>>>>> Working with Films >>>>> Selected Terms for Film Analysis E / Lo

Glossary – Selected Terms for Film Analysis

General film terms backlighting filming a person or event against a background of light, especially the sun, which produces an idealized or romantic effect caption words that are shown on a cinema screen to establish the scene of a story composition the arrangement of people or things in a film scene credits the list of people who were involved in the making of a film director the person responsible for the artistic production of a film, e.g. the lighting, camera work, action, and the actors' interpretation of their roles feature film film which tells a story (as compared, for example, to a documentary film) motion picture the North American term for 'film' / movie producer the person responsible for the overall organization, especially the financing and marketing, of a film scene a shot or series of shots that usually deal(s) with a single action screenplay the script of a film, including the dialogue and directions of the setting, camera range, camera movements, etc screenwriter the person who writes the screenplay shot a length of film, however short or long, taken by a single camera without cuts soundtrack the recorded music from a film voice-over an explanation or account given in a film by someone who is not seen (or is not seen talking)

Camera range the distance between the camera and object long shot (1) a view of a situation or setting from a distance

medium long shows a group of people in interaction with each shot (2) other, e.g. a fight scene, with part of their surroundings in the picture

full shot (3) a view of a figure's entire body in order to show action and/or a constellation of characters

E:\Schule\Englisch\video analysis\Glossary.doc Page 1 >>>>> Working with Films >>>>> Selected Terms for Film Analysis E / Lo medium shot shows a subject down to his or her waist (4)

close-up (5) a full-screen shot of a subject's face, showing the finest nuances of expression

e.g. 'the director uses a long shot of the group so we can see them and the setting …'; 'there is a medium long shot of them so the viewer can see how they interact …'; 'we see a full shot of x as he walks down the street …'; 'the director uses medium shots of x and y to show their reactions to …'; 'x is shown in close-up, so that we see the reaction in her face when …'; 'the viewer sees y in close-up as …'; 'at this point close-ups are used of x and y to show their differing reactions …' Camera angles establishing often used at the beginning of a scene to indicate shot the location or setting, it is usually a long shot taken from a neutral position point-of-view shows a scene from the perspective of a character shot over-the- often used in dialogue scene, a frontal view of a shoulder shot dialogue partner from the perspective of someone (6) standing behind and slightly to the side of the other partner, so that parts of both actors can be seen

reverse-angle a shot from the opposite perspective of a shot that shot came before, e.g. in a dialogue between two people facing each other, the camera shoots the conversation directed at one actor and then at the other e.g. 'the establishing shot of the film shows the setting …'; 'this scene is shot from x's point of view …'; 'the director often makes use of point-of-view shots so the viewer sees the story from different perspectives …'; 'there is an over-the-shoulder shot of x …'; 'we see x through an over-the-shoulder shot …'; 'the director uses a reverse-angle shot of the dialogue …'; 'we see x and y in reverse-angle shots …' Point of view high-angle shows people or objects from above, i.e. higher shot than eye level low-angle shot shows people or objects from below, i.e. lower than eye level eye-level shot views a subject from the level of a person's eyes / straight-on angle e.g. 'the director uses a high-angle / low-angle shot of x …'; 'there is an eye- level / straight-on shot of x …'; 'we see a low-angle / high-angle shot of the characters …'

E:\Schule\Englisch\video analysis\Glossary.doc Page 2 >>>>> Working with Films >>>>> Selected Terms for Film Analysis E / Lo

Camera movement panning shot the camera pans (moves horizontally) from left to right or vice versa across the picture tilt shot the camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts down (moves downwards) around a horizontal axis tracking shot the camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person zoom the stationary camera appears to approach a subject by 'zooming in', or to move farther away by 'zooming out' e.g. 'in this scene the camera pans from left to right …'; 'in this scene the camera tilts up/down'; 'we first see x as the camera tilts up from her shoes to her face'; ' there is a tracking shot in this scene as the camera follows …'; ' the camera zooms in on x's face …'; 'the camera zooms out to reveal …' Punctuation the distance between the camera and object cut a switch from one image or shot to another e.g. 'the director makes use of lots of cuts in this scene …' cross-cutting alternating between shots from two or more scenes or parallel which are taking place at the same time action e.g. 'the director uses cross-cutting to show y coming to the rescue while x is tied to the bomb'; 'parallel action is used to show x approaching the house, while y is still there, unaware that x is soon going to arrive' flashback a scene or sequence dealing with the past which is inserted into a film's 'present time' e.g. 'there is a lot of use of flashbacks in the film …'; 'immediately after this scene there is a flashback to x's past …' flash-forward a scene or sequence which looks into the future e.g. 'there is then a flash-forward to …'; 'this scene is followed by a flash- forward to …' match cut two scenes connected by visual or aural parallelism, e.g. one door closing and then another one opening e.g. 'the director uses a match-cut to link …'; 'between these two scenes there is a match-cut' fade-in from a black screen or ground, the gradual emergence of an image, which slowly becomes brighter until it reaches its full strength e.g. 'the fade-in at the beginning of the film …'; 'the director uses a fade-in …'; 'the scene fades slowly in to show …' fade-out the gradual disappearance of an image until the screen or ground is completely black; a device used to end a scene e.g. 'the scene fades out slowly …' dissolve or following a fade-out with a fade-in in order to move cross-fade slowly from one scene to the next e.g. 'the use of the dissolve / cross-fade between these two scenes makes the connection between the two scenes stronger / produces a contrast that is comic …'

E:\Schule\Englisch\video analysis\Glossary.doc Page 3