forward tracking shot or zoom can
be almost imperceptible, subtly intensifying the emotional content of the scene. Very fast-moving frames create a sense of hurtling through space, out of control– can be used for comic or dramatic effect.

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Pan

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camera remains on a stable base but rotates on a vertical axis to left or right

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Tilt

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camera remains on a stable base but rotates on a horizontal axis up or down

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Tracking/Steadicam shot

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camera, base and all, travels in any direction along the ground. Often used to follow figures at a steady pace, maintaining a constant relation to them (sometimes known as a “following shot”)

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Crane shot

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camera is mounted to a mechanical arm and lifted above the ground on platform.

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hand-held camera

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often been used to create an effect of urgency and immediacy, since
hand-held footage usually leads to a “jiggling” or “bumpy” effect (e.g. Blair Witch Project, Speed, Touch of Evil)

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reframing

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to recompose the image slightly when something or someone in the frame moves
relative to something else (e.g. Meet Me in St. Louis).

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Speed of motion

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the standard rate at which films are shot is 24 framers per second (fps); slow
motion increases fps, while fast motion decreases fps

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long take

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a lengthy take that usually involves a great deal of mobile framing, as in the
opening of Touch of Evil

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cut

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most basic method of joining shots

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wipe

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boundary line moves across the screen, turning one shot to another (e.g. It Happened One Night, Star Wars)

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dissolve

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one image fades as another one appears, creating a brief superimposition (e.g. opening sequences of Apocalypse Now and Citizen Kane)

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fade out/in

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image fades to black, pause, new image fades in

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iris

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image fades in a zoom-like motion (e.g. Breathless)

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graphic match

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ent, etc.—is echoed by Shot B (e.g. North by Northwest, 2001: A Space Odyssey

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graphic discontinuity

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some visual element or pattern of shot A is noticeably contrasted or opposed by something in Shot B

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Kuleshov effect

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demonstrates that when presented with multiple shots, viewers will assume that all the shots pertain to a continuous and unified narrative space – unless given information to the opposite effect.

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Cross-cutting

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alternating shots show actions taking place at different places at the same time (e.g. Rocky, The Godfather, Short Cuts, Magnolia, Crash, see p.245).

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montage sequence

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series of spatially or temporally discontinuous shots that are used to suggest large-scale processes or lengthy passages of time (e.g. Helen Jones’s rise to fame in Blonde Venus, Leaving Las Vegas, music videos, Soviet Montage)
2. flashback: actions taking place at a previous time are inter-cut into the narrative. (e

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elliptical editing

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nearly all films use this technique to compress otherwise lengthy events into a manageable time frame for the film. E.g. shot A shows a man getting into a car and driving off; shot B shows him getting out of the car at a different location. The time it took him to drive there, which could be minutes, hours, or even days, is eliminated (e.g. Rain Man).

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overlapping editing

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an event appears to take longer on screen than it would in real time; the effect of a temporal expansion is usually done by having Shot A and Shot B (and C, D, etc.) repeat the same action, or overlap parts of it (e.g. Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Untouchables)

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deceleration

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cutting between shots slows, making each shot longer than the previous one; slows down the action, creates a more thoughtful or meditative tone

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acceleration

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cutting between shots speeds up, duration of each shot gets shorter; speeds up the tempo, often used to heighten suspense (The Untouchables).

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continuity editing

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the dominant system of editing in narrative filmmaking in Hollywood and many other countries for decades; tries not to call attention to the editing, but to strive for a clear, coherent narrative with a smooth flow from shot to shot (e.g. Hoosiers).

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axis of action

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the invisible line along which the action is constructed (see p.233-234). Often
an establishing shot or master shot early in the scene clearly asserts this axis.

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180 degree rule

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in subsequent shots the camera can be placed at any point, but only on one
side of this axis. Camera must stay on that side throughout the scene, or at least until the axis of action has been altered (e.g. Bringing Up Baby).

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30 degree rule

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camera position altered at least 30 degrees with each cut

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shot/reverse shot

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Shots alternate from one end of the axis to the other, often used in conversations, where over-the-shoulder shots maintain a clear relationship between one character and the other/s (e.g. Bringing Up Baby, see p.239).

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eyeline matching

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often used to enhance this clear spatial relation between characters. Shot A shows a woman looking to the right at something offscreen. Shot B shows what is being looked at, a man who is turned to the left of the screen (see p.237).

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match on action

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a cut takes place in the middle of an action or movement and the next shot continues that same movement (e.g. Saturday Night Fever).

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point-of-view cutting

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in Shot A a man looks at something offscreen. Shot B shows something else that doesn’t include the man. Without information to the contrary, viewers assume not only that shot B is what he sees, but also that B represents the angle from which he sees it (e.g. Vertigo, see Rear Window stills

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discontinuous editing

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editing calls attention to itself, creating an alienation effect that disrupts viewers’ ability to lose themselves in the story in order to force us to take an active interpretive role (e.g. Maya Deren’s At Land).

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nondiegetic insert

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Shot B consists of an image not from the space and time of the film’s narrative (e.g. Pulp Fiction, Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail, Run Lola Run).

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breaking the 180 degree rule

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some films will offer shots from any angle within the space of the scene, which can disorient the viewer (e.g. Breathless).

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jump cuts

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when two shots of the same subject are cut together, but they are not sufficiently different from one another, a disruptive “jump” is felt by the viewer. (e.g. Breathless).