Film Lecture Exam 2 (pt. 1)

narrative form

_______ ____ refers to the overall patterning of a movie. the way its parts work together to create specific effects. 

form

____ is the structure of the film experience

formal expectations

whether we are wholly conscious of it or not, all films are created according to a pattern which we follow

puzzle

a film often introduces a kind of _____ and we expect that it will resolve the _____

traditional

the ________ 3-act structure is the main way in which film narratives are composed:

act 1

the exposition (or setup) leads to a turning point

act 2

complications lead to a climax

act 3

falling action leads to a resolution

Jean-Lu Godard

The french filmaker ____-___ ______ famously claimed that “Every film has a beginning, a middle, and an end…although not necessarily in that order”

narrative

a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space

narrative

is not merely a random string of events with no connection to each other, the events that happen are always connected

story

all narratives create a world that we enter through the ____

diegesis

the word of narrative in film is called the _______

diegesis

is the real or imagined world of the story and can be fantastical like Middle Earth or realistic like Paris

non-diegetic

the concept of diegesis helps us to distinguish between the world the film creates and other elements we see (or hear) on screen. these elements are called ___-_______

credits, music, narrator

what are some non-diegetic elements of film

screen duration

refers to the amount of time we spend watching a film

story duration

refers to the time experienced by the characters we see on screen

story

refers to the events of the narrative as they happen in chronological order one after the other

plot

refers to the abbreviated reordering of these events

plots

most ____ will eliminate things like when a character goes to sleep. or use flashbacks to explain something that happened in the past. 

plot

when we watch a film, we watch the ____ that the filmmakers have chosen for us

narration

the process through which the plot conveys or withholds story information. can be more or less restricted to character knowledge and more or less deep in presenting characters’ perceptions or thoughts

character

the narration can tell us what a ________ knows, or it can tell us more

confuse

do not ______ voice over narrator with narration. a narrator might be part of a film’s narration, but narration is much more general and overarching. 

camera

what we see in a shot isn’t only what’s put into a scene (mis-en-scene), it’s also where a _______ is and how it moves and the way in which it views it 

cinematography

is an aspect of film style handled by the cinematographer working in conjunction with the director

elements of cinematography

• exposure

• focal length

• framing

• camerawork

• color

• special effects

exposure

on of the first things a cinematographer is responsible for is ________

exposure

is the practice of controlling how much light enters the aperture of the lens

f-stops

the aperture is measure in what are known as __-___.

more

the lower the f-stop number, the ____ light passes through the aperture

lens

another important decision of the cinematographer is what type of ____ to use

focal length

lenses are generally distinguished from one another in terms of ____ ______ (measured in mm)

wide-angle, normal, and telephoto

what are the 3 main categories of lenses?

wide angle

____ _____ lenses have a focal length of less than 35mm and they take in a wide field of view and also exaggerate depth (ex: fisheye lenses)

normal

______ lenses have a focal length of around 35mm to 50mm and they neither exaggerate nor compress depth

50

a ___ mm lens is often considered to be the closest to human vision

telephoto

________ lenses are focal lengths of 85mm or above and depth is compressed in longer lenses and our field of view is extremely restricted (often used at sporting events)

distance

“tele” means from a _______

depth of field 

refers to how much of the image is in focus (or “sharp”)

aperture, focal length

depth of field is determined by both _______ and _____ ______

deep focus

is the technique of using and shooting as higher f-stops to render the foreground, mid-ground, and background all in prefect focus

shooting

in considering where the camera is, think first about the ______ angle

low

a ___ angle is produced by positioning the camera low to the ground and pointing the camera upward

high

a ___ angle is produced by positioning the camera above the subject and pointing the camera downward

low, high

a ___ angle is usually used to make a subject look imposing or powerful, while a ____ angle may be used to make the subject look vulnerable (however this is not the case)

individual

the meaning of camera angles is not written in stone. the meanings are determined by ________ films

canted

if the framing is tipped to one side or another, it’s called a ______ angle (or a “Dutch angle”)

long shot

a shot in which an actor’s full body can be seen, along with the space they inhabit

full shot

a shot in which a standing actor’s full body fills the shot (their toes at the bottom of the frame, ther head near the top) 

medium long shot

a standing actor is shown from the knees up

medium shot

an actor is shown from the waist up

medium close-up

an actor is shown from the chest up

close-up

the actor’s head and shoulders fills most of the frame

extreme close-up

the actor’s head completely fills the frame

wide angle, telephoto

as a general rule, long shots are filmed with ____ _____ lenses while close-ups are filmed with _______ lenses

static

occasionally a camera will not move for an entire shot - this is called a stationary or _____ shot

mobile

in contemporary cinema, however, most of the time the camera does move - this is called ______ framing

pan

the camera turns to the left or the right. on the screen, we see an image that is scanned horizontally

tilt

a camera movement which the camera swivels upward or downward on a stationary support. this produces an image that scans space vertically

tracking shot

an image that is produced by moving the camera forward, backward, or laterally through space (also known as a dolly shot)

crane shot

a camera which is lifted or lowered onto a scene using a crane

handheld camera

when the camera is held on a person’s shoulder

steadicam

an apparatus that mounts a camera to a person, allowing the camera operator to walk or run with the camera without producing a shaky image

long take

one of the most prestigious types of camerawork is known as the ____ _____

long take

also sometimes known as a sequence shot, the ____ ____ refuses to cut up the action and instead takes advantage of duration in real time

analog, digital

with _____ cameras, the longest a camera could record was about 11 minutes. this limitation has vanished with ______ cameras

zoom

_____ lenses have existed since the early years of cinema. they were usually used as a matter of convenience, for shooting on location without having to carry around a bunch of prime lenses

60s

zoom shots were more or less our of the question until filmmakers in the ___ stated to experiment with cinematography

film stocks

different ___ ____ are used depending on the type of shot and light in a scene

blue, red/orange

cameras read daylight/moonlight as ___ and incandescent light as ___/_____

white

film stocks offset this by having particular types of light read as ____ light: daylight film stock vs. tungsten film stock. in digital cameras, this is known as ____ balance

aspect ratio

the shape of the frame

academy, widescreen, and cinemascope

the 3 main aspect ratios:

1. ________ (1.33:1)

2. __________ (1.85:1)

3. __________ (2.35:1)