Film Studies: Editing, Cinematography, Sound, Narrative, and the Cinema of Attractions

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering editing rules, visual style, cinematography, sound theory, narrative structures, semiotics, and Tom Gunning's cinema of attractions.

What is the 180-degree rule in continuity editing?

A continuity rule that keeps the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between characters or objects, maintaining consistent screen direction and spatial relationships.

What is the difference between continuity editing and discontinuity editing?

Continuity editing creates a smooth, coherent sense of time and space, whereas discontinuity editing disrupts that coherence.

What is dialectical montage?

An editing technique that juxtaposes contrasting images to produce a new meaning or idea.

What is an eyeline match?

An edit that connects a character looking in a particular direction with a shot of what they are looking at.

What is a graphic match cut?

A cut connecting two shots through similar visual elements, such as shapes, colors, or composition.

What is the Kuleshov effect?

An editing phenomenon in which viewers interpret a shot differently depending on the images edited before or after it.

What is shot/reverse-shot editing?

An editing pattern alternating between shots of two characters, commonly used during a conversation.

What was the Soviet montage school of the 1920s?

A filmmaking movement emphasizing editing and the juxtaposition of shots to create meaning rather than relying on a single shot.

What is a jump cut?

A jarring, abrupt cut that explicitly skips time or position within a similar framing to make the edit visible and disorienting, disrupting continuity.

What is cross-cutting?

An editing technique that alternates between events occurring in different locations, often to suggest simultaneity or build suspense.

In terms of temporal duration, how do expansion and elision differ?

Expansion stretches an event across more screen time than it would occupy in the story, while elision presents actions so they consume less screen time than in the story.

Why is choreographer and filmmaker Busby Berkeley considered an alternative to continuity-style cinema?

His elaborate musical numbers featured geometric arrangements of dancers and disrupted conventional continuity editing by prioritizing visual spectacle over consistent spatial and temporal match-ups.

What is deep focus in cinematography?

A technique in which the foreground, middle ground, and background remain simultaneously in focus.

Which optical factors determine depth of field?

Aperture, focal length, and camera-to-subject distance.

How do wide-angle and telephoto lenses affect apparent space differently?

A wide-angle lens captures a broader field of view and exaggerates apparent distances, whereas a telephoto lens captures a narrower field of view and compresses apparent distances.

What is a Steadicam?

A camera stabilization system that enables smooth movement while the operator walks or moves.

What is the distinction between mise-en-scène and the pro-filmic?

Mise-en-scène is everything arranged in front of the camera (setting, lighting, costume, makeup, figure movement), while the pro-filmic refers specifically to the physical people, objects, settings, and actions present in front of the camera to be filmed.

What is chiaroscuro?

The use of strong contrasts between light and dark in framing and lighting to create depth, mood, or dramatic emphasis.

What are the hallmarks of German Expressionism?

An early 20th-century artistic movement that rejected realism to express inner emotional experiences using stylized visuals, distorted sets, exaggerated shapes, and dramatic lighting.

What is chronophotography?

A photographic technique that captures successive phases of movement in order to study motion.

How did early films by the Lumière brothers differ from those by Georges Méliès?

The Lumière brothers often depicted everyday life, whereas Georges Méliès produced staged fantasy films featuring theatrical effects and illusions.

What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound?

Diegetic sound originates within the film's story world (such as dialogue or footsteps), while non-diegetic sound originates outside it (such as background score that characters cannot hear).

What is sound fidelity?

The perceived faithfulness of a sound to its apparent visual source.

What is an acousmêtre?

A voice or character that can be heard on the soundtrack but whose physical source is not visible on screen, often creating mystery or a sense of power.

How does restricted narration differ from omniscient narration?

Restricted narration limits information largely to what a specific character knows, while omniscient narration gives viewers access to information beyond any single character's knowledge.

What is the distinction between story, plot, and screen duration?

Story consists of events in chronological order; plot refers to how those events are selected, arranged, and presented; screen duration is the actual running time required to watch the film.

What is a puzzle film?

A cinematic style that subverts classical storytelling by employing complex structures that force the audience to actively piece the plot together.

In semiotics, how do symbols, icons, and indices differ?

A symbol relies on established convention (e.g., a national flag); an icon physically resembles what it depicts (e.g., a photograph); and an index is causally or physically linked to what it represents (e.g., smoke indicating fire).

What is a symptomatic reading of a film?

An interpretative approach that examines the underlying cultural, social, or ideological assumptions revealed by a film.

What core characteristic defines Tom Gunning's concept of the 'cinema of attractions' prior to 1906?

It directly solicits spectator attention and incites visual curiosity by presenting exciting, novel spectacles rather than constructing self-sufficient narrative worlds or psychologically motivated characters.

How does Tom Gunning unify the early work of both Lumière and Méliès?

He views both not as opposing poles of documentary versus fiction, but as sharing a common basis: presenting a series of views that fascinate audiences through their illusory power (realistic motion for Lumière, magical illusions for Méliès).

How did Hale's Tours reflect the exhibition practices of the cinema of attractions?

It operated like a fairground ride: the theater was arranged as a train car with a ticket-taking conductor and sound effects of clacking wheels and hissing air brakes while screening non-narrative views from moving vehicles.

How were close-ups utilized in the cinema of attractions compared to later narrative cinema?

Early close-ups functioned as visual attractions (such as a woman lifting her skirt to expose an ankle) rather than as narrative punctuation or character psychology.

What characterized the shift in cinema during the period from 1907 to 1913?

The true narrativization of cinema occurred: films developed self-enclosed diegetic universes, looking at the camera became taboo, and cinematic tricks evolved into elements of dramatic expression.

Why was the chase film significant in early cinema history according to Tom Gunning?

It served as a synthesis of attractions and narrative, providing an early model for causality, linearity, and basic continuity editing.