English 11S Photography Lecture Notes

Flashcards from English 11S Photography lecture notes focusing on film styles, shots, angles, lighting, cinematography, lenses, and special effects.

Realism (in film)

Films attempt to reproduce the surface of reality with a minimum of distortion, concerned more with what is shown rather than how it is manipulated.

Classicism (in film)

Most fiction films, balancing realism and formalism.

Formalism (in film)

Films are stylistically flamboyant with a high degree of manipulation and stylization of reality; concerned with power, beauty, and symbolism of images.

Extreme Long Shot (Establishing Shot)

Taken from a great distance, typically an exterior shot showing much of the locale.

Long Shot

Encompasses roughly the same amount of space as the staging area in a large theater.

Full Shot

The full human body is visible in the shot.

Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees or waist up.

Three-shot

Contains three figures.

Two-shot

Contains two figures.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot

Usually contains two figures, one with part of his or her back to the camera, the other faces the camera.

Close Up

Shows little of the locale and concentrates on a small object, often the human face, magnifying its importance.

Extreme Close Up

A variation of the close-up, showing only a small detail, such as a person’s eye.

Bird’s Eye Angle

Photographing a scene from directly overhead, making people appear insignificant or vulnerable.

High Angle

Tends to make people look powerless or trapped; provides a general overview.

Eye-Level Angle

The camera is at the same level as the subject, suggesting connection and neutrality.

Low Angle

Can make characters seem threatening and powerful; minimizes the environment.

Worm’s Eye Angle

An extreme low angle.

Oblique (Dutch Tilt)

Involves a lateral tilt of the camera, suggesting tension, imbalance, or anxiety.

High Key Lighting

Bright, even illumination with no conspicuous shadows, typical of comedy and musical films.

Low Key Lighting

Use of diffused shadows and atmospheric pools of light, common in mysteries, thrillers, and gangster films.

High Contrast Lighting

Harsh shafts of light and dramatic streaks of blackness, found in tragedies and melodramas.

Key Light

Primary source of illumination in three-point lighting.

Fill Light

Less intense than key lights, softening the harshness of the main light source and revealing details in shadow.

Backlight

Separates foreground figures from their setting, heightening the illusion of three-dimensional depth

Cinematographer (Director of Photography, DP)

The person responsible for arranging and controlling the lighting of a film and the quality of the photography.

Telephoto lens / Long Lens

Works like a telescope, with sharp focus on one distance plane, blurring objects around it.

Rack Focus / Selective Focus

Focal distance of long lenses adjusted while shooting to guide a viewer’s eye.

Wide angle lens / Short Lens

Short focal lengths and wide angles of view used in deep-focus shots to preserve sharpness on virtually all distance planes.

Fish-Eye Lens

Most extreme wide-angle modifier, creating severe distortions where lateral portions of the screen appear warped.

Blue Screen

A film technique in which the background of a scene is filmed in front of a blue or green screen, then replaced by computer-generated imagery.

CGI

computer-generated images

Bullet time

phrase for the super slow-motion technique utilized in The Matrix