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106 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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referential meaning
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concrete, close to a plain plot summary; refers to things or places already invested with significance.
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explicit meaning
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the point of the film
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implicit meaning
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one's interpretation of the film; usually reference a theme; depend on the relationship bt narrative and style
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symptomatic meaning
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an abstract and general meaning; the set of values that get revealed ie social idealogy
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motivation
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the justification for some element being present
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motif
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any significant repeated element in a film
i.e. object, color, place, person, sound or character trait Speed- "pop quiz hot shot" |
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parallelism
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the process whereby the film cues the spectator to compare two or more distinct elements by highlighting some similarity
Wizard of Oz- lion tin man and scarecrow= zeke hickory and hunk |
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unity
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when all the relationships we perceive within a film are clear and economically interwoven
disunity- Wizard of Oz- witch says she attacked dorothy w insects but we never see them |
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narrative
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a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space
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diegetic
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items that exist within the film's world
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nondiegetic
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items that are brought in from outside the film's world and are therefore part of the STORY not the plot
The Band Wagon- movie premiere- three black and white images interrupt zoom on the poster |
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objective narration
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information restricted to only what characters say and do ie external behavior
North by Northwest- Roger looks into Van Damn's window, we see roger looking over ledge |
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point-of-view shot
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shots taken from the character's optical standpoint
The Conversation- Hackman looking at birthday card |
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sound perspective
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the sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume, timbre and pitch
Speed- pay phone ringing |
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perceptual subjectivity
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visual or auditory point of view offering a degree of subjectivity
i.e. POV shots or sound perspective from that of one character North by Northwest POV shot of Roger's view of window |
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mental subjectivity
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plot that goes into a character's mind
ie internal monologue Memento |
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mise-en-scene
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what appaears in the frame i.e. setting, lighting, costume and behavior of the figures
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frontal lighting
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eliminates shadows
La Chinoise- girl in front of poster with no shadows |
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sidelight
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sculpts character's features
Touch of Evil- man in front of file cabinents |
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backlighting
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comes from behind; can come from many angles; creates silouettes or, used with frontal lighting, creates contour
Passion- woman in front of window and lamp |
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underlighting
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comes from below; distorts features; also could be a realistic lightsourse like a fireplace or a flashlight
6th sense- boy w flashlight |
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top lighting
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comes from above; usually in order to outline the upper areas of the figure or to separate it more clearly from the background
Shanghai Express- Dietrich lit from above to exaggerate cheakbones |
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key light
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primary light source, providing the dominant illumination and casting the strongest shadows; usually corresponds to the motivating light source in the setting
The Bodygaurd- man w gun |
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fill light
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less intense than the key light; softens or eliminates shadows cast by the key light
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3-point lighting
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a backlight behind and above the actor, a key light directly in front of him/her and a flll light at an angle near the camera; particularly suited for high-key lighting
Jezebel |
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high-key lighting
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lighting design that uses fill light and backlight to create low contrast between brighter and darker areas; usually the light quality is soft, making shadow areas fairly transparent
Amelie |
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low-key illumination
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creates stronger contrasts and sharper, darker shadows; fill light is lessened or eliminated
Kanal |
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aerial perspective
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the hazing of distant places to create depth
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size diminution
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figures meant to be further from the camera appear smaller
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shallow space composition
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the mise-en-scene suggests little depth; the closest and most distant planes seem only slightly separated
La Chinoise- girl against wall with posters- frontal lighting eliminates shadows |
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deep space composition
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significant distance separates planes
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focal length
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distance from the center of the lens to the point where light rays converge to a point of focus on the film; alters the perceived depth, magnification, and scale of things within the image
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wide angle lens
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aka short-focal-length lens
less than 35 mm focal length distorts straight lines near the edge of the frame, bulging them outward DRT- radio raheem in pizzzeria |
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medium lens
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aka middle focal length lens
50 mm focal length avoids noticeable perspective distortion His Girl Friday |
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telephoto lens
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aka long focal length lens
100 mm or greater flatten space along the camera axis; cues for depth and volume are reduced; places seem squashed together; magnifies action at a distance The Conversation- intro when you have Hackman, the couple, and the sax player all look very close |
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zoom lens
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designed to permit the continuous varying of focal length; the lens can increase or decrease focal length while filming; magnifies or demagnifies objects filmed
The Conversation- opening scene |
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depth of field
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the range of distances before the lens within which objects can be photographed in sharp focus
The Conversation- surveillance scene in the beginning of the couple- narrow depth of field- theyre the only ones in focus |
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racking focus
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changing from elements in the background in focus and the foreground blurred and visa versa
Last Tango in Paris |
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deep focus
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faster film, shorter focal length lenses and more intense lighting to yield a greater depth of field
The Untouchables- two men talking in church, background is blurry |
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high angle
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viewers look down on the material in the frame
Do the Right Thing- radio raheem and sal fight- we look down on sal |
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low angle
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viewers look up at the material inthe frame
Do the Right Thing- sal/radio raheem right- we look up at radio raheem |
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canted frame
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framing is tipped to one side or the other, camera is not parallel to the horizon
Do the Right Thing- mother sister in the window |
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extreme long shot
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background dominates; used for landscapes, bird's eye views etc.
Do the RIght thing- looking above at street morning after mob |
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medium long shot
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human figure is framed from about the knees up; balances figure and background
Do the RIght Thing- da mayor outside mother sister's window |
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medium shot
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frames human body from waist up
DRT- Mookie, Pino and VIto in pizza shop |
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medium close up
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frames body from chest up
DRT- cop talking to man who drives through and gets hosed down |
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close up
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frames just the head, just the feet, or some small object
DRT- celtics jersey guy |
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extreme close up
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frames a portion of the face or isolates and magnifies an object
DRT- senor love daddy's mouth on mic |
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pan
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rotates the camera ona vertical axis but the camera on a whole does not move. ie. the camera looks left to right
DRT- pan of mob in front of sal's |
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tilt
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rotates the camera on a horizontal axis but the camera on a whole does not move ie the camera looks up and down
The Bride Wore Black- church |
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tracking/dolly shot
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the camera as a whole changes positions; figures remain in the same basic relationship to the frame
Greed- camera follows guy |
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crane shot
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the camera moves above ground level ie from a high angle shot to a straight on shot
DRT- as we move away from senor love daddy's studio we crane around to the street and further away |
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reframing
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replacing of a camera based on the movement of characters; subtle adjustments
His Girl Friday |
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following shot
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camera follows a figures movements; more drastic than just a reframing
The Conversation- turning on tape recorders, follows his hand |
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long take
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a longer shot in which the camera only moves, no cuts
Touch of Evil- bomb scene |
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sequence shot
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a scene that takes place in only one shot
DRT- mookie and sal in pizzeria fighting about paycheck. all swish pan |
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fade out
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gradually darkens the end of a shot to black
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fade in
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lightens a shot from black
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dissolve
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briefly superimposes the end of shot A and the beginning of shot B
maltese falcon- intro |
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wipe
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shot B replaces shot A by means of a boundary line moving across the screen
seven samurai |
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shot
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uninterrupted segment of screen time, space or graphic configurations
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cut
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instantaneous change from one shot to another
The Birds- in diner |
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graphic match
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linking of shots by graphic similarities
True Stories- texas horizon vs ocean and sky |
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Kuleshov effect
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any series of shots that in the absence of an establishing shot prompts the spectator to infer a spacial whole on the basis of seeing only portions of the space
The Birds- Melanie in diner looking at gas station |
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elliptical editing
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presents an action in such a way that it consumes less time on the screen than it does in the story
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cutaway
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a shot of another event elsewhere that will not last as long as the elided action
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overlapping editing
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the action from the end of one shot is partly repeated at the beginning of the next; the action is stretched out past its story duration
Speed- bus jumping |
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crosscutting
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cutting from a shot in one locale to a shot in another; means of presenting narrative actions that are occuring in several locales at roughly the same time
Jerry Macguire- phone call stealing player |
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jump cut
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two shots of the same subject are cut together but are not sufficiently different in camera distance and angle, such that there will be a noticeable jump on the screen. i.e. camera position is varied less than 30˚
Breathless- woman in car |
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nondiegetic insert
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interupting one shot with a shot of something that has no part of the space and time of the narrative
Band Wagon |
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dialogue overlap
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in shot reverse shots of conversation- continuing of a lne of dialogue across a cut
Maltese Falcon- Spade listening to Brigid |
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fidelity of sound
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the extent to which the sound is faithful to the source as we conceive it
Mr. Hulot's Holiday- lack of fidelity of sound- dining room door opening=twanged cello string |
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diegetic sound
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sound that has a source in the story world
Speed- rumble of explosion |
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nondiegetic sound
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coming from a source outside the story world ie a score
North by Northwest- score at tense moments |
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external diegetic sound
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sound which spectators take to have a physical source in the scene
Speed- rumble of explosion |
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internal diegetic sound
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sound that comes from inside the mind of a character; subjective
Memento- "I don't feel drunk." |
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sound over
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internal diegetic sounds and nondiegetic sounds
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synchronous sound
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the matching of sound with image in projection i.e. sound and image were filmed at the same time
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simultaneous sound
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sound takes place at the time as the image in terms of story events
The Godfather- nonsimultaneous sound- flashforward of meeting with the Solozzo bros |
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sound bridge
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sound from the pervious scene may linger briefly while the image is already presenting the next scene
Silence of the Lambs- "your self storage facility" |
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dialogue hook
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ending a scene with a line that prepares for the next scene
The Prestige- "have you eaten Mr. Angier?" |
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story
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the set of all the events in a narrative, both the ones explicitly presented and those the viewer infers
Citizen Kane- the time elapsed between youth and middle age |
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plot
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everything visibly and audibly present in the film before us INCLUDING non diegetic material
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diegesis
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total world of the story action
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range of narration
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the degree of information viewers have on the story
unrestricted narration: we know and see more than any given character restricted narration: we don't see or hear anything our character's don't see The Birth of a Nation- unrestricted |
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depth of narration
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the degree to which the plot plunges into a character's psychological states i.e. subjectivity vs objectivity.
Memento- "I don't feel drunk" |
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story vs. plot vs. screen duration
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story- the whole span of time the plot covers
plot- the span of time of the action we see on screen screen- however long the film is Citizen Kane |
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prop
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an object in the setting that has a function within the ongoing action
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film form
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the sum of all the parts of the film, unified and given shape by patterns such as repetition and variation, story lines and character traits
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four phases of production
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Scriptwriting/funding, Preparation, Shooting, Assembly
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four modes of production
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1. large-scale production: made at organized studios; intricate record keeping; detailed production stages; large budgets
2. exploitation, independent production and DIY: exploitation- low budget, tailored to a particular market, production process is similar to that of big studio films w same roles independent production- made for the theatrical market but without major distribution financing; directors have most control small scale production-experimental and documentary filmmaking; very few people involved who share all production roles DIY- amateur filmmaking made for the internet etc. |
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Steadicam
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prototype if body-worn camera stabilizer allows camerman to just walk with camera and then adjust the jerkiness later
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rear projection
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Hollywood technique in which the actors are placed against a translucent screen and projecting a film of the setting from behind the screen; the whole ensemble is then filmed from the front
Boom Town |
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front projection
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setting is projected onto a two way mirror angled to throw the image onto a high-reflectant screen; camera films the actors against the screen through the mirror
2001 Space Odessey- dawn of man |
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aspect ratio
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ratio of frame width to frame height
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matte work
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a portion of the setting photographed on a strip of film w part of the frame empty. in the lab, the matte is joined with film of the actors
Lord of the Rings- scenery |
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composite shots
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complex techniques for combining strips of film to create a single shot; projection process work and matte process work
Lord of the Rings- matte work- scenery |
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film stock
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different types of film used that can affect contrast amongst other things
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rhythmic editing
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adjusting the length of the shots in relation to one another to create a rhythm
The Birds- first gull attack- shots get shorter is create tension |
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axis of action
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center line connecting the scenes action which determines the half circle in which the camera can be placed to present the action
Maltese Falcon- enter Brigid- Spade to secretary |
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shot/reverse shot
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shot of the opposite end of the axis of action usually showing a three-quarters view of the subject
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eyeline match
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shot A presents someone looking at something offscreeen, shot B shows us what is being looked at; in neither shot are both looker and object present
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match on action
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editing device that carries a movement across the break between two shots
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soviet montage
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discontinuity in graphic qualities, violations of the 180 degree rule, and the creation of impossible spatial matches
October |
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sneaking in/sneaking out
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the musical score becomes more prominent in moments when there is no dialogue and then unnoticeably fades out when characters start to speak
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micky mousing
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syncing the rhythm of the music with the actions of the subjects
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