Essential Film Glossary

East Asian Cinema Quiz 1

Narrative

Adjective describing a film primarily as a work of fiction, or noun that loosely means fictional story

Documentary

Adj. or noun category used to describe a work of nonfiction

Plot

all aspects of the narrative that we see on screen

Story

refers to all aspects f the narrative that we do not see on screen; may include events before, after, or during the plot of the film.

Diegesis

refers to the narrative that we see on screen - the world that the characters inhabit as much as the plot of the film - somethings the characters can perceive

POV

even when it does not use a POV shot, film often has a more subjective perspective through the use of camera placement, voiceover and other cinema techniques

mise-en-scene

refers to everything in the frame of the film which includes lighting, set, props, staging, movement of actors, etc.

1950s term meant a special aspect of cinema associated with certain directors

setting

refers to the time and place of the film

set

actual construction in which the actors are filmed - also used as a designation for the place where a film is being shot

prop

generally any object on a set, though clearly the objects that characters will touch become more important

costumes

what the characters are wearing, even if it contemporary

lighting

the way in which lights are used for a given film

• key light: main light used for a scene

• back light: secondary source usually placed behind the actors

• fill: light placed to the side of the actors

three-point lighting and lowkey lighting

three point: the system of key light, backlight, and fill

lowkey lighting: film was shot often using only the key light at a very low setting - creates shadows on the faces of actors and is moody - associated with film noir

shot

smallest unit of unbroken film - the distance from the camera to the subject, almost always the actor

long shot (wide shot)

can see the entire body of the actor

medium shot

one can see the actor from the waist up - twoshot is usually a medium shot of two actors

close up

one can only see the actor’s face - in extreme close ups you only see part of the actors face

pan

movement of a stationary camera on a horizontal axis - left to right would be panning

tilt

movement of a stationary camera on a vertical axis

tracking shot

movement of a shot when the camera is no longer stationary - moving shot that appears stable such as a steadycam shot

• dolly shot: what the camera rests on while the camera moves in certain kinds of shots

handheld shot

a shot where the camera is held by the camera operator - documentary realism

crane shot

a shot taken from a crane (usually beginning of scene)

POV shot

we are looking through the eyes of a character - other characters looking directly into camera and addressing it

high-angle shot, low-angle shot

camera placement

high: camera is looking down on an actor from a high vantage

low: camera is placed very low to the ground and looks up at its actors

take (short and long)

the time a shot is begun to the time it stops

short take: one or two seconds long

long take: single unbroken shot that lasts for a larger amount of time

frame

smallest unit of film possible - film is shown at 24 fps - sometimes talks about the four sides of the film as it being projected

screen

often used with on or off (on screen or off screen) to refer to what we see within the frame

shallow/soft focus

refers to how much of the shot is in focus - generally we can only see the actor’s face in focus - shallow focus uses a long lens

deep focus

a shot in which everything, including the background, is in focus - this type of shot is much more difficult to achieve

rack focus

shifting the focus from one object to another within a single shot

editing

refers to the way that the individual shots are connected to one another to make the film

montage

two meanings:

• can simply be another word for editing

• series of shots edited together to show a longer activity evolving in a shorter amount of time or to show a series of related activities

transition

refers to the way a shot moves from one to the next - there are several kinds, such as cut, dissolve, fade in fade out, wipe, iris in iris out

cut

simply splicing one shot to the next - most common kind of transition

dissolve

when one shot bleeds into another - the end of the first shot is still visible as the second shot becomes visible - can often show time passing

fade in, fade out

going from black to a shot or going from a shot to black

wipe

one shot “wipes” across the screen and replaces another - not often used in contemporary films

iris in, iris out

not common in temporary films: shot goes from a full frame to focusing a small circle around a certain part of the shot with everything else blacked out (and vice versa)

scene

a series of shots that form a cohesive unit of narrative

continuity editing

also called invisible editing or Classic Hollywood editing - associated with 5 following terms

establishing shot (CE)

two meanings:

• shot at the beginning of a film or scene that established location

• describe a shot that establishes the spatial relationships in a given scene

shot/reverse shot

after an establishing shot - close-ups used when two characters are in conversation

match on action

connects two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in the second shot begun in the first shot

eyeline match

the directions that actors look affect the way we perceive their spatial relationships to one another - important for establishing who a character is talking to or what a character is looking at

180 degree rule

once a spatial relationship has been confirmed with the establishing shot, no close up will cross the imaginary line drawn between those two actors until a new line has been established, usually through another establishing shot

zoom in, zoom out

using certain lenses, the camera can move more closely into a subject (the zoom in) or pull back (the zoom out) - sometimes called push in and pull back

sound

everything we hear from the audio track of the film

music

any music from the audio track - might be diegetic or nondiegetic

diegetic sound

sound that other characters would be able to hear

ex. a song on a radio as the character drives down the highway, or someone coughing.

note that it is a sound that they could hear even if they are not present when the sound occurs, like musing playing in an apt. even if they arent in the apt.

nondiegetic sound

sound that characters cannot hear

ex. voiceovers or music that inflects the mood of a given scene like horror music that plays when a character walks into an abandoned house

ambient sound

any sounds that are used to establish location

ex. ambient sound of a park scene may include birds chirping or a dog barking

ex. train station would include train brakes, arrival and departure announcements, people talking