CDM 001 Midterm 1

Cinematography involves making choices between

Cinematography involves making choices between

types of lighting, shots, lenses, camera movements

Long shot

central characters are small figures relative to their surroundings

Long take

any type of shot that continues for an extended time

Establishing shot

often a long shot, always the first shot of a scene

Medium long shot

begins to isolate one or more figures; body visible from ankles or knees up

Medium shots

waist up

Medium close shot

mid-chest up; the people photographed dominate the screen

Medium two shot

two people from waist up

Close-ups

filling the screen with an object or figure of significance; sometimes a face, sometimes an important object. Draws attention to details

Choker/extreme closeups

close-up of only part of the face or an object; often fills the screen with a mouth, ear, or pair of eyes

Soft-focus cinematography

use of a special lens, gauze, or filmy substance to produce a slightly out of focus, soft, diffused look

Tracking shot

physically moving the camera to follow the characters while filming continuously. The camera can be handheld or mounted on a dolly to make it smoother

Tilt

Camera is on a fixed horizontal axis that can tilt up or down

Pan

Camera is on a fixed vertical axis that can move left or right

Dutch tilt

shifting the entire camera off its vertical-horizontal axis so the entire camera tilts to left or right, producing an image no longer perpendicular to the ground

Zoom shots

changing the focal length of the zoom lens

Low key lighting

only parts of the frame, if any, are well lit; many shadows, many contrasts. Popular in film noir

Mise-en-scene

Refers to arrangement of what appears in front of camera; set design, lighting, costumes, props, character placement, and movement

Open frame

any shot that gives the sense that it is part of a much wider field of potential action rather than an enclosed, formally balanced composition

Closed frame

shot that gives a sense of being entirely self-sufficient and composed, to represent a specific world where action takes place

Deep focus cinematography

keeps multiple objects at different distances from the camera in focus at the same time

Off-screen space

visual or aural cues activate the viewer’s awareness of the space beyond the frame, ex offscreen noise. Good for building suspense/mystery

Diegetic sound

exists within the story world. Can be manipulated to serve dramatic and emotional needs of the story

Non-diegetic sound

mostly narration or music. doesn’t exist within the story world

Subjective sound

renders sound as a character hears it rather than how it really is

Directorial choice

what we see on the screen is deliberately produced by filmmakers. we can see distinct style/mark of the filmmaker, such as hitchcock films always having carefully edited camera work, dramatic sound, and common themes

Theater vs film

in film, directors are more important and have more control through editing and telling actors exactly what to do; in theater actors are more praised, directors can rehearse the actors but that’s it

Three levels of film analysis

narrative, technique, and theme

Narrative

Storytelling; information given at points in time. Any scene or sequence is contributing story information to the overarching story

Technique

Elements of film style from cinemas’ technical aspects (photography, sound, editing, mise-en-scene)

Theme

What technique and narrative are “about”, stated or not; topics of scene or film

Low angle

looking up

High angle

looking down from straight on

Shallow focus

The face is in focus, but the background isn’t

Vertigo effect/hitchcock shot

Moving toward an object with the camera as you zoom out with the lens, or vice versa. Creates a torquing/warping effect

Parallel plot

Two plots happening at the same time, moving together

Male gaze - definition, where did the term come from, examples from Rear Window, what is its relevance to film

The male gaze is the oversexualization of women in films made by men for their viewing pleasure. This came from a paper by Laura Mulvey. Some examples from Rear Window are Jeff watching Miss Torso, and Lisa dressing up in her nightgown for him. The theory of the male gaze is relevant to film because it questions the “looking relations” between men and women — gender hierarchy of who gets to look at who and under what conditions

crane/boom

 camera attached to crane/boom, an arm that can move around in multiple ways at once

handheld

you can usually see edges of frame shaking a little, often used to build suspense in horror

pure cinema in hitchcock’s opinion

how a director can express thoughts or create a dramatic mood purely through choice and arrangement of images

Kuleshov effect

tendency of the viewer to construct a causal story of disparate images; meaning is not actually in the images but prescribed by the viewer. An example in Rear Window: a shot of Jeffries looking with concern at one neighbor, cutting to miss torso, cutting back to jeffries with the same face, but the viewer will project lust onto him watching miss torso

Ideology

a way of looking at the world. Different institutions - family, education, government, religious bodies, etc - all contribute to it. Example: russian tsarism

Dominant ideology

the ideology most prevalent in a society. example: russian tsarism at beginning of potemkin

Alternative ideology

ideas that question the dominant ideology and generate debate, which eventually helps the dominant ideology become stronger

Counter Ideology

ideas that question the dominant ideology and eventually become the new dominant

Propaganda

trying to spread something that isn’t the dominant ideology

Hegemony

when the ideology is backed up by power, ex tsarism - and eventually communism in the Soviet Union

Five methods of montage

Metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal, intellectual

Metric montage

Duration of shots are emphasized to create pacing; film is measured out to the same lengths. Suspense is made by making those shot lengths shorter and shorter. Example: the scene of the potemkin getting ready for battle against the fleet

Rhythmic montage

Focuses on flow and rhythm. Pacing of shots is important; movement within frame impacts editing. example: the Odessa steps, people running down the steps

Tonal montage

Mood is kept by sequence of shots. Emphasizes emotional qualities of shots rather than time. example: the shot of the fog rolling into the Odessa harbor as they mourn vakulinchuk

Overtonal montage

combo of metric, tonal and rhythmic at the same time

Intellectual montage

Juxtaposition shots that convey abstract or intellectual concepts. Understanding is dependent on cultural literacy. example: switching back and forth between the borscht-making and polishing the ship

Formal avant-garde

concerned w new aesthetic ways of cinema

Political avant-garde

concerned with political reality, addressing real conflicts in society in abstract ways

Avant-garde/experimental film

challenges traditional forms of cinema. An intellectual exercise; asks you to interpret

Third Cinema/Revolutionary Cinema

“Guerilla filmmaking”; film is a weapon with which to change society; revolutionary, people prepared to die to make them; places content/message over aesthetics, serves the collective and not individuals’ tastes or self expression. example: Black Girl

Signifier

the thing initially shown to viewer

signified

the meaning the viewer applies to the object shown

Style

particular way a filmmaker uses cinematic signifiers; broad categories like realism to which many works belong also apply

Parallel editing

film cuts from one sequence of actions to another related one, usually diff characters. They eventually converge in a satisfying way/moment of realization

French New Wave

end of 50s and beginning of 60s - “raw immediacy”

Socialist realism

Soviet films of silent era

Auteur theory

recurrent patterns and themes in diff Hollywood directors - consistent stylistic tendencies. Some studio directors count as artists for this reason, ex Alfred Hitchcock

Italian neorealism

arose from ashes of Italy's defeat at end of WWII- focused on the “little people” enduring hardship

Collage

important element in avant-garde films. mixing various elements from diff sources or media to create a new effect. Result may be satirical or humorous, or result in distortion of reality

Themes of Rear Window

“rear window ethics,” voyeurism, surveillance/McCarthyism

Themes of Roma

 love; high and low/gravity and lightness; the stylization of everyday life; photography of ordinary details; bringing cuaron’s memory world to life; male abandonment and foolishness, and female perseverance

Women in Roma

Women are central figures of stability and care, also show empathy and resilience, a reflection of social structures; “limits of complicity,” class and race differences make it hard for cleo and sofia to truly connect

First Cinema

Mainstream Hollywood films; supported by the industry and the government. idealizes bourgeois values of escapism and the individual hero. Movie stars are worshipped. Example: Rear Window

Second Cinema

European art films of 50s and 60s (auteurism). still somewhat commercial. Smaller teams, imaginative control over the narrative. French New Wave would be here. examples: cleo 5-7, meshes of the afternoon

Explain the journey element, and its meaning, in Black Girl

The trip to France in Black Girl is framed as a return to the colonial home, as Senegalese citizens are told they are French subjects; however, Diouana is not treated as French and is locked inside the home, representing the oppression of colonialism. Cannes is also a capital of cinema, where 1st and 2nd cinema are celebrated, ignoring African films

Meaning of Scribe character

The public scribe is the director, Sembene; many of his intended audience were not literate, so aimed to reach them with film. Trying to find the voice and identity of the colonized people and represent them

What are the parallel plots of Black Girl?

The story of Diouana, and the greater-scale story of France and Senegal

What are the parallel plots of Rear Window, and when do they come together?

The murder mystery, and Jeff’s relationship with Lisa. They come together when Lisa finds Mrs. Thorwald’s ring and puts in on, showing that she found it as well as hinting at marriage

Sequence shot definition and example

Movement is important, takes place over time, long takes, shows multiple subjects; an example is the scene when Cleo runs into the ocean to save the kids

Goal-oriented narrative - definition and example

Typical linear storyline; Rear Window

Episodic narrative - definition and example

narrative proceeds through events as if moving from one episode to another; they’re connected but it’s not goal oriented. Roma

Why is neorealism important to Roma?

It’s meant to be a mirror to reality, not an escape from reality; it shows ordinary people struggling with things bigger than them, and the collapse of the personal and the political. It’s important because Roma is meant to be a stylized version of Cuaron/Libo’s lives and demonstrate their personal conflicts and how those things get intertwined with political surroundings

Agitprop

Agitation + propaganda as a propagation of revolutionary ideals. Using cinema to unite the people and create a revolution, spread the news to rural areas

Eisenstein’s definition of montage

montage as the “nerve” of cinema; puts images together to create a new meaning; works with and against ideology; can enact social change by presenting alternate ideologies

Theater vs. film’s basic unit of meaning

basic unit of meaning in theater is a scene, about 2-5 minutes; in film it’s a shot, which can be 2-10 seconds. Medium of meaning in theater - mostly language and action, whereas film is language, action, space, and sound; we are more guided through the world. During a live performance you can look anywhere

Hitchcock Single Set Films

Lifeboat, rope, and rear window; the plot is confined to one location; rich character relationships and interactions, intense psychological circumstances, tension

Potemkin context

Made post-bolshevik revolution to glorify the bolshevik regime/government, which was relatively new. New use of cinema to spread and propagate the new hegemonic ideology of communism

Metaphor and allegory: "of maggots and men"

The rotten meat, and all of the higher-ups ignoring it, represents corrupt tsarist regime

Religion, religious feeling, the supernatural, mysterious forces: relation to art, and to cinema, how used by Eisenstein in Potemkin

russian orthodox priest gets yeeted down the stairs when he tries to help the tsarist officials/stop the rev, symbolizing that the church is corrupt; Vakulinchuk treated as a Jesus/messiah figure that dies for his people. “religious feeling” of people coming to see his body, in a little “church”. revolution is new religion

Uprising, Revolutions, and Cinema in USSR: relevance to Potemkin

bolsheviks overthrew tsar nicholas II in 1918 after years of failed attempts; established new regime, used cinema as tool to glorify the new institution. lenin’s wife opened first euro film school to train people for this purpose; potemkin glorifies past revolution as well as lenin himself, who had recently died

social implications of camera movement at the beginning of rear window

pans all the way around the courtyard, this way and that, looking into all of the neighbors’ homes and lives; commentary on McCarthyism of the 1950s, surveillance of citizens

language and politics in roma

cleo speaks mixtec, while the family speaks spanish, the colonial language; demonstrates her different cultural and racial identity, and social hierarchy

Cleo’s gaze

the way she just sits and looks at the scenery and the family, without getting involved - social isolation and social observation