Film Studies
Terms
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- allusion
- a reference in a tezt to a person, an event, another text, or a part of a text
- ambient sound
- the sound atmosphere of a place that people tend not to notice.
- Anamorphic lens
- A lens that squeezes a wide image onto a film frame in the camera, making everything look tall and thin. On a projector, an anamorphic lens expands the image returning it to its original wide shape.
- aperture
- the adjustable opening in the camera lens that permits the operator to regulate how much light passes through the lens to the film.
- aspect ratio
- The propotion of the width to the height of the image on a TV ir nivue screen or on the individual frames of the film.
- asynchronous sound
- a sound that either precedes or follows its on screen source, such as words that are not synchronized with lip movements
- backlight
- Lighting from behind the subject
- birds eye view
- a camera angle achieved when the camera films the subject from directly overhead
- black comedy
- a narrative style that shows the humorous possibilities of subjects often considered off limits to comedy, such as warfare, murder, death, and illness. Satiric
- Bollywood
- extremely popular Hindi-language movies made in India that usually feature complicated plots, arges cases, extravagant music interludes, and often happy endings
- bridge
- music used to link two or more scenes. continuity
- cameo
- A brief role in a narrative entertainment-such as a TV show or film performed by a well-known person, usually a famous actor.
- catchlight
- the light from one or more sources that is visible in the pupils of a subject's eyes
- character actor
- An actor who tends to specialize in well-defined secondary roles.
- CinemaScope
- A wide-screen process introduced in 1953 made possible by filming and projecting with anamorphic lens.
- classical Hollywood cinema
- Films that show one or more characters facing a succession of problems while trying to reach their goals and that tend to hide the manner of their making by using unoptrusive filmmaking techniques
- close up
- an image in which the subject fills most of the frame and little of the surroundings is shown.
- closure
- a sense of coherence and completion at the end of a narrative.
- composition
- The arrangement of settings, ligting, and subjects within the frame.
- contrast
- in photography and cinematography, the difference between the lighest and darkest parts of an image.
- deep focus
- a term used widely by film critics to indicate photography in which subjects near the camera, those in the distant backgroun, and those in between are all in sharp focus.
- depth of field
- the distances in front of the camera in which all objects are in focus.
- desaturated color
- drained, subduesd color approacheing a neutral grey, ehance an effect.
- designer or production designer
- The person responsible for the apperance of much of what is photographed in a movie, including architecture, locations, sets, costumes, makeup, and hairstyles.
- diffuser
- material such as spun glass, granulated or grooved glass, or a sil or thin nylon stocking placed in front of the camera ens to soften the image's resolution
- digital intermediate
- a process available since the late 1990s in which filmmakers can transfer exposed film to digital, manipulate the colors with a computer program and then transfer the images back to film
- Dogme
- realistic characters and settings. begun by Danish filmmakers in 1995, against the expensive filmmaking techniques used by commercial film industries
- dollying
- a wheeled ptform most often used to move a motion picture camera and its operator around while filming
- dutch angle
- a camera angle in which the vertical and horizontal lines of the film's image appear at an angle to the vertical and horizontal lines of the films frame
- emulsion
- a clear gelatin substance containing a thin layer o tiny light-sensitive particles that make up a photographic image.
- episodic plot
- story structure in which some scenes have no necessary or probable relation to each other; many scenes could be switched without strongl affecting the overall story or audience response
- establishing shot
- a shot, usually a long shot or an extreme long shot, used at the beginning of a scene to show where and sometimes when the events that are to follow take place.
- event
- in a narrative or story, either an action by a characer or person or a happening( a change brought about by a force other than a person or character).
- exposition
- Information supplied within a narrative about characters and about events that supposedly transpired before the earliest event in the plot.
- expressionism
- A style of art, literature, drama, and film used to represent not external reality in a belieable way but emotions in striking, stylized ways.
- extreme close up
- an image that shows one subject largerly or completely excludes the background.
- extreme long shot
- a shot in which the subject appears to be far from the camera
- eye level angle
- a camera angle that creates the effect ofthe audience being on the same level as the subject.
- fabula
- a term used by russian formalist school of literary theory and some later film theorists to mean the chronological reconstruction of all the events of a nonchronological plot.
- fast film stock
- film stock that requires relatvely little light for capturing images
- fast lens
- a camera lens that is efficient at transmitting light and thus transmits more light than a slow lens used in the same circumstances
- feature film
- a fictional film that is at least sixty minutes long
- fill light
- a soft light used to fill in unlit areas of the subject or to soften any shadows or lines made by other, brighter lights.
- film movement
- a group of films sharing innovative styles or subjects that emerges form the same country or region over a period of a few years and that are in oppostion to the dominant cinemas of the time.
- film noir
- Literally "black film". first made in the US during and after WWII, characterized by frequent scenes with dark, shadowy lighting, urban settings, characters motivated by selfishness, greed, cruelty, etc.
- film stock
- unexposed and unrocessed motion picture film (raw stock)
- fisheye lens
- an extreme wide angle lens that captures nearly 180 degrees of the are before the camera and causes much curvature of the image, especially near the edges
- flashback
- a shot or a few shots , a brief scene, or a sequence that interrupts a narratve to show earlier events.
- flashforward
- a shot, scene, or sequence hat interrupts a narrative to show events that happen in the future.
- foley artist
- sound specialist who uses various objects such as different types of floow surfaces to simulate sounds and synchronize them with corresponding movie images
- footage
- a length of exposed motion picture film
- frame
- A seperate, individual photograph on a strip of motion-picture film.
- french new wave
- a movement made up of a diverse group of French fictional films made in the late 1950 and 1960s. untraditional techniques
- gauge
- the width of afilm, usually measured in millimeters
- genre
- a group of fictional films that share enough similarities that both filmmakers and audiences recognize the films as members of the same group
- grain
- one of the many tiny light sensitive particles embedded in gelatin that is attatched to a clear, flexible film base
- hard light
- light that has not been diffused or reflected before illuminating the subject
- high angle
- a view of a subject from above, created by positioning the camera above the subject.
- high key lighting
- a high level of illumination on the subject. to create or enhance a cheerful mood.
- homage
- In film studies, a tribute in a text to a person, other text, or a part of a text.
- independent film
- film made withouth support or input from the dominant, esablished film industry.
- intertextuality
- the relation of one text(such as film) to another text or texts
- iris shot
- Shot in which part of the frame is masked or obscured, often leaving the remaining image in a circular or an oval shape.
- Italian neorealism
- as a film movement in during and after WWII. Mix of imaginary and actual events usually located in actual settings and showing ordinary and believable characters caught in difficult social and economic conditions
- key light
- the main light in a shot
- leader
- clear or opaque motion picture film of any color tt usually precedes and concludes a reel of film
- letterbox format
- A videotape, videodisc, and DVD format that retains the films original theatrical widescreen aspect ratio by not using a potion of the top and bottom of the analog TV or monitor screen.
- limbo
- An indistinct setting.
- location
- Any place other thand a film studio that is used for filming.
- long shot
- a shot in which the subject may be seen in its entirety and much of its surroundings is visible
- loose framing
- An image in which the main subject has ample space and does not see hemmed in by the edges of the frame and the background.
- low angle
- a view of the subject as seen from below eye level
- low key lighting
- lighting with predominant dark tones, often deep dark tones
- magic realism
- a style in which occasional wildly improbable or impossible events are included in an otherwise realistic story.
- masking
- A technique used to block out part of an image temporarily.
- master-scene format
- a screenplay that briefly describes scenes but does not break them down into shots
- medium close up
- image in which the subject fills most of the frame, though not as much as in a close up
- medium shot
- shot in which he subject and surroundings are given about equal importance
- method acting
- Acting in which the performer studies the background of the character in depth, immerses himself in the rold, and created emotion in part by thinking of emotional situations from his life that resemble those of the character.
- mise en scene
- French for staging. An images setting, subjects, and compostion.
- mock documentary
- a fictional film that parodies or amusingly imitates documentary films
- morph
- (changing shape) altering or the aleration of a film image by degrees through the use of sophisticated computer software and multiple advanced computers.
- narration
- commentary in a film about a subject in the film or some other topic usually from someone off screen
- narrative
- a representation of a series of unified events situated in one or more settings
- negative
- unexposed film stock used to record negative images
- normal lens
- a camera lens that provides te least distortion of image and movement.
- offscreen
- the area beyond the frame line, which has many possible uses
- pan
- filming whie a movie camera is pivoted horizontally on a stationary base(tripod)
- parody
- a representation that amusingly imitates human behavior or a text, part of a text, or groups of texts, often to ridicule or criticize.
- perspective
- as used by painters, photographers, and cinematographers, the trem means the relative size and apparent distances between objects in a created image.
- plot
- the structure or arrangement of a narratives events
- plotline
- a narrative or series related events usually involving only a few characters pr [ep[;e and capable of functioning on its own as a story
- point of view shot
- camera pacement at the approximate postion of a character or person that gives a view similar to what that subject would see.
- prequel
- a naarrative film that shows some of the characters from a previous film at earlier stages of their lives.
- product placement
- The practice of including commercial products or services in films so that viewers can notice them.
- rack focus
- Changing the sharoness of focus during a shot from foreground to background or vice versa.
- realism
- representaition in a text that is widely believed to render its subjects accurately
- revisionist
- referring to a new or revised interpretation of a subject
- running time
- the time that ellapses when a film is projected
- saturated color
- intense, vivid, or brilliant color
- scanned print
- A version of a film made in the standard asect ratio from an original anamorphic film.
- scene
- A section of narrative that gives the impression of conitinuous action taking place in contionuous time and space.
- screenplay
- the earliest version of a script, a script written before filming begins.
- serial
- From the 1910s until the early 1950s, a low budget action film divided into chapters or installments, one of which was shown each week in downtown neighborhood movie theaters.
- set
- A constructed setting where action is filmed; it can be indoors or outdoors .
- setting
- The place where filmed action occurs, either a set, which has been built for use in a film, or a location, which is any place other than one built for use in a movie. Setting is often used to indicate a period and to reveal or enhance the film's style, ch
- shallow focus
- a term used widely by film teachers d scholars to indicate photography with sharp focus in only a short distance between the foreground and the background
- shooting script
- the version of the script used by the filmmakers during filming.
- short film
- variously defined but often regarded as a film of less than 60 min
- shot
- An uninterrupted strip of exposed motion-picture film or videotae that reresents a subject, perhaps even a blank screen, during an uninterrupted segment of time.
- slow film stock
- film stock that requires a large camera aperture of bright light for approprate re-creation of images. Fine grain and sharp detail
- socialist realism
- a soviet doctrine and style in force from the mid 1930s to 1980s that decreed that soviet texts, including films, much promote communism and the working class and mush be "realistic" so that it is understandable to the working class
- soft light
- light that has been diffused or reflected before illuminating the subject.
- sound dissolve
- a transition in which a sound begins to fade out as the next sound fades in and oerlaps the first sound before replacing it.
- sound effect
- a sound in film other than spoken words or music
- spherical lens
- a lens used in cinematography that transmits the image to the film in the camera without squeezing or compressing the image
- standard aspect ratio
- for an image on a screen or on the film tself, the ratio of the width to the height is 4:3 or 1.33:1
- steadicam
- a lightweight and portable mount for holding a movie camera that provides for relatively steady camera movements during handheld shots
- story time
- the amount of time represented in a films narrative or story
- storyboard
- a series of drawings of each shot of a planned film or video story, often accompanies by written dialogue, brief descriptions, or notes.
- structure
- the arrangement of the parts of a whole text
- style
- the way that subjects are represented in a text, such as film
- swish pan
- pivoting a movie camera horizontally on a stationary base so rapidly that the resultant filmed images are blurred.
- telephoto lens
- a lens that makes all subjects in an image apear closer to the cmaera and to each other that is the case with a normal lens.
- text
- something that peopple produce or modify to communicate meaning.
- THX sound
- a multispeaker sound system developed by Lucasfilm and used in selected movie theaters to increase frequency range, audience coverage, and dialogue intelligibility while decreasing low bass distortion
- tight framing
- A shot in which there is little visible space around the main subjects.
- tilt
- a movie camera pivoting vertically during filming, usually while the camera is attatched to a stationary base, such as a tripod.
- tinting
- the process of dyeing a fil with color
- title card
- a card or thin sheet of clear plastic on which is written or printed information included in a film.
- track
- to film while the camera is being moved around
- Vitaphone
- Motion picture sound system first used commercially in 1927 consisting of a movie camera synchronized to a phonograph recorder and a movie projector synchronized with the recording
- wide angle lens
- a camera lens that makes all subjects in an image appear farther from the camera and frm each other than is the case with a normal lens
- wide screen film
- A film format with an aspect ratio noticeably greater than 1.33:1
- zoom in
- to use a zoom lens to cause the image of the subject to increase in size as the area being filed seems to decrease
- zoom lens
- a camera lens with variable focal lenghts that can be adjusted by degrees during a shot so that the size of the subject and the size of the area are being filmed both change
- zoom out
- to use a zoom lens to cause the image of the subkect to deacrease in size as the area being filmed seems to increase