Film Studies Analysis Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards based on the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Film Studies Analysis Guide by Deanna Moore.

Shot

One continuous piece of film footage, ending with an edit, or cut to the next shot.

Sequence

A series of shots combined to represent a discrete set of actions or a coherent narrative section.

Scene

Similar to a 'sequence,' a series of shots combined to represent a set of actions happening within the same time and place.

Motif

Anything repeated more than a few times in a film. A motif can be visual (an image or cinematic technique), sonic (a sound or piece of music), or rhetorical (a word, phrase, metaphor, etc.).

Cinematography

A term used to define the ways in which the camera captures the shot, including different lenses, framing, camera angle relative to action, and camera movement.

Editing

Refers to how the individual shots are spliced together, normally using continuity editing to make action appear to flow logically and naturally.

Mise-en-scène

Literally meaning 'put into the scene,' this term refers to the arrangement of actors and objects in front of the camera, including setting, lighting, costuming, and acting.

Sound

Refers to both the sounds that come from the scene itself, such as spoken dialogue or ambient noise, and the sounds that are imposed on the scene, such as voice-overs or musical scores.

Extreme Long Shot

A shot of a character's full figure at a great distance, including a panoramic view of the surroundings.

Long Shot

A shot that includes a character's full figure as well as the surroundings.

Medium Shot

A shot that captures a figure from the waist up.

Close-Up

The frame is filled primarily by the subject's face, including little to no background.

Extreme Close-Up

A shot filled entirely by a small part of the subject's body.

High Angle

A camera angle where the camera looks down at the subject.

Low Angle

A camera angle where the camera looks up at the subject.

Canted Angle

A shot in which the framing is tipped, or no longer horizontal.

Pan

Mobile framing where the camera scans horizontally from a fixed axis.

Tilt

Mobile framing where the camera scans vertically from a fixed axis.

Track

Mobile framing where the camera follows the action, travelling along a parallel path to capture the movement.

Long Lens

Also called a 'telephoto lens,' this long focal length lens is used to capture subjects at a distance and foreshortens the distance between background and foreground.

Wide Lens

A short focal length lens that emphasizes the distance between foreground and background.

Deep Focus

A focus state where objects in the background and foreground are equally in focus.

Shallow Focus

A focus state where only objects in one plane are in focus, while others are out of focus.

Rack Focus

A shift from one plane of focus to another within a shot.

Zoom

Changes focal length to create motion towards or away from the subject.

Superimposition

A process shot where images are overlaid within the frame.

Digital Animation

Images created or modified by computer software.

Title Cards

Text from outside the world of the narrative appearing on screen to supply information to the audience.

Sign Text

Text that appears on screen from within the world of the narrative.

Continuity Editing

The process of putting shots together to create the impression of continuous narrative time and/or visually coherent space.

180 Degree Rule

A principle of continuity editing dictating that the camera remain on one side of the action to maintain the viewer's perspective and understanding of the left-right spatial relationship between characters.

Shot/Reverse Shot

Alternating shots between subjects, usually in conversation, viewed from different camera positions.

Crosscutting

Transitioning back and forth between two or more action sequences taking place simultaneously.

Eyeline Match

A cut between a shot of a person looking towards an object and a shot of the object being viewed.

Match on Action

A cut that transitions between two different views of the same action so that the action appears continuous from one shot to the next.

Graphic Match

A cut that relates consecutive shots through repeated compositional features (shapes, colors, patterns, etc.).

Jump Cut

A cut that distorts continuity, skipping ahead in time or space.

Frame

The spatial parameters of a shot within which the scene is composed.

Composition

The arrangement of subjects, props, and environments within a given shot.

Period Piece

A film set in a distinctive past era, costumed and decorated in the particular style of the period.

Level of Realism (Setting)

The degree to which the world of the film resembles the audience's familiar reality.

Three Point Lighting

Standard lighting using three light sources: a key light to provide the main source of illumination along with a fill light from another side and back light from behind.

High Key

Lighting style where nearly all parts of the image are brightly illuminated.

Low Key

Lighting style featuring extreme contrast between light and dark within an image.

Chiaroscuro

The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of visual drama or a sense of volume and dimension to the space and the figures within it.

Level of Realism (Acting)

The degree to which the actors' dramatic choices resemble real-life human behavior and interaction.

Acting Styles

Performance conventions that change with time period and type of film.

Diegetic Sound

Sound produced in the world of the film, taking place within the narrative (dialogue, sound effects, etc.).

Extra-Diegetic Sound

Sound originating from outside the narrative, not produced in the on-screen setting (voice-overs, soundtrack, etc.).

Sound Bridge

A transition assisted by a continuous sound from one scene to the next, often to introduce a new scene before it appears visually.

Edit on Sound

A cut made on a sound cue.