CINEMATOGRAPHIC LANGUAGE

Cinematographic language

Cinema = art and massive mean of communication› Fundamental characteristic = to tell a

story in movement, in a space and with specific sounds.

Cinematographic language

› images in movement, obtained by the projection of stills at a rhythm of 24 per second.

The frame = the space that the lens of the cinematographic camera captures.

The shot = is a frame from a certain space and an angle› Each shot has a different

expressive value and they can be classified according to the broadness of the scene

Shots and Angles

Extreme Long Shot / Wide Shot / Establishing Shot (ELS)

Gran Plano General Shows things from a distance- often aerial view Orients the audience with the time and place Often used at the beginning of a scene

Long Shot / Master Shot (LS)

Continuous shot or long take Shows the main action or setting of an entire

scene

Full Shot (FS)

This shot shows a person from head to toe.

Medium Shot (MS)

Shows a person from the waist to the top of the head

American Shot / Medium Full Shot (AS)

Plano Americano o 3/4 From the knees to the topof the head

Medium Close Up (MCU)

A shot from the chest to the top of the head

Close Up (CU)

Plano detalle A person’s head down to the neck or the

shoulders

Big Close Up

From the chin to the forehead

Extreme Close Up (ECU)

A close up of a certain part of the person’s face

Group Shot (GS)

Angle The angle of vision is the physical

point of view- the perspective- from which a camera depicts its subject.

Horizontal (normal)

The camera is situated at eye level of the subject.

Used to make the scene seem natural.

High-Angle Shot (HA)

The camera is higher than the subject and looking down on it.

Used to belittle or ridicule a subject. Creates effects like inferiority, anxiety and loneliness.

Low-Angle Shot (LA)

The camera is below the subject looking up at it. Can make the subject look powerful, threatening,

superiorior, or impressive.

Bird’s-eye view/Overhead

Shot taken directly above the scene, perpendicular to subjects.

Nadir

A shot looking up from the ground, perpendicular to action

Dutch Angle

The camera is tilted to 30º or more (less than that just seems poorly done)

Used to portray tension, but shouldn’t be overused

Worm’s-eye view The camera is on the ground Shows us a perspective from below

Camera Movements

Panoramic Dolly shots (trucking or tracking) Zoom

SOME TERMS OF CINEMA

Academy awards:the name given to the prestigious film awards presented each year known as “Oscars”

Audience:The group of consumers for whom the movie or film was constructed.› Example: The movie Alice in wonderland is

addressed to children.

Actor / Actress : performer who plays a character role in an on-screen film

Ambiance : the feeling or mood of a particular scene or setting

Antagonist: bad guy, or villain of a film

Back story: refers to the events that directly happened prior to the beginning of the story

Bootleg : an illegally copied, unauthorized, and/or distributed version of a copyrighted film/video/DVD, often of second-rate quality; also termed pirated.

Cartoon: an animated film that is usually not of feature length; also see animation

Cast: all of the actors/performers (or talent) appearing in a particular film.

Casting: the process of selecting and hiring actors to play the roles and characters in a film production.

Character: the fictitious or real individual in a story, performed by an actor; also called players.

Comedian: an actor who specializes in genre films that are designed to elicit laughter from audiences; also known as a comic

Credits: refers to the list of technical personnel, cast, and crew of a film.

Crew: refers to those involved in the technical production of a film who are not actual performers.

Critic: an individual who writes and/or publishes a review of a film from either an artistic or entertainment point of view.

Director: the creative artist responsible for complete artistic control of all phases of a film's production.

Extra(s): a person who appears in a movie in a non-specific, non-speaking, unnoticed, or unrecognized character role, such as part of a crowd or background, e.g., a patron in a restaurant, a soldier on a battlefield…

Flashback: a filmic technique that alters the natural order of the narrative; a flashback may often be the entire film; it takes the story order back chronologically in time to a previous or past event

Flash-forward(or flash-ahead): the opposite of flashback

Footage: any length, portion or sequence of film (either shot or to be shot) measured in feet; also refers to a particular sequence of events depicted in a motion picture.

Genre: A category of media texts characterized by a particular style, form or content.

› Say all the genres that you know (L1-L2)

GENRES

ACTION

ADVENTURE

ANIMATION

COMEDY

FANTASY

HORROR

MISTERYMUSICAL

ROMANCE

SCIENCE FICTION (SCIFI)

THRILLER

WAR

WESTERN

Montage: a French word literally meaning "editing", "putting together" or "assembling shots"; refers to a filming technique

Pin-up girl: refers to the most sexually-attractive star-actresses of an era. E.g. Marylin Monroe

Plot: refers to a series of dramatic events or actions that make up a film'snarrative

Producer: the chief of a movie production in all logistical matters (i.e., scheduling, financing, budgeting) 

Production: the general process of putting a film together, including casting, set construction, costuming, rehearsals, and shooting. Also refers to an entire movie project.

Release: refers to the first distribution and general public exhibition of a film to theatre audiences.

Remake: refers to a later production (of a previous film), with different credits, script, and cast.

Scenario: (1) the outline for a screenplay, or (2) a complete screenplay

Scene: usually a shot (or series of shots) that together comprise a single, complete and unified dramatic event.

Screenplay: a script or text for a film production written by  scripter or screenwriter(s)

Script : refers to the written text of a film.

Sequel: a cinematic work that presents the continuation of characters, settings, and/or events of a story in a previously-made or preceding movie.

Sequence: refers to scenes that structurally fit together in the plot.

Setting: the time (time period) and place in which the film's story occurs, including all of the other additional factors.

Soundtrack: the audio component of a movie, including the dialogue, musical score, narration, and sound effects, that accompany the visual components. 

Still: a single, static image of a movie.

Storyboard: a sequential series of illustrations, stills, rough sketches of events, as seen through the camera lens, that outline the various shots or provide a synopsis for a proposed filmstory.

stunt double(s): a stunt performer(s) (aka stunts) that take the place of an actor when the scene calls for a dangerous or risky action (car crash, fight, window jump, etc.); doubles usually have the same build or appearance as the star.

Subtitles: refers to the printed line(s) of text superimposed and displayed at the bottom of the screen frame.

Titles: the words that appear on the film screen and convey information.

Trailer: a short publicity film, preview, or advertisement composed of short excerpts and scenes from a forthcoming film.

Trilogy: a group of three films that together compose a larger narrative and are related in subject or theme. E.g. The Lord of the Rings.