Glossary of Basic Film Terms
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GLOSSARY OF BASIC FILM TERMS Aysnchronous sound: Sound that does not have its source in the film image. Available lighting: The use of only that light which actually exists on location, either natural (the sun) or artificial (household lamps). Back-lighting: Lighting in which the main source of illumination is directed towards the camera, thus tending to throw the subject into silhouette. Bird’s-eye view: A shot in which the camera photographs a scene from directly overhead. Close-up: A detailed view of a person or object, usually without much context provided. Continuity: The kind of logic implied in the association of ideas between edited shots. “Cutting to continuity” emphasizes smooth transitions between shots, in which space and time are unobtrusively condensed. “Classical cutting” emphasizes dramatic or emotional logic between shots rather than one based strictly on considerations of time and space. In “thematic montage” the continuity is based entirely on ideas, irrespective of literal time and space. In some instances, “continuity” refers to the space-time continuum of reality before it is photographed. Contrapuntal sound: Sound that counterpoints, or contrasts with, the image. Crane shot: A shot taken from a special device called a crane, which resembles a huge mechanical arm. The crane carries the camera and cameraman, and can move in virtually any direction. Cross-cutting: The alternating of shots from two sequences, often in different locales, to suggest that the sequences are taking place simultaneously. Deep focus, or depth of field: A technique of photography that permits all distance planes to remain clearly in focus, from close-up range to infinity. Direct sound: Sound effects, conversations, music, or noise recorded simultaneously as the film is being shot. Dissolve, or lap dissolve: These terms refer to the slow fading out of one shot and the gradual fading in of its successor, with a superimposition of images, usually at the midpoint. Dolly shot, tracking shot, or traveling shot: A shot taken from a moving vehicle. Originally tracks were laid on the set to permit a smoother movement of the camera. Dubbing: The addition of sound after the visuals have been photographed. 331 Glossary OF BASIC FILM TERMS Editing: The joining of one shot (strip of film) with another. The shots can picture events and objects in different places at different times. Editing is also called montage. Establishing shot: Usually a long shot or extreme long shot offered at the beginning of a scene or sequence and providing the viewer with the context of the subsequent closer shots. Extreme close-up: A minutely detailed view of an object or a person. An extreme close-up of an actor generally includes only his eyes or mouth. Extreme long shot: A panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter of a mile away. Eye-level shot: The placement of the camera approximately 5 to 6 feet from the ground, corresponding to the height of an observer on the scene. Fade: A fade-in occurs when a dark screen gradually brightens to reveal a shot. A fade-out occurs when a shot gradually darkens to become a black screen. Fish-eye lens: An extreme wide-angle lens, which distorts the image so radically that the edges seem wrapped into a sphere. Flashback: An editing technique that suggests the interruption of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the past. Flash-forward: An editing technique that suggests the interruption of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the future. Freeze frame: An optical effect in which action appears to come to a dead stop, achieved by printing a single frame of motion-picture film many times in succession. Full shot: A type of long shot that includes the human body in full, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. Handheld shot: A shot in which the cameraman holds the camera and moves through space while filming. High-angle shot: A shot in which the subject is photographed from above. High-key lighting: Lighting that results in more light areas than shadows; subjects are seen in middle grays and highlights, with little contrast. Iris shot: The expansion or contraction of a small circle within the darkened frame to open or close a shot or scene. Jump cut: A cut that jumps forward within a single action, thus creating a sense of discontinuity on account of the temporal ellipsis. Long shot: Includes an amount of picture within the frame that roughly corresponds to the audience’s view of the area within the proscenium arch in the live theater. 332 Glossary OF BASIC FILM TERMS Long take: A shot of lengthy duration. Loose framing: Usually found in full-to-long shots. The mise en scène is so spaciously distributed that the subject photographed has considerable latitude of movement. Low-angle shot: A shot in which the subject is photographed from below. Low-key lighting: Lighting that puts most of the set in shadow and uses just a few highlights to define the subject. Match cut: An edit that links two shots by a continuous sound or action. Medium shot: A relatively close shot, revealing a moderate amount of detail. A medium shot of a figure generally includes the body from the knees or waist up. Mise en scène: The arrangement of objects, figures, and masses within a given space. In the cinema, that space is defined by the frame; in the live theater, usually by the proscenium arch. Mise en scène includes all the means available to a film director to express his attitude toward his subject. This takes in the placement of the actors in the setting or décor, their costumes and make-up, the angle and distance of the camera, camera movement as well as movement within the frame, the lighting, the pattern of color, and even the editing or cutting. Montage: Transitional sequences of rapidly edited images, used to suggest the lapse of time or the passing of events. Often employs dissolves and multiple exposures. Negative space: Empty or unfilled space in the mise en scène, often acting as a foil to the more detailed elements in a shot. Oblique angle: A shot that is photographed by a tilted camera. When the image is projected on the screen, the subject itself seems to be tilted on its side. Overexposure: Occurs when too much light enters the aperture of a camera lens, bleaching out the image. Over-the-shoulder shot: A medium shot, useful in dialogue scenes, in which one actor is photographed head-on from over the shoulder of another actor. Pan: A camera movement during which the body of the camera, which is otherwise stationary, turns to the left or right on its own axis. Onscreen this produces a mobile framing, or a constant re-framing, that scans the space horizontally. Parallel action: A device of narrative construction in which the development of two pieces of action is presented alternately so as to suggest that they are occurring simultaneously. Point-of-view shot: Any shot that is taken from the vantage point of a character in the film, showing what the character sees. 333 Glossary OF BASIC FILM TERMS Process shot, or rear projection: A technique in which a background scene is projected onto a translucent screen behind the actors in the studio, so that it appears the actors are being photographed on location in the final image. Pull-back dolly: A technique used to surprise the viewer by withdrawing from a scene to reveal an object or character that was previously out of the frame. Rack focusing, or selective focusing: The changing of focus from one subject to another during a shot, guiding the audience’s attention to a new, sharply delineated point of interest while the previous one blurs. Reaction shot: A cut to a shot of a character’s reaction to the contents of the preceding shot. Reverse-angle shot: A shot taken from an angle 180° opposed to the previous shot—that is, the camera is placed opposite its previous position. Scene: A unit of film composed of a number of interrelated shots, unified usually by a central concern—a location, an incident, or a minor dramatic climax. Sequence: A series of scenes joined in such a way that they constitute a significant part of a film’s dramatic structure. Shallow focus: A shot in which only objects and persons in the foreground of the image can be seen clearly. Shot: Those images that are recorded continuously from the time the camera starts to the time it stops: that is, an unedited, uncut strip of film. Slow motion: Shots of a subject photographed at a faster rate than 24 frames-per- second, which, when projected at the standard rate, produce a dreamy, dancelike slowness of action. Soft focus: A visual effect in which the image seems somewhat hazy and not sharply defined, achieved by shooting with the lens slightly out of focus or shooting through a special lens, filter, or gauze. Split screen: A visual composition in which the frame is divided into two separate images not superimposed over one another. Subtext: A term used in drama and film to signify the dramatic implications beneath the language of a play or movie. Often the subtext concerns ideas and emotions that are totally independent of the language of a script. Subjective shot, or subjective camera: A shot that represents the point of view of a character. Often a reverse-angle shot, preceded by a shot of the character.