Film Terms Glossary Cinematic Terms Definition and Explanation Example (if applicable) a screen direction rule that camera operators must follow - Camera placement an imaginary line on one side of the axis of action is made must adhere to the (e.g., between two principal actors in a scene), and the 180 degree rule 180 degree rule camera must not cross over that line - otherwise, there is a distressing visual discontinuity and disorientation; similar to the axis of action (an imaginary line that separates the camera from the action before it) that should not be crossed Example: at 24 fps, 4 refers to the standard frame rate or film speed - the number projected frames take 1/6 of frames or images that are projected or displayed per second to view second; in the silent era before a standard was set, many 24 frames per second films were projected at 16 or 18 frames per second, but that rate proved to be too slow when attempting to record optical film sound tracks; aka 24fps or 24p Examples: the first major 3D feature film was Bwana Devil (1953) [the first a film that has a three-dimensional, stereoscopic form or was Power of Love (1922)], House of Wax appearance, giving the life-like illusion of depth; often (1953), Cat Women of the Moon (1953), the achieved by viewers donning special red/blue (or green) or MGM musicalKiss Me Kate polarized lens glasses; when 3-D images are made (1953), Warner's Hondo (1953), House of 3-D interactive so that users feel involved with the scene, the Wax (1953), a version of Hitchcock's Dial M experience is called virtual reality; 3-D experienced a for Murder (1954) and Universal's Creature heyday in the early 1950s; aka 3D, three-D, Stereoscopic From the Black Lagoon (1954), Comin' At 3D, Natural Vision 3D, or three-dimensional Ya! (1981), a segment of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Spy Kids 3D: Game Over (2003) usually refers to that part of a film's budget that covers the costs associated with major creative talent: the stars, the director, the producer(s) and the writer(s), although films with above the line expensive special effects (and few stars) have more 'above the line' budget costs for technical aspects; the term's opposite is below the line a type of film that rejects traditional narrative in favor of using Examples: Rene Clair's Entr'acte poetic form (color, motion, sound, irrational images, etc.) to abstract (form) (1924), Ballet Mecanique (1924), Luis convey its meaning or feeling; aka non-linear; see alsoavant- Bunuel's Un Chien Andalou (1929, Fr.) garde Examples: Rhinoceros (1974) - an a stage, philosophical and literary term originally, adopted by American Film Theatre recording with Zero absurd film-makers, in which ordinary settings become bizarre, Mostel and Gene Wilder, of Eugene (absurdism) illogical, irrational, unrealistic, meaningless, and incoherent Ionesco's 'theatre of the absurd' comedy play the name given to the prestigious film awards presented each year by AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, or simply 'The Academy'), a professional honorary Academy Awards organization within the industry, since 1927. The annual awards show, in slang, is sometimes referred to as a kudo- cast, see also Oscars a main division within the plot of a film; a film is often divided act by 'plot points' (places of dramatic change) rather than acts; long films are divided mid-way with an intermission (1) any movement or series of events (usually rehearsed) that take place before the camera and propel the story forward toward its conclusion; (2) the word called out (by a action megaphone) at the start of the current take during filming to alert actors to begin performing; (3) also refers to the main component of action films - that often contain significant amounts of violence A megaphone to call out the word "ACTION" refers either to a male performer, or to any male or female actor who plays a character role in an on-screen film; alternate gender-neutral terms: player, artist, or performer Cary Grant actress refers to any female who portrays a role in a film Ava Gardner Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) is a very faithful the presentation of one art form through another medium; a rendering or adaptation of film based upon, derived from (or adapted from) a stage play Edward Albee's play of the same (or from another medium such as a short story, book, article, name; also, Gone With the Wind adaptation history, novel, video game, comic strip/book, etc.) which (1939) was adapted from basically preserves both the setting and dialogue of the Margaret Mitchell's novel, original; can be in the form of a script (screenplay) or a and Apocalypse Now proposal treatment (1979) was taken from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. a line of dialogue improvised by an actor during a performance; can be either unscripted or ad lib deliberate;improvisation consists of ad-libbed dialogue (and action) that is invented or created by the performer Examples: the hunting scene in Tom Jones (1963), the a camera shot filmed in an exterior location from far overhead helicopter raid in (from a bird's eye view), as from a helicopter (most Francis Ford aerial shot common), blimp, balloon, plane, or kite; a variation on thecrane shot; if the aerial shot is at the opening of a film, aka Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), the title an establishing shot card for Dr. Strangelove, Or: (1964) (see above), or the opening aerial shot of Manhattan in West Side Story (1961), of Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), and ofAmerican Beauty (1999). Examples: Death of a the pseudonym used by directors who refuse to put their Gunfighter (1969), Let's Get name on a film and want to disassociate themselves, usually Harry (1986), The Shrimp on when they believe their control or vision has been co-opted by the Barbie (1990), and the Alan Smithee film the studio (i.e., the film could have been recut, mutilated and last film with the ironic altered against their wishes); aka Alan Smithee Jr., Allan alias: An Alan Smithee Film: Smithee, or Allen Smithee Burn, Hollywood, Burn (1997). usually refers to top-tier actors/actresses who are paid Examples: actors/actresses Tom Hanks, upwards of $20 million per feature film; can also refer to Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Jodie Foster, or A-Level (or A-List) producers, directors and writers who can be guaranteed to directors George Lucas and Steven have a film made and released Spielberg mostly a literary term, but taken in film terms to mean a Examples: Metropolis (1927), Animal Farm suggestive resemblance or correspondence between a visible (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), The allegory event or character in a film with other more significant or Piano (1993), Eat Drink Man Woman abstract levels of meaning outside of the film; an extended (1994), The Matrix (1999); also Biblical or metaphor Christ-related allegories. Example: In Red River (1948), Montgomery Clift (as Matt Dunson) and John Ireland a direct or indirect reference - through an image or through (as Cherry dialogue - to the Bible, a classic, a person, a place, an Valance) show off allusion external and/or real-life event, another film, or a well-known their guns to each cultural idea other and ask: "You know, there are only two things more beautiful than a good gun: a Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere. You ever had a good Swiss watch?" - a scene often interpreted as alluding to homosexuality Examples: The Magnificent Ambersons the shooting (or re-shooting) of a film's ending for its theatrical (1942), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Invasion of release, usually enforced by the studio for any number of the Body Snatchers (1956), Blade Runner alternate ending reasons (because of test audience preview results, (1982), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Fatal controversial or unpopular subject matter, to provide a 'happy' Attraction (1987), and Army of Darkness ending, etc.). See also director's cut (1993). ambiance the feeling or mood of a particular scene or setting the natural light (usually soft) or surrounding light around a ambient light subject in a scene; also see background lighting a situation, story-line, scene, or character, etc. in which there are apparent contradictions; an event (and its outcome) is deliberately left unclear, and there may exist more than one ambiguity Example: Robert Altman's 3 Women (1977) meaning or interpretation; can be either intentional or unintentional, to deliberately provoke imaginative thinking or confusion Example: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), the first feature 'film' shot using digital video cinematography, isn't really a film - an anachronistic term in this case; in the Civil War film, Glory (1989), one an element or artifact in a film that belongs to another time or anachronism of the kids in the film wears what appears to place; often anachronistic elements are called film flubs be a Swatch watch; or in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), a U.S. Browning air-cooled machine gun is oddly featured before its time; or the use of 1873 Colt Peacemakers in Red River (1948) related to different optical imaging effects; refers to a method of intentionally distorting and creating a wide screen image with standard film, using a conversion process or a special lens on the camera and projector to produce different magnifications in the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the picture; an anamorphic image usually appears "squished" anamorphic horizontally, while retaining its full vertical resolution; see alsoaspect ratio and the trade name CinemaScope.