Return to Intro. to Film syllabus
Updated 3 May 2007

                     

Terms and Concepts to Know from Lecture and Looking at Movies

(For the Final Exam, you should be familiar with terms that are in red fonts from all chapters)

 
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 5

 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

 

Weeks 2 and 3, Chapter 1: What Is a Movie?
Ways that movies can manipulate time and space frames shots scenes sequences
camera obscura negative film stock shooting photography processing photographic film
contact printer projecting gauge Edison Kinetograph and Kinetoscope Lumiere Cinematograph
verisimilitude cinematic conventions preproduction production postproduction
nonfiction films narrative films genre animated films experimental films

Weeks 3 and 4, Chapter 2: Form and Narrative
form content expectations coherence progression
unity and balance narrative treatment scenario storyboard
shooting script story plot diegetic elements nondiegetic elements
order story duration plot duration summary relation real time
screen duration suspense surprise plot frequency characters
round and flat characters setting point of view omniscient/unrestricted point of view subjective/restricted point of view
interior monologue scope Classical Hollywood Narrative (from notes)    

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Weeks 6 and 7, Chapter 3: Mise-en-scene
mise-en-scene composition framing onscreen space offscreen space
open frame closed frame kinesis design art director
production designer setting movie set soundstage lighting as mise-en-scene
chiaroscuro costume makeup hairstyle German expressionism

Weeks 6 and 7, Chapter 5: Acting
Delsarte acting D.W. Griffith and cinematic acting Stanislavsky System and method acting Hollywood star system contemporary acting styles
typecasting major roles supporting roles extras walk-ons
character actors (from notes) non-naturalistic styles improvisational acting close-ups and  acting appropriateness
framing, composition and long takes emotionality expressive coherence wholeness and unity  
Types of Meaning (from Notes) Referential Explicit Implicit Symptomatic

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Weeks 7 and 8, Chapter 4: Cinematography
cinematography shot take setup cinematographer/director of photography
film stock tonality film "speed" (from notes, not book) lighting light source
light quality light direction three-point lighting key light high-key lighting
low-key lighting fill light lens short focal-length/wide-angle lens middle focal-length/normal lens
long focal-length/telephoto lens zoom lens production values framing and composition mask
aspect ratio shot distance long shot extreme long shot medium shot
medium long shot close-up extreme close-up depth deep-space composition
deep-focus cinematography rule of thirds camera angle eye-level high angle
low angle Dutch angle aerial view point-of-view shot scale
camera movement pan shot tilt shot tracking shot crane shot
Steadicam zoom lens slow motion fast motion long take
special effects in-camera effects laboratory effects computer-generated effects process shots
front projection rear projection      

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Weeks 11-13, Chapter 6: Editing
cutting/splicing continuity editing screen direction 180-degree system axis of action
discontinuity editing Eisenstein and dialectical montage (from notes) editor's role spatial relationships graphic relationships (from notes)
rhythmic relationships temporal relationships ellipsis pattern establishing shot
breakdown (from notes) re-establishing shot (from notes) match on action graphic match eyeline match
point-of-view editing parallel editing/ crosscutting shot/reverse shot jump cut fade-in, fade-out
dissolve wipe cut iris-in, iris-out flashback, flashforward
freeze-frame split screen montage sequence rough cut final cut
outtakes linear editing nonlinear digital editing    

 

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Weeks 14 and 15, Chapter 7: Sound
pitch loudness quality diegetic sound nondiegetic sound
internal sound external sound onscreen sound offscreen sound synchronous sound
asynchronous sound voice narration ambient sound sound effects
music silence rhythm fidelity continuity
emphasis juxtaposition sound montage    

 

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