Unit 4 FINE ARTS

Empathy

a physical reaction to events witnessed on stage/screen

Producer

finds money & venues

Director

provides structure to the script, like a conductor in music

Stage Manager

in charge during performance behind the scenes

Tragedy

plays with an unhappy ending

Comedy

plays with a happy ending

Farce

sub genre of comedy, comedy of situation; can express socially unacceptable desire with no consequences ex. South Park

Satire

makes fun of vices/abuses/flaws of an individual/group/way of thinking; usually bitter & harsh observational humor, often very topical subject matter ex. SNL

Melodrama

both use oversimplified external drama with good vs. evil & clearly stereotypical characters

Verisimilitude

level of realism

Aesthetic Distance

separation between stage and audience

Chorus (Greek Theater)

a group of actors speaking as 1 character that commented on the action (?)

Decorum

being proper on stage

Satyr Play

could be bawdy, sight gags, happy ending

Everyman

name of main character

Florentine Camerata

group of musical rookies that tried to recreate Greek drama with “Dafne”

Opera Seria

serious opera, usually tragedy

Opera Comique

spoken dialogue

Realism

response to melodrama

Aria

reaction to plot, musically important, high emotion

Recitative

plot is told, musically unimportant, little emotion

Libretto

script

Bel canto

“beautiful singing”

Verismo

“realism”

Grand Opera

focus on extravagant spectacle, grandiose subject matter. telling story through ballet & chorus

Catalogue Aria

a song where the singer recounts lists of information

Deus ex machina

“machines of the Gods;” any situation where something unexpected/implausible is brought in to the story line to resolve situations/disentangle a plot

Gesamtkunstwerk

“total work of art” is core part of Wagner’s philosophy

Leitmotif

a musical theme associated with a person/idea/object/emotion

Singspiel

opera with spoken German dialogue

Overture

orchestral introduction

Editing

sequencing of shots in the film - the order and duration of various shots, the scene transitions, and visual effects

Plasticity

the quality of being able to be rearranged and spliced according to the needs of the director

Expressionism

seeks a specific emotional response from the audience

Persistence of Vision

retaining an image on the retina after it is gone (each frame must stop briefly to give time for the eye to process)

American Realism

depression-era dramas with high level of verisimilitude

Narrative Film

tells a story

Absolute Film

a nonrepresentational film - simply a record of movement/form; avant-garde film

Documentary Film

records actual events

Rock Opera

musical utilizing rock music

Theater of Depiction

modern theater convention that shows everything

Theater of Convention

Ancient Greece where they throw out worship of Dionysus