Russian Film: Art, Politics, & Society Prof. Vida Johnson, Tufts University, Boston, USA THE LANGUAGE OF CINEMA Most technical terms given below are from Louis Giannetti' s Understanding Movies Terms for film analysis represent an eclectic mix of critical approaches. FRAME: 1. the smallest unit of film; any single image on a film strip; 2. the dividing line between the edges of the screen image and the enclosing darkness of the theater; SHOT: one camera action without cut: i.e. an unedited strip of film; those images which are recorded continuously from the time the camera starts to the time it stops. TAKE: a variation of a specific shot; the final shot is often selected from a number of takes. SEQUENCE SHOT: a single lengthy take, usually involving complex staging and camera movements. MASTER SHOT: an uninterrupted shot, usually taken from a long- or full-shot range, which contains an entire scene. Later, the closer shots are photographed, and an edited sequence, composed of a variety of shots, is constructed on the editor’s bench. SEQUENCE: an imprecise structural unit of film, composed of a number of interrelated shots and leading to a major climax; a group of actions in one geographical location. FIRST CUT: also called rough cut: the initial sequence of shots in a movie, often constructed by the director; crudely edited footage--a rough draft; FINAL CUT: also called release print: the sequence of shots in a film as it will be released to the public; MISE EN SCENE: the arrangement of visual weights and movements within a given space; In the live theater, the space is usually defined by the proscenium arch; in movies, by the frame which encloses the images. Cinematic mise en scene encompasses both the staging of the action and the way that it is photographed. HOW ACTION IS STAGED OR COMPOSED: OPEN FORMS: used primarily by realist filmmakers, these techniques are likely to be unobtrusive, with an emphasis on informal compositions and apparently haphazard designs. The frame is exploited to suggest a temporary masking, a window which arbitrarily cuts off part of the action. CLOSED FORMS: a visual style which inclines toward self-conscious designs and carefully harmonized compositions. The frame is exploited to suggest a self-sufficient universe which encloses all the necessary visual information, usually in an aesthetically appealing manner. FRAMING: determination of the spacial limits and composition of each shot; TIGHT FRAMING : usually in close shots. The mise en scene is so carefully balanced and harmonized that the people photographed have little or 2 no freedom of movement. 3 VISUAL PLANES: foreground, middle ground, and background; the part of image which is the closest, mid-distance, and farthest away from spectator; DOMINANT CONTRAST: also: dominant. That area of the film image which, because of a prominent visual contrast, compels the viewer’s most immediate attention. Occasionally the dominant can be aural (sound), in which case the image serves as a subsidiary contrast. SUBSIDIARY CONTRAST: a subordinated element of the film image, complementing or contrasting with the dominant contrast. INTRINSIC INTEREST: an unobtrusive area of the film image which nonetheless compels the viewer 's most immediate attention because of its dramatic or contextual importance. An object of intrinsic interest will take precedence over the formal dominant contrast. PROXEMIC PATTERNS: the spacial relationships among characters within the mise• en-scene, and the apparent distance of the camera from the subject photographed. 4 major patterns: intimate (up to 18 inches), personal (1 1/2 to 4 feet roughly) , social (4 to 12 feet) and public distances (12-25 feet to infinity). they can be equated with the close and extreme close shot (intimate), a medium close range (personal) , medium and full range (social) and long and extreme long shot (public). ALEATORY TECHNIQUES: techniques depending on the element of chance; images are not planned out in advance, but must be composed on the spot by a director who often acts as his own cameraman; usually employed in documentary or improvisational situations; PHOTOGRAPHY -- HOW ACTION IS SHOT: (distance, camera angle, movement, focus; lighting; color; opticals (filters & lenses); film speed; CAMERA DISTANCE: CLOSE-UP (cu): the image fills the screen in detail; shows very little, if any locale, concentrates on relatively small object; of people, the shot includes the face but no lower than the neck; psychological effect; extreme close-up: a variation of this shot: instead of a face, it might show only a person's eye or mouth. MEDIUM SHOT or MID-SHOT (ms): a relatively close shot, where the major part but not the entire image is on screen and is presented in moderate detail. A mid-shot of the figure generally includes the body from the knees or the waist up. "The American Shot" - - from the knees up; an informational shot. variations include the two-shot (2 figures from the waist up), the three shot (3 figures) , over-the-shoulder shot (2 figures one facing and one with back to camera) ; LONG SHOT (ls) : corresponds approximately to the distances between the audience and the stage in the live theater; presents even more info. than the mid-shot; full-shot: closest range within the long shot: just barely includes the human body in full; extreme or very long shot: taken from a great distance, sometimes as far as a 1/4 mile; almost always an exterior shot which shows much 3 of the locale: at times called an establishing shot, because it serves as a spacial frame of reference for closer shots. deep-focus shot: a variation of the long shot; CAMERA ANGLE: LOW ANGLE: subject is photographed from below; slight low angle has ennobling effect in the case of the human figure; increases stature; extreme low angle: the figure inspires fear, awe, and demonstrates immense power . HIGH ANGLE: subject is photographed from above; person thus photographed is reduced in stature and significance and seems harmless or vulnerable. the camera is often place on a crane; BIRD'S EYE VIEW: extreme high angle shot where a scene is photographed from directly overhead; most disorienting angle of all since we seldom view events from this perspective; dehumanizing effect: people seem ant-like and insignificant. EYE LEVEL: no angular displacement in the shot at all: perspective is eye-to• eye with the object photographed; the most neutral shot approximately the way an actual observer might view a scene: i.e. from 5-6 feet off the ground. OBLIQUE ANGLE: a shot photographed by a tilted camera; when the image is project'ed on screen, the subject itself seems to be tilted on a diagonal; suggests tension, transition, and impending movement; POINT-OF-VIEW SHOT: (also subjective camera, first person camera) any shot taken from the vantage point of a character in the film; what he sees; camera becomes a person in the narrative, acts as a character 's eyes. CAMERA SPEED and MECHANICAL DISTORTION OF MOVEMENT NORMAL SPEED: 24 frames per second for sound film; 16-18 frames per second for silent films depending on speed at which handcranked films were operated; FAST MOTION: fewer frames per second; (if action is photographed at a slower rate than 24 fps, when the film is projected at the standard rate of 24 fps, the action will appear to be moving at a faster rate than normal. SLOW MOTION: more frames per second than the normal 24 fps; so action takes longer than normal when projected; used in violence, sports, love scenes; REVERSE MOTION : a series of images are photographed with the film reversed; When projected normally, the effect is to suggest backward movement. FREEZE FRAME: a shot composed of a single frame that is reprinted a number of times on the filmstrip which, when projected, gives the illusion of a still photograph; TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY: a means of speeding up action by removing frames on a regular basis in the process of editing; ANIMATION: photographing inanimate object or individual drawings frame by frame, with each frame differing minutely from its predecessor. When such images are projected at the standard speed of 24 fps, the result is that the objects or drawings appear to move, and hence seem 4 "animated" . PIXILLATION: also stop-motion photography. An animation technique involving the photographing of live actors frame by frame; When the sequence is projected at the standard speed of 24 fps., the actors move abruptly and jerkily, like cartoon figures; CAMERA FOCUS DEEP FOCUS: a technique of photography which permits all distance planes to remain clearly in focus, from closeup ranges to infinity. SHALLOW FOCUS: action field is in sharp focus but other areas are blurred; draws attention to out-of -focus plane; SOFT FOCUS: the sharpness of the entire image is reduced by placing an optical device (soft-focus lens, diffusion disk, open-weave cloth, etc.) over the lens. CAMERA MOVEMENT PAN: panning shot; a horizontal movement of the camera from left to right or vice-versa; (vertical plane fixed); tends to emphasize connectedness; zip pan (also flash pan, swish pan, whip pan) : a pan which moves so quickly that the subject photographed blurs on the screen; reaction pan: similar to a reaction shot, only instead of cutting, the director pans to a character 's response; TILT: a vertical movement of the camera (up or down) from a fixed horizontal plane; ROLL: a circular movement of the camera from a fixed point in space; rare; TRACKING (TRUCKING, DOLLY) SHOT: a shot taken from a moving vehicle; a horizontal movement (or vertical)