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Manchester Community College Film Study and Appreciation Com*154/ART*206 Film Studies Glossary SHOT an uninterrupted image taken by a camera. TAKE is related to the shot as it is the duration of time the camera is on LONG TAKE a continuous shot of a scene which takes the place of editing within a scene of longer than ‘normal’ duration MISE-EN-SCENE: a theater term that means staging in French. The elements placed in front of the camera which are recorded on the photographic image: lighting, settings, costume, performance (acting) and (sound). The overall look of the movie-the sum of everything the audience sees, hears and experiences while viewing it. NARRATIVE: story; the linear, chronological structure of a story NARRATIVE FILM: a film that tells a story Explicit Meaning: Everything that a movie presents on its surface. Compare implicit meaning. Implicit Meaning: An association, connection or inference that a viewer makes on the basis of the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of explicit meaning, implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word meaning. DIEGESIS the world of a film’s story, including off-screen space and the action that takes place within it. CLOSE UP (CU) a shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame – traditionally a face (shows emotions), but possibly a hand, eye, mouth or object. MEDIUM CLOSE-UP (MCU): a shot in which the person’s head and chest fill the screen (creates drama). MEDIUM SHOT (MS) a shot of a person (or persons) from the waist up. MEDIUM LONG SHOT (MLS) or plain amércain or American shot. A shot of a person(s) from the shins up and includes most of the person’s body. FULL SHOT a shot of the full figure of a standing person (s). LONG SHOT a shot of a landscape or setting. EDITING: the juxtaposition of two or more shots to create a meaningful relationship between them. The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole. The one element that sets the cinema apart from all other art forms. CUT an instantaneous transition from one shot to another. FADE OUT a shot transition in which the image gradually disappears from view (usually to black). FADE IN a shot transition in which image gradually brightens into view. DISSOLVE or LAP DISSOLVE a shot transition in which a fade out is superimposed on a fade in. It is known also as a soft transition (as opposed to the cut), suggests a longer passage of time than a cut. WIPE a shot transition in which one of the images gradually takes the place of another through horizontal, vertical or diagonal movement across the screen, and both images remain discreet IRIS a shot in which part of the frame is masked or obscured, often leaving the remaining image in a circular or oval shape. Although rarely used today, the iris shot was widely used in the silent era of cinema or in more modern films as homage to the silent era. IRIS-IN a shot transition in which a small circle expands to a partial or full image

MASTER Film Studies Glossary

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Page 1: MASTER Film Studies Glossary

Manchester Community College Film Study and Appreciation Com*154/ART*206

Film Studies Glossary

SHOT an uninterrupted image taken by a camera. TAKE is related to the shot as it is the duration of time the camera is on LONG TAKE a continuous shot of a scene which takes the place of editing within a scene of longer than ‘normal’ duration MISE-EN-SCENE: a theater term that means staging in French. The elements placed in front of the camera which are recorded on the photographic image: lighting, settings, costume, performance (acting) and (sound). The overall look of the movie-the sum of everything the audience sees, hears and experiences while viewing it. NARRATIVE: story; the linear, chronological structure of a story NARRATIVE FILM: a film that tells a story

Explicit Meaning: Everything that a movie presents on its surface. Compare implicit meaning.

Implicit Meaning: An association, connection or inference that a viewer makes on the basis of the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of explicit meaning, implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word meaning.

DIEGESIS the world of a film’s story, including off-screen space and the action that takes place within it. CLOSE UP (CU) a shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame – traditionally a face (shows emotions), but possibly a hand, eye, mouth or object. MEDIUM CLOSE-UP (MCU): a shot in which the person’s head and chest fill the screen (creates drama). MEDIUM SHOT (MS) a shot of a person (or persons) from the waist up. MEDIUM LONG SHOT (MLS) or plain amércain or American shot. A shot of a person(s) from the shins up and includes most of the person’s body. FULL SHOT a shot of the full figure of a standing person (s). LONG SHOT a shot of a landscape or setting. EDITING: the juxtaposition of two or more shots to create a meaningful relationship between them. The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole. The one element that sets the cinema apart from all other art forms. CUT an instantaneous transition from one shot to another. FADE OUT a shot transition in which the image gradually disappears from view (usually to black). FADE IN a shot transition in which image gradually brightens into view. DISSOLVE or LAP DISSOLVE a shot transition in which a fade out is superimposed on a fade in. It is known also as a soft transition (as opposed to the cut), suggests a longer passage of time than a cut. WIPE a shot transition in which one of the images gradually takes the place of another through horizontal, vertical or diagonal movement across the screen, and both images remain discreet IRIS a shot in which part of the frame is masked or obscured, often leaving the remaining image in a circular or oval shape. Although rarely used today, the iris shot was widely used in the silent era of cinema or in more modern films as homage to the silent era. IRIS-IN a shot transition in which a small circle expands to a partial or full image

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IRIS-OUT a shot transition begins with a large circle, which contracts to a smaller circle or total blackness. ESTABLISHING SHOT: a shot at the beginning of a scene which presents for the spectator a more or less complete view of the scene (usually a long shot). 180 DEGREE RULE the camera must stay on the same side of the narrative action in order to ensure consistent spatial relations and constant screen direction from shot to shot. CONTINUITY EDITING: editing in which the spatial and temporal relationships between shots are matched in order to insure a clear and continuous line of narrative action. CROSSCUTTING: editing that alternates between two or more lines of action in different locations happening simultaneously. POINT OF VIEW (POV) SHOT: a shot taken in the position from which the character is looking. It is usually preceded or followed by a shot of the character(s). SHOT/REVERSE SHOT the alternation of shots of two people in conversation in conformity to the 180 degree rule. EYELINE MATCH an editing transition that shows us what a particular character is looking at. The cut joins two shots: the character’s face, with his/her eyes clearly visible, then whatever the character is looking at. When the second shot is of another character looking back at the character in the first shot, the resulting reciprocal eye-line match cut, and the cuts that follow, establish the two character’s proximity and interaction, even if only one character is visible on-screen at one time. MATCH ON ACTION also known as cutting on action. A match cut that shows the continuation of a character’s or object’s motion through space without actually showing us the entire action. GRAPHIC MATCH a cut which maintains a similarity between one or several of the compositional elements of a shot (line, color, contrast etc) JUMP CUT a cut which removes a portion of the film, resulting in an instantaneous advance in the action – a sudden, perhaps illogical, often disorienting ellipsis between two shots. NON-DIEGETIC INSERT SHOT a detail shot that is cut into the space-time of a story from outside that space-time. MONTAGE (editing in French) 1. a form of editing developed by Soviet film-makers in the twenties, often discontinuous, which emphasizes the graphic, rhythmic and conceptual relationships between shots. 2. In Hollywood, beginning in the 1930’s, a sequence of shots, often with superimpositions and optical effects, showing a condensed series of events. TRACKING SHOT a camera movement in which the camera glides horizontally on a moving support guided by rails, forward or back, left of right. DOLLY SHOT a camera movement in which the camera attached to a moving support moves smoothly but in an irregular direction. TILT a camera movement in which the camera swivels vertically on its axis up and down. PAN a camera movement in which the camera swivels horizontally on its axis from right to left or left to right. SWISH PAN a pan in which the camera moves quickly from side to side blurring the image. CRANE SHOT a camera movement in which the camera appears to move freely above the ground. ZOOM a gradual change in the size of an image and the relative distances between its foreground and background planes caused by the adjustment of a lens with variable focal length. TELEPHOTO LENS shows the subject closer to the camera than is the case with a normal lens. WIDE ANGLE LENS shows subjects farther away from each other and emphasizes distance.

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DEEP SPACE an arrangement of the mise-en-scene which establishes a considerable distance between the foreground plane and the background plane of shot. DEEP FOCUS the use of wide angle camera lens and lighting to keep both foreground plane and the background place of a shot in sharp focus. DEPTH OF FIELD the distance between the foreground and background of a shot which is in sharp focus. FRAMING the organization of the contents of the shot with respect to the edges of the screen. HIGH ANGLE a shot in which the camera looks down on the figure(s) within the mise-en-scene from above the view point relative to their eyeline. LOW ANGLE a shot in which the camera looks up at the figure(s) within the mise-en-scene from below a viewpoint relative to their eyeline. DUTCH-ANGLE SHOT Also known as an oblique-angle shot. A shot in which the camera is titled from its normal horizontal and vertical positions so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance. OVERHEAD SHOT A shot taken from immediately above the mise-en-scene. AERIAL-VIEW SHOT OR BIRD’S EYE VIEW SHOT A shot that is taken from a high vantage point from either an aircraft or extremely high crane and implies that the observer can see all. FULL FACE SHOT the framing of a figure in a frontal view. SIDE VIEW the framing of a figure from the side. THREE QUARTER VIEW the framing of a figure at an angle to the plane of the image. KEY LIGHT the main source of lighting in a scene. FILL LIGHT illumination used to soften the key lighting in a scene. BACK LIGHTING illumination cast from behind a figure (or figures) to highlight their outline in the image. THREE POINT LIGHTING an arrangement of key, fill and back lighting which serves to model the figure while maintaining an even illumination in the shot. LOW KEY or HARD LIGHTING illumination which creates a sharp difference between the lighted and shadowed areas in the shot. HIGH KEY or SOFT LIGHTING illumination which diffuses the boundaries between light and shadow. LOUDNESS the volume of sound PITCH the highness or lowness of sound TIMBRE The coloration of tonal quality of sound DIEGETIC SOUND sound that issues from the inside world of the film. NON-DIEGETIC SOUND sound that issues from the outside world of the film. SYNCHRONOUS SOUND Sound that is matched with its source within the image. NON-SYNCHRONOUS SOUND Sound that is not matched with its source within the image. EXTERNAL SOUND comes from a place within the world of the story and we assume it is heard by the characters in that world however the source of it may not be seen on scene.

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LEITMOTIF is a dominant recurring musical theme that is heard throughout a film and is often representative of a person or action. FOLEY ARTIST technicians who create sound effects in a studio to be added to a film. VOICE-OVER the voice of a narrator which comments upon or counterpoints the images on the screen. FLASHBACK a scene or sequence showing events that have taken place earlier than the diegetic present of the film. FLASHFORWARD a scene or sequence that departs from the diegetic present to show events that take place in the future, and then returns to the diegetic present. METHOD ACTING is a naturalistic acting style and can be defined as acting that results after the performer studies the back ground and personality of a character in depth, using various techniques to immerse him or herself in the role, most notably by drawing on their own personal experiences and emotions to elicit a performance. TYPECAST actors who are cast in particular type of role because of their looks or type. RED HERRING a figurative expression in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Alfred Hitchcock coined the term MacGuffin for the object, document or secret that motivates characters but proves to be less significant to the overall storyline then audience originally imagines. ZOOPRAXISCOPE invented by British photographer Eadweard Muybridge in the 1870’s, it was a primitive version of later motion picture devices which worked by showing a sequence of still photographs in rapid succession. KINETOSCOPE invented by Thomas Edison was a box for viewing moving pictures. ACTUALITIES were the films shot by the Lumière brothers in France that were slices of life or ‘documentary views’. VERTICAL INTEGRATION the studios controlled production, distribution and exhibition of their films. GENRE FILMS: Various types of film with certain archetypical patterns and narrative conventions, most popular are the Western, the Gangster (crime/detective films), romantic comedy and the musical. MELODRAMA a work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions SCREENPLAY is made before shooting begins and is the earliest version of the script. The screenplay is the domain over the writer and it includes the vocals including dialogue, settings, actions of the actors, and the overall structure of each scene. SHOOTING SCRIPT is used during the filming and is updated on a daily basis to include changes made to the screenplay and also instructions for camera placements and shots etc. This includes information from the script writer but also instructions from the production personnel: the cinematographers, set designers, editing, music and sounds effects. Steadicam: A camera suspended from an articulated arm that is attached to a vest strapped to the cameraperson's body, permitting the operator to remain steady during "handheld" shots. The Steadicam removes jumpiness and is now often used for smooth, fast and intimate camera movement. The Steadicam was invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975. Rocky was one of the first films to use the Steadicam. The famous scenes of Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum were taken with a Steadicam. SnorriCam: is a camera device used in filmmaking that is rigged to the body of the actor, facing the actor directly, so when they walk, they do not appear to move, but everything around them does. A SnorriCam presents a dynamic point of view from the actor's perspective, providing an unusual sense of vertigo for the viewer. Hip Hop Montage: the term coined by director Darren Aronofsky and used extensively in Requiem for a Dream is a fast paced editing sequence where sharp sounds and sharp images are cut one after the other in rapid fire to create meaning and a form a ‘musical piece.’