Cinema Quiz 3: Concepts

acting & appropriateness

convincing embodiment of a character,

Naturalism and Transparency: looking the part/distinctiveness

Non-Naturalism and Opacity: off-casting, stereotypes, typage

acting & expressive cohesion

Naturalism: behavior seems intrinsic to the character(representational), fit between manner, setting, and behavior(verisimilitude)

Non-Naturalism: behavior seems to be extrinsic to the character(presentational), displays on actors craft/skills, or declaims an attitude toward the character

Kinesics: semiotic analysis of body language indexes of character

acting & inherent thoughtfulness

expression of a characters inner life

Naturalism & Comprehending interiority

Non-naturalist style and alienation effects: actors convey the ideological implications of their characters actions-directly address audience

Expression

acting & wholeness/unity

illusion of consistent and seamless character

Naturalism and playing in character

non-naturalist style to incoherence or fragmentation

Voice: particularities of voice as indexes of character in naturalist styles, contrapuntal separation between actors voice and image in non-naturalist styles

acting: fragmentation & collaboration

fragmentation: movies are filmed out of order, no character continuity for actor, scene partner is not always there, choices made based on frame

performances are a collaborative creation

acting: naturalistic vs. non-naturalistic

an actor recreates recognizable or plausible human behavior, method acting vs. performance marked by excessive exaggeration, aims to alienate viewers in the intersects of critical awareness

Brecht: epic theatre & alienation effects

wanted every aspect of a theatrical production to limit the audience’s identification with characters and events, thereby creating a psychological distance between them and the stage. The intent of this approach is to remind the audience of the artificiality of the theatrical performance.

close-ups & performance

close-ups allow the audience to see the actors face clearly and tells us their emotions based on the performance the actor gives

continuity editing: basic functions

maintains clear, continuous, & unassertive spatial & temporal relations between shots

smoothly matches screen direction, figure position & temporal relations between shots

invisible editing: matches can’t be disruptive 180° system

continuity editing techniques

establishing shot, shot/reverse shot, match-on-action cut, eye-line match

diegetic vs. non-diegetic sound

sound that is apart of the diegetic world vs. sound that is not apart of the diegetic world

direct vs. post-synchronized sound

sound recorded at the time of filming vs. sound added in post-production

discontinuity techniques

non-diegetic inserts, jump cuts, overlapping editing, elliptical editing, intercutting

editing & graphic relations

editing used to create interactions between pictorial qualities of shots, graphic matches, similarity of compositional elements or jarring contrasts

editing & rhythmic relations

editing used to adjust duration of shots in order to direct emotional response, timing of the film, variations in accents-beats-tempo, accelerating montage

editing & spatial relations

editing used to construct space, establishing shot, infer spatial whole on basis of seeing parts of the space

editing & temporal relations

editing used to control time of represented action, chronological or alinear, can alter natural duration of story events

editor’s responsibilities

Selects, arranges & assembles individual shots into completed whole

Eliminates unwanted takes & joins together desired shots

Constructs meaningful relationships between images →  guides viewer’s consciousness

expressive sound & interiority

Expressive sound evokes interiority or ideas

point‐of‐audition aligns us with character’s subjectivity contrapuntal sound directs us to make interpretations

external vs. internal sound

sound from the real/outside world vs. sound that is imagined(voice-over)

functions of film sound

directs our attention, clarifies visual information, complicates or contradicts image

influence of sound on acting

Different sounds one hears on stage are commonly associated with different moods and emotions. The right combination of sounds can create for suspense and fear, while others can influence an audience to feel excited and celebratory.

invisible editing

matches cannot be disruptive, seamless cuts to go unnoticed by the viewers

Kuleshov: juxtaposition & meaning

by showing an emotionless face followed by an image of food, accident, etc. the viewers will attribute meaning to the emotionless face

master shot technique

introduces the setting, by showing the outside and then cutting to the inside and then the plot can ensue

material dimensions of acting

appearance, expression, posture, movement, voice

modernist aesthetics

developed through a series of arguments and practices that rejected both Romantic and realist notions of aesthetics, claiming instead the autonomy of the art object – whether a literary text, a piece of visual art, or a musical composition – with respect to social, political, and historical forces.

music: classical vs. non-classical

music and image anchor each other: leitmotifs, mickey mousing vs. tension between the music and the image

naturalistic sound & classical style

sound that adheres to classical movements of selectivity, hierarchical, invisible, seamless, motivated

naturalistic sound & diegetic space/time

shows the audience the exact image of what they are hearing, helps orient viewer in time/space and provides forward momentum

nuance & performance

having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions (as in character or tone)

onscreen vs. off screen sound

the source of the sound is seen on screen vs. the source of the sound is offscreen

radical cinema

narrative is polemical: either solicits debate or has singular political meaning, estranges audience and relies on typage, foregrounds style to force audience out of passivity

shot vs. take

uninterrupted image with single framing vs. each filmed version of a particular shot

simultaneous vs. non-simultaneous sound

sound that is happening at the same time as its image vs. sound that happened before or after the image on screen

sound and image: co-expressiveness

sound is just as expressive as the image, they work together to express the meaning

sound: temporal dimesnions

synchronous vs. asynchronous, simultaneous vs. non-simultaneous

story time vs. plot time & editing

consist of order, duration and frequency of all the events pertinent to the narrative whatever they are shown to us or not. vs. consists of temporal qualities (order, duration, and frequency) of the events actually present in the film.

star acting & star contracts

types of actors

actors who take their persona from role to role (personality actors)

actors who deliberately play against our expectations of their personae

actors who seem to be different in every role (chameleon actors)

actors who are often nonprofessionals or people who are cast to bring verisimilitude to a part

types of sound

speech, dialogue, voice over narration

ambient sound and effects

silence