| A | B |
|---|
| 180-degree rule | imaginary line that the camera must not cross over |
| acting style | the way an actor plays his or her part |
| actors | human beings whose job it is to play roles in a film |
| allegory | type of storytelling in which the characters and events stand for other ideas |
| amiguity | situation, sequence of events, scene, character, etc. that does not have a clear meaning |
| angle | position of the camera or point of view |
| catharsis | purging of emotional tension that an audience is meant to experience at the climactic moment |
| characters | individuals who appear in or are part of the narrative of the story |
| climax | highest point of anxiety or tension in the story |
| close-up | when the distance between the subject and the boundaries of the frame is very short |
| composition | arrangement and relationship of the visual elements within a frame |
| continuity | principle guiding the invisible editing style |
| crane shot | allows for “impossible” points of view and long fluid takes |
| cross-cutting | editing technique that alternates between two different actions or scenes |
| cutaway shot | brief shot that interrupts a continuously-filmed action |
| cutting | changing from one image to another |
| deep focus | perspective that allows the audience to see both the background and foreground sharply both background and foreground |
| depth of field | range of distance between the closest and farthest planes in which the image is in sharp focus |
| diegetic | elements of the film that naturally originate within the content of the frame |
| direct sound | elements of sound recorded at the same time as the image is filmed |
| dissolve | editing transition whereby one image fades out while another fades in |
| dramatic irony | effect created when the viewer, and perhaps another character in the film, knows something that another character does not know |
| dubbed sound | sound recorded during the editing of a film, after the image has been photographed |
| editing | process after filming through which shots are combined into larger units of meaning: sequences and scenes |
| ellipses | editing transition, which, while it leaves out a section of the action, and signifies that something has been skipped over |
| epiphany | moment when a character experiences sudden self-discovery that usually leads to a change in action or attitude |
| establishing shot | shot that locates a scene clearly in a certain place before the rest of the action unfolds |
| exposition | explanation (usually by dialogue or action) of important background information for the events of a story |
| fade in | editing transition in which an image gradually appears on a blackened screen |
| fade out | editing transition in which an image gradually disappears onto a blackened screen |
| flashback | image, scene, or sequence that appears in a narrative in "present time" to describe a past action or event |
| focus | clarity and detail of an image, produced by the type of lens used and the distance between the camera and the object being filmed |
| formalism | critical approach that attends mainly to the structure and style of a movie or a group of movies |
| fourth wall | imaginary window through which the audience looks to watch the action unfold in a film; |
| frame | borders separating an image from the darkness of a theater within which the elements of the mise-en-scène are composed |
| full shot | sub-type of long shot that shows the whole body of the individual being filmed |
| genre | critical category for organizing films according to shared themes, styles, and narrative structures |
| hand-held shot | image filmed from the shoulder of a cameraperson, usually creating the subjective point of view of a character |
| high angle | point of view in a shot captured when the camera is above the subject being filmed |
| ideology | the stated or unstated social and personal values that inform a movie or group of movies |
| insert shot | shot that occurs in the middle of a larger scene or shot that draws special attention from the audience |
| jump cut | created by splicing out the middle part of a continuous shot, creating a jump in time |
| juxtaposition | placement of two images, characters, objects, or scenes next to each other in order to contrast them or show some other kind of relationship |
| lighting | how actors or objects are illuminated |
| long shot | image in which the distance between the subject and the boundaries of the frame is great |
| loose frame | perspective in which the image in the frame is spacious or open |
| low angle | often used to emphasize the power or authority of a character, who will appear to loom over us in the frame |
| match cut | edit that links two shots by a continuous sound or action |
| medium shot | image that shows an individual from the knees or waist up |
| mirror shot | image that reveals a character or action through its reflection |
| mise-en-scène | arrangement of visual elements and movement and the way they are actually filmed |
| montage | a specific kind of editing in which objects and figures are linked in a variety of creative or unexpected ways |
| motif | a thematic element in a film that is repeated in some memorable way, sometimes to the point of creating a pattern |
| motion | There are three kinds: (1) ____ of the subject (mise-en-scène); (2) ____ of the camera (composition); and (3) ____ conveyed by the cut (editing) |
| narrative | the construction or telling of a story through a particular point of view and arrangement of events |
| off-screen space | areas that are not shown by the image but sometimes suggested by actions or words within the image |
| panning shot | image captured when the camera pivots horizontally from left to right or right to left without changing its position |
| parallel action | plot technique in which two or more actions are linked by the film to appear simultaneous, often achieved with cross-cutting |
| perspective | spatial relationships between the different objects and figures in the frame |
| plot | of events in a story in a certain order or structure |
| point of view | position from which an action or subject is seen, often determining its significance |
| rack focus | quick change of focus within a shot to simulate a shift in attention |
| reaction shot | shot that cuts from an object, character, or action to show the reaction of a character |
| realism | approach to storytelling that attempts to show how the world really is |
| scene | each ____ is a complete unit of film narration alone, but multiple ____ can make up a sequence |
| screenplay | Produced before shooting begins and used as a guideline in the filming process, it is the verbal form of the finished visual product |
| sequence | series of scenes unified by a shared action or motif |
| set | the place or location used for a specific scene or shot in a film. |
| shallow focus | A perspective that allows the audience to see only objects and persons in the foreground of the image clearly |
| shot | basic division of a film, a continuously exposed and unedited image of any length |
| shot/reverse shot | editing pattern that cuts between individuals according to the logic of their conversation |
| situational irony | an effect created when something happens that the viewer does not expect to happen |
| sound | audible dimension of a film that most of us notice but hardly ever analyze |
| sound effects | any number of uses of sound other than music or dialogue |
| special effects | a range of technological additions to the film to manipulate or alter what has been filmed |
| story | all the events shown to us on the screen along with what the audience assumes to happen in the parts left out |
| take | the recording of an image on film, usually used in writing as a temporal measure |
| tight frame | a perspective in which the image in the frame is crowded or confined |
| tilt shot | an image captured when the camera pivots vertically up or down without changing its position |
| tracking shot | an image captured by a camera that changes position during the take |
| voice-over | voice of someone not seen in the narrative image who describes or comments on that image |
| wipe | editing transition whereby a line crossing one image replaces it with another image |
| zoom shot | This change in perspective creates a moving frame as the borders appear to move in or move out |
