Chapter 1-4 filmmaking quiz

Dramatization

Transforming what is vague and internal into a series of viewable and audible actions and events

Essential Story Elements

Central character
Dramatic situation (the premise)
Actions and stakes
Resolution and what it all means

Sympathetic Character

Figure with whom the audiences can identify, empathize, or at least sympathize.

Antipathetic Character

Character who is unkind, mean, unpleasant, despicable, or even repulsive but offers a glimpse of something fascinating, intriguing, and engaging to watch.

Dramatic Situation

(Premise) What's at stake for the character; what do they have to lose, win or discover; how might they change

Central Dramatic Question

What emerges from the reaction between a particular character in a particular situation

Conflict Driven Story

Story's forward momentum is driven by conflicts that keep your central character from achieving their identifiable goal.

Opposing Force

Obstacles to the progress of the central character

Antagonist

Another character who stands in the way or is struggling for a contradictory goal

Plot

Order of events

The visual language of cinema

The shot, the shot sequence, the scene, and true dramatic sequence

The shot

A continuous run of images, unbroken by an edit. Also called a camera take, it is the footage generated from the moment you turn on the camera to the moment you turn it off

Mise-en-scene

Everything visible in the frame of the shot. Contains information, a certain meaning, derived from a combination of what we see in the shot and how it is presented

A sequence

An expressive unit made up of editing together of multiple shots to define a unified action or event, or passage of time or place

Montage (Editing)

Meaning is derived from the accumulation of information from the various shots in an edited sequence

Juxtaposition

Placing two or more shots next to each other so that you highlight a link or contrast between the content in each shot

Previsualization

Images and Editing function in tandem and must be considered for the visual strategy

Shooting for the edit

Considering how the shots will fit together

Dramatic Sequence

Made up of a series of scenes that create a larger dramatic unit

Continuity Style

A way of shooting and editing that organizes images to create a coherent sense of space, time, and movement in a way that is recognized and understood by nearly everyone

The Frame

Has two definitions that begin the aesthetic considerations concerning the graphic and compositional aspects of your shots

The physical frame

Each individual still image captured on film or on video, which, when projected as a series, creates the illusion of motion

The compositional frame

A two-dimensional space defined by its horizontal (x-axis) and vertical (y-axis) dimensions

Z-Axis

With the compositional frame defined by the x-axis and y-axis, we perceive a third dimension, however, depth and distance are created through graphic illusion

The four edges of the frame

Screen Left, Screen Right, Top, and Bottom

Off Screen

What the audience doesn't see

Aspect Ratio

The relationship between the width and the height of the frame. It is derived by dividing the width by the height

Academy Aperture

A full frame of 35mm film, 16mm film, and broadcast standard video is 1.33:1, also known as 4x3. The width is one-third larger than the vertical

The American Theatrical Release Aspect Ratio

1.85:1

The European Theatrical Release Aspect Ratio

1.66:1

The HDTV Broadcast Aspect Ratio

1.78:1 (16x9)

A Closed Frame

All of the essential information in the shot is nearly contained within the parameters of the frame

Open Frame

The composition leads the audience to be aware of the area between the edges of the visible shot

A Deep Frame

A frame that accentuates the compositional element of depth (z-axis)

Flat Frame

Emphasizing the two-dimensionality of the image

Object Overlapping

The understanding that objects nearer the foreground will partially cover or overlap objects farther in the background

Diminishing Perspective

The perceptual understanding that objects will appear to be smaller the farther they are from the viewer, and conversely, objects will appear larger the closer they are to the viewer

Foreshadowing

With respect to a single object, where one part of the object appears large because it is very close to the viewer, while another part of the same object appears small because it is farther away, creating a dynamic sense of depth within the frame

Stereopsis

A visual perception phenomenon created by viewing objects with two eyes that physiologically are placed slightly apart, like human eyes

Interocular Distance

The distance between our two pupils. The two lenses on a 3D video camera try to replicate this physical occurrence

The Principle of Compositional Balance

Objects on your frame carry a certain visual weight. Size, shape, brightness, and placement can all affect the relative weight of an object in the frame

Rule of Thirds

A guide for framing human subjects and for composition in genera. The frame is divided with imaginary lines along the horizontal and vertical axes and then significant objects, focus points, and elements of interest are placed along those lines

Looking Room or Walking Room

The extra vertical space, to one side or the other provides a sense of balance because the direction of the gaze, or movement, itself carries a sort of compositional weight

The proximity of subject to camera and the degree of lens magnification

What the size of the subject is determined by

Shot Size

Based on the narrative emphasis, visual information, and emotional impact needed from a particular shot at a particular moment in the story

Traditionally the Human Form

The frame of reference for any discussion of shot size

An Extreme Long Shot or Wide Shot (ELS)

A shot that shows a large view of the location, setting, or landscape. The emphasis is on the their surroundings or their relationship to their surroundings

A Long Shot (LS)

Generally a shot that contains the whole human figure. Good for larger physical movements and activity

A Medium Long Shot (MLS)

Frames the subject from approximately the knees up. Also called the "Cowboy Shot" or "American Shot"

A Medium Shot (MS)

Frames the subject approximately the waist up. Smaller physical actions and facial expressions. Location is clearly no longer the emphasis of the shot

A Medium Close-Up (MCU)

Generally from the chest up or shoulders up. The emphasis is facial expressions, but some connection to the broader physical "attitude" of the body is maintained

Close-Up (CU)

the primary emphasis is on the grace or other part of the body. Small details in features, movements and expressions are the subjects of this very intimate shot

An Extreme Close-Up (ECU)

A stylistically potent shot that isolates a very small detail or feature of the subject

Two Shots, Three Shots, and Group Shots

Includes two subjects, includes three subjects, and includes more than three people

Direct Address

A shot in which the subject looks directly at the camera

Frontal Shots

The camera looks directly at the face of your subject but the subject's sightline glances just off the edge of the frame

Frontal and Three-Quarter Frontal

An intimate perspective and can elicit strong engagement

Profile Shot

A somewhat neutral point of view

Three-Quarter Back

Can encourage the audience to identify with a character by aligning their visual point of view with that of the subject

Canted Angle or Dutch Angle

Tilting the camera laterally so that the horizon of the composition is oblique. It can infuse tension, imbalance or disorientation into the scene

Frame within a Frame

A technique involving using some element of the location or lighting to crop the existing frame to new proportions

Static Shot ot Fixed Shot

A shot in which the framing remains steady on the subject without moving or shifting perspective

A Camera Move

Shifting the viewers perspective in one continuous medium might provide extra information or a visual connection, which could be vital to fully develop that particular dramatic point

There are two kinds of camera moves

Stationary camera moves and Dynamic camera moves

A Pan

Scans space horizontally by pivoting the camera left or right

A Tilt

Shifts the camera perspective vertically with the lens facing up or facing down

Panning from/to and Tilting from/to

A pan or a tilt that moves from one subject to another

A Pan with or Tilt with

A pan or a tilt that follows a subject as they move within the space

Zooming in or Zooming out

Requires a variable focal length lens and is common on DV cameras but less common on film cameras

Dynamic Camera Moves

Involves mobile camera, which means literally moving the entire camera in space, horizontally, closer or farther, or even vertically

A Tracking Shot

Used when you move the camera in order to follow or track with a subject

Dolly Shots

Generally moving shots in which the camera moves closer or farther away from the subject

Booming

Lifting the camera up and down and can be done with a handheld camera or mechanically with a boom or jib arm

A Crane Shot

The camera is raised very high in the air, certainly above a human subjects head

A Combination Move

Executing more than one move at a time is very common

The Moving Frame and Perspective

Thinking of the camera as essentially the seat from which an audience member views the world of your film

Motivation and the Moving Camera

a. A camera move must have a narrative function, meaning it serves as an important storytelling technique
b. The moment the physical camera move actually begins needs to be motivated within the scene

Narrative Motivation

Although the camera moves are often used to REVEAL new information within a single shot, they can also be used to CONCEAL actions and details for dramatic effect

continuity-style shooting and editing

a system that assures us that individual shots, when cut together, will give us the illusion of smooth and continuous time, movement, and space, regardless of the order those shots were taken

script supervisor

responsible for keeping track of continuity concerns

ambient sounds

exist naturally in a given location

spatial contiguity

the extent to which events are situated close to each other in space

180 degree principle

means that we must shoot all of the shots in a continuity sequence from only one side of the action

180 degree line (axis of action)

imaginary line connecting the two most important elements in the scene at a given moment

sightline

direction the character is looking

screen direction

the direction the character travels in the frame

jumping the line

placing the camera anywhere on the far side of the line to take our close-up, the sightline of the character and the orientation of all actions will be reversed

jump cut

cutting together two shots of the same subject when the frames are very similar, then the viewer has the feeling that a single shot has simply lurched forward a little bit

match action edit

dividing a single movement between two shots in order to bridge the edit

The Master Scene (or Shot/Reverse Shot Technique)

consists of three basic shots that are later edited together- that is, the master shot and reverse shots of each person (or the person and the object)

cutaway

forth type of shot in a master scene

master shot

clearly shows both subjects in the scene and defines the spatial relationship of the two to each other and the space around them

reverse shots (singles)

closer shots of the subjects in the scene

Over the shoulder shot (dirty single)

reverse shot from an angle that includes a portion of the other person's shoulder or head

shot/reverse shot technique

alternating between the two reverse shot angles

reaction shot

A cut to a shot of a character's reaction to the contents of the preceding shot

eyeline match

being precise with camera placement and the focus of a character's gaze so that you accurately follow that person's sightlines from shot to shot, especially in an interaction

focus point

where you focus the camera

cutaway shot

a shot of detail within your scene other than the characters

coverage

shooting a scene from various angles, and duplicating actions in more than one angle