Film Terminology

E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E A R T S

Literary Aspects of Film  Those aspects that films share with literature:  plot       characters setting themes point of view recurring images symbols

Questions to ask when viewing on a Literary Level:       Who are the characters?

What is the setting?

What is the plot?

From whose point of view is the story told?

What is the film’s theme?

Are there any symbols or recurring images?

Dramatic Aspects of Film  Those elements film shares with live drama:   actors portraying characters through dialogue, costumes, and makeup sets and/or locations  directors who leave personal stamp on final product

Questions to ask when viewing on a dramatic level:    How effective is the acting? Why?

How does the set affect understanding and enjoyment of the story?

How are the costumes and makeup effective in establishing a character?

Cinematic Aspects of Film  Elements unique to film  Requires some knowledge of technical terms

Other Ways to Organize a Film Study       Genre Studies Film History National Cinema (Culture, Politics, Etc.) Auteurs (Directors) Foreign Films Thematically

Basic Film Terms

Low Angle (l/a) • • Camera is located below subject matter Increases height and power of subject

The Patriot

“Eye-Level”  Roughly 5 to 6 feet off the ground, the way an actual observer might view a scene  Most common, like walking down the street

High Angle (h/a)    Camera looks down at what is being photographed Takes away power of subject, makes it insignificant Gives a general overview

High Noon

Crane Shot   a crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie.

Aerial Shot or Bird’s Eye View     Camera is placed directly overhead Extremely disorienting Viewer is godlike usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes

Beverly Hills Girl Scouts

Subjective or Point of View (POV)  A shot taken from the vantage point a particular character, or what a character sees

Hollow Man

Cross Cutting   an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions

Extreme Close-Up (ECU)  A shot of a small object or part of a face that fills the screen

The Saint In London Rocky Horror Picture Show

Close-Up (CU)   A shot of a small object or face that fills the screen Adds importance to object photographed

Under Pressure

Medium Shot (MS)  (Also relative) a shot between a long shot and a close-up that might show two people in full figure or several people from the waist up

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Long Shot (LS)  (A relative term) A shot taken from a sufficient distance to show a landscape, a building, or a large crowd

Austin Powers and the Spy Who Shagged Me

Establishing Shot (or Extreme Long Shot)  Shot taken from a great distance, almost always an exterior shot, shows much of locale  ELS

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

Pan  The camera moves horizontally on a fixed base.

 The camera points up or down from a fixed base Tilt

Zoom (Zoom In/Out)  Not a camera movement, but a shift in the focal length of the camera lens to give the impression that the camera is getting closer to or farther from an object

Tracking (dolly) shot  The camera moves through space on a wheeled truck (or dolly), but stays in the same plane of motion  Dolly shot

Hand Held Camera   a film and video technique in which a camera is literally held in the camera-operator's hands--as opposed to being placed on a tripod. The result is an image that is perceptibly shakier than that of a tripod-mounted camera.

High Key Light   a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene.

High-key lighting is usually quite homogeneous and free from dark shadows.

Low Key Light   attempts to create a chiaroscuro (contrast between light and dark) effect. accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast.

Back Lighting   the process of illuminating the subject from the back.

lights foreground elements from the rear, is not to be confused with a background light, which lights background elements (such as scenery).