Film Criticism (Introductory Terms and Theories Study Guide)

cu

close-up (showing only the character’s head, for example)

xcu

extreme close-up (perhaps showing a detail of that head such as the eyes)

ms

medium shot (somewhere between a close-up and a full shot, showing most but not all of a figure)

fs

full or long shot (revealing the character’s entire body in the frame)

3/4s

three-quarter shot (showing only about three-quarters of the characters’ bodies)

ps

pan shot (the point of view pivots from left to right or vice versa but without changing its vertical axis)

s/rs

shot/reverse shot pattern (the point of view shots, for example, a person looking at someone and then show the individual being looked at)

ct

cut (when the film changes from one image to another)

lt

long take (the film changes from one image to another)

crs

crane shot (the point of view films an outdoor scene from high above)

trs

tracking shot (the entire point of view moves, on tracks or on a dolly, following, for instance, a walking figure)

la

low angle (the point of view is low, tilted upward)

ha

high angle (the point of view is above, tilted downward); the exact angle can be made clearer by using arrows

Structuralism (semiology)

The study of film as a constructed artifact; film as art and reflection of the mind; narrative codes, the language of film (film text); how films convey meaning through the use of codes, signs, and conventions

Formalism

The study of how aesthetic forms take over the subject matter as content; the distortion of image and stylized features of a film (not just through editing); crafting the “manipulated” film world

Realism in Cinema

The study of film as a record of reality or method to change/alter reality; the “unmanipulated” film world; the study of Italian Neorealism and contemporary social realism

Auteur Theory

The study of the director’s (i.e., an artist, director’s “trademark” and/or signature) versus the studio system

Ideology

The study of the social-historical context of the film and its impact on spectatorship

Adaptation

The study of the influential exchange between text versus cinema—two different art mediums; the role of intertextuality (i.e., the reference to or application of a literary, media, or social “text” within another literary, media, or social “text”)

Genre Theory

The study of how genre shapes the spectator’s expectations; film noir, musicals; western traditional; western revisionist; crime; vampire movies; spaghetti western; independent films; body genre (horror); French New Wave

Gender Theory

The study of gender roles in films and how they are represented

Archetypal Criticism

Identifying archetypal patterns and motifs in cinema; exploring how myths, fairy tales, folklores, gods, heroes, and monsters link culture together in today’s entertainment marketplace