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FPA.135: Intro to Cinema - Terminology (Melanie Cassidy, Instructor) 180-degree rule or 180-degree system

Also known as the 180-degree rule. The fundamental means by which filmmakers maintain consistent screen direction, orienting the viewer and ensuring a sense of the cinematic space in which the action occurs. The system depends on three factors working together in any scene: (1) the action in a scene must move along a hypothetical line that keeps the action o a single side of the camera; (2) the camera must shoot consistently on one side of that line; and (3) everyone on the production set -- particularly the director, cinematographer, editor, and actors -- must understand and adhere to this system (page 359) Additive color systems In early film-making, techniques used to add color to black-and-white images, including hand-coloring, stenciling, tinting, and toning. Compare subtractive color systems. (page 234) Aerial-view shot Also known as bird's-eye-view shot. An omniscient-point-of-view shot that is taken from an aircraft or extremely high crane and implies that the observer can see all. (page 263) Ambient sound Sound that emanates from the ambience (background) of the setting or environment being filmed, either recorded during production or added during postproduction. Although it may incorporate other types of film sound -- dialogue, narration, sound effects, Foley sounds, and music -- ambient sound does not include any unintentionally recorded noise made during production. (page 401) Amplitude The degree of motion of air (or other medium) within a sound wave. The greater the amplitude of the sound wave, the harder it strikes the eardrum, and thus the louder the sound. Compare loudness. (page 394) Analog Film is an analog medium in which the camera creates an image by recording through a camera lens the original light given off by the the subject and stores this image on a roll of negative film stock. Opposite of digital. (page 486) Antagonist The character, creature, or force that obstructs or resists the protagonist's pursuit of their goal. (page 133) Anti-hero An outwardly unsympathetic protagonist pursuing a morally objectionable or otherwise undesirable goal. (page 129) Antirealism A treatment that is against or the opposite of realism. However, realism and antirealism (like realism and fantasy) are not strict polarities. (page 56) Aperture Also known as gate. The camera opening that defines the area of each frame of film exposed. (page 244) Apparent motion The movie projector's tricking us into perceiving separate images as one continuous image rather than a series of jerky movements. Apparent motion is the result of such factors as the phi phenomenon and critical flicker fusion. (page 49) Art director The person responsible for transforming the production designer's vision into a reality on the screen, assessing the staging requirements for a production, and arranging for and supervising the work of the members of the art department. (page 180 Aspect ratio Assistant cameraperson (AC)

The relationship between the frame's two dimensions: the width of the image related to its height. (page 248) Member of the camera crew who assists the camera operator. The first AC oversees everything having to do with the camera, lenses, supporting equipment, and the material on which the movie is being shot. The second AC prepares the slate that is used to identify each scene as it is being filmed, files camera reports, and feeds film stock into magazines to be loaded into the camera. (page 228) Asynchronous sound Sound that comes from a source apparent in the image but that is not precisely matched temporally with the actions occurring in that image. (page 397) Automatic dialogue Rerecording done via computer -- a faster, less expensive, and more technically sophisticated process than rerecording tha replacement (ADR) is done with actors. (page 392) Axis of action An imaginary line connecting two figures in a scene that defines the 180-degree space within which the camera can record shots of those figures. See 180-degree system. (page 359) Backlight Lighting, usually positioned behind and in line with the subject and the camera, used to create highlights on the subject as a means of separating it from the background and increasing its appearance of three-dimensionality. (page 241) Backstory A fictional history behind the cinematic narrative that is presented onscreen. Elements of the backstory can be hinted at in a movie, presented through narration, or not revealed at all. (page 143) Best boy First assistant electrician to the gaffer on a movie production set. (page 228) Bit player An actor who holds a small speaking part. (page 315) Blimp A soundproofed enclosure somewhat larger than a camera, in which the camera may be mounted to prevent its sounds from reaching the microphone. (page 255) Boom A polelike mechanical device for holding the microphone in the air, out of camera range, that can be moved in almost any direction. (page 391) Cameo A small but significant role often played by a famous actor. (page 188) Cameo A small but significant role often played by a famous actor. (page 315) Camera crew Technicians that make up two separate groups -- one concerned with the camera, the other concerned with electricity and lighting. (page 228) Camera obscura Literally, 'dark chamber.” A box (or a room in which a viewer stands); light entering (originally through a tiny hole, later through a lens) on one side of the box (or room) projects an image from the outside onto the opposite side or wall. (page 435)

Camera operator Casting Catalyst CGI Character Character role Chiaroscuro Cinematic language Cinematic time Cinematography Climax Close-up (CU) Close-up (CU) Closed frame Colorization Composition Content Content curve Continuity editing

Costumes Coverage Crane shot Crisis Critical flicker fusion Cut Cutting Cutting on action

Dailies Decor Deep-focus cinematography Deep-space composition Depth of field Dialogue

The member of the camera crew who does the actual shooting. (page 228) The process of choosing and hiring actors for a movie. (page 310) The event or situation during the exposition stage of the narrative that sets the rest of the narrative in motion. Also known as the inciting incident. (page 132) Computer-generated imagery. Compare in-camera effect and laboratory effect. (page 280) An essential element of film narrative; any of the beings who play functional roles within the plot, either acting or being acted on. Characters can be flat or round; major, minor, or marginal; protagonists or antagonists. (page 127) An actor's part that represents a distinctive character type (sometimes a stereotype): society leader, judge, doctor, diplomat, and so on. (page 315) The use of deep gradations and subtle variations of lights and darks within an image. (page 186) The accepted systems, methods, or conventions by which the movies communicate with the viewer. (page 3) The passage of time within a movie, as conveyed and manipulated by editing. (page 151) The process of capturing moving images on film or some other medium. (page 226) The highest point of conflict in a conventional narrative; the protagonist's ultimate attempt to attain the goal. (page 135) A shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame -- traditionally a face, but possibly a hand, eye, or mouth. (page 5 A shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame -- traditionally a face, but possibly a hand, eye, or mouth. (page 252) An approach to framing a shot that implies that neither characters nor objects may enter or leave the frame -- rendering them hemmed in and constrained. Compare to open frame. (page 205) The use of digital technology, in a process similar to hand-tinting, to' paint” colors on movies meant to be seen in black and white. (page 230) The organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of stationary objects and figures, as well as of light, shade, line, and color, within the frame. (page 172) The subject of an artwork. Compare form. (page 36) In terms of cinematic duration, the point at which we have absorbed all we need to know in a particular shot and are ready for seeing the next shot. (page 355) A style of editing (now dominant throughout the world) that seeks to achieve logic, smoothness, sequential flow, and the temporal and spatial orientation of viewers to what they see on the screen. Continuity editing ensures the flow from shot to shot; creates a rhythm based on the relationship between cinematic space and cinematic time; creates filmic unity (beginning, middle, and end); and establishes and resolves a problem. In short, continuity editing tells a story as clearly and coherently as possible. Compare discontinuity editing. (page 355) The clothing worn by an actor in a movie (sometimes called wardrobe, a term that also designates the department in a studio in which clothing is made and stored). (page 188) The use of a variety of shots of a scene -- taken from multiple angles, distances, and perspectives -- to provide the director and editor a greater choice of editing options during postproduction. (page 359) A shot that is created by movement of a camera mounted on an elevating arm (crane) that, in turn, is mounted on a vehicle that, if shooting requires it, can move on its own power or be pushed along tracks. (page 269) A critical turning point in a story in which the protagonist must engage a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. (page 135) A phenomenon that occurs when a single light flickers on and off with such speed that the individual pulses of light fuse together to give the illusion of continuous light. See also apparent motion. (page 49) A direct change from one shot to another; that is, the precise point at which shot A ends and shot B begins; one result of cutting. (page 5) In the process of pre-digital editing, the use of scissors to cut shots out of a roll of film before splicing them together with glue to form a continuous whole. (page 340) Also known as match-on-action cut. A continuity editing technique that smoothes the transition between shots portraying a single action from different camera angles. The editor ends the first shot in the middle of a continuing action and begins the subsequent shot at approximately the same point in the matching action. (page 8) Also known as rushes. Usually, synchronized picture/sound work prints of a day's shooting that can be studied by the director, editor, and other crew members before the next day's shooting begins. (page 392) The color and textures of the interior decoration, furniture, draperies, and curtains of a set. (page 183) The process of rendering the figures on all planes (background, middle-ground, and foreground) of a deep-space composition in focus. (page 255) An approach to composition within the frame that places figures in all three planes (background, middle-ground, and foreground) of the frame, thus creating an illusion of depth. Deep-space composition is often, though not always, shot with deep-focus cinematography. (page 255) The distance in front of a camera and its lens in which objects are in apparent sharp focus. (page 246) The lip-synchronous speech of characters who are either visible onscreen or speaking offscreen, say from another part of the room that is not visible or from an adjacent room. (page 399)

Diegesis (adj. diegetic) Diegetic element Diegetic sound Digital Digital format Direct address Direct cinema Director

Discontinuity editing

Dissolve

Distancing effect or alienation effect Dolly Dolly in

Dolly in

Dolly out

Dolly shot

Double-system recording Duration

Duration

Dutch-angle shot

Editing Editing Ellipsis

The total world of a story -- the events, characters, objects, settings, and sounds that form the world in which the story occurs. (page 140) An element -- event, character, object, setting, sound -- that helps form the world in which the story occurs. Compare nondiegetic element. (page 140) Sound that originates from a source within a film's world. Compare nondiegetic sound. (page 396) An electronic process that creates its images through a numbered system of pixels (which we can think of as the binary numbers 0 and 1) that are stored on a flash card or a computer hard drive. (page 489) A means of storing recorded sound, made possible by computer technology, in which each sound wave is represented by combinations of the numbers 0 and 1. (page 391) A form of narration in which an on-screen character looks and speaks directly to the audience. (page 123) An approach to documentary filmmaking that employs an unobtrusive style in an attempt to give viewers as truthful and 'direct” an experience of events as possible. (page 73) The person who (a) determines and realizes on the screen an artistic vision of the screenplay; (b) casts the actors and directs their performances; (c) works closely with the production design in creating the look of the film, including the choice of locations; (d) oversees the work of the cinematographer and other key production personnel; and, (e) in most cases, supervises all postproduction activity, especially the editing. (page 499) A style of editing -- less widely used than continuity editing, often but not exclusively in experimental films -- that joins shots A and B in ways that upset the viewer's expectations and cause momentary disorientation or confusion. The juxtaposition of shots in films edited for discontinuity can often seem abrupt and unmotivated, but the meanings that arise from such discordant editing often transcend the meanings of the individual shots that have been joined together. (page 358) Also known as lap dissolve. A transitional device in which shot B, superimposed, gradually appears over shot A and begins to replace it at midpoint in the transition. Dissolves usually indicate the passing of time. Compare fade-in/fade-out. (page 371) Also known as distancing effect. A psychological distance between audience and stage for which, according to German playwright Bertolt Brecht, every aspect of a theatrical production should strive by limiting the audience's identification with characters and events. (page 318) A wheeled support for a camera that permits the cinematographer to make noiseless moving shots. (page 267) Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the subject appear larger and more significant. Such gradual intensification is commonly used at moments of a character's realization and/or decision, or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the character's realization. See also zoom-in. Compare dolly out. (page 16) Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the subject appear larger and more significant. Such gradual intensification is commonly used at moments of a character's realization and/or decision, or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the character's realization. See also zoom-in. Compare dolly out. (page 267) Movement of the camera away from the subject that is often used for slow disclosure, which occurs when an edited succession of images leads from A to B to C as they gradually reveal the elements of a scene. Each image expands on the one before, thereby changing its significance with new information. Compare dolly in. (page 268) Also known as traveling shot. A shot taken by a camera fixed to a wheeled support called a dolly. When the dolly runs on tracks (or when the camera is mounted to a crane or an aerial device such as an airplane, a helicopter, or a balloon) the shot is called a tracking shot. (page 267) The standard technique of recording film sound on a medium separate from the picture; this technique allows both for maximum quality control of the medium and for the many aspects of manipulating sound during postproduction editing, mixing, and synchronization. (page 392) A quantity of time. In any movie, we can identify three specific kinds of duration: story duration (the time that the entire narrative arc -- whether explicitly presented on-screen or not -- is implied to have taken), plot duration (the time that the events explicitly shown on-screen are implied to have taken), and screen duration (the actual time that has elapsed to present the movie's plot, i.e., the movie's running time). (page 16) A quantity of time. In any movie, we can identify three specific kinds of duration: story duration (the time that the entire narrative arc -- whether explicitly presented on-screen or not -- is implied to have taken), plot duration (the time that the events explicitly shown on-screen are implied to have taken), and screen duration (the actual time that has elapsed to present the movie's plot, i.e., the movie's running time). (page 351) Also known as Dutch shot or oblique-angle shot. A shot in which the camera is tilted from its normal horizontal and vertical positions so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance. (page 263) The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole; the basic creative force of cinema. (page 5) The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole; the basic creative force of cinema. (page 340) In filmmaking, generally an omission of time -- the time that separates one shot from another -- to create dramatic or comedic impact. (page 347)

Establishing shot

Executive producer Explicit meaning Exposure

External sound Extra Extreme close-up (ECU Extreme long shot (ELS Eye-level shot

A shot whose purpose is to briefly establish the viewer's sense of the setting of a scene -- the relationship of figures in that scene to the environment around them. This shot is often, but not always, an extreme long shot. See master shot and extreme long shot. (page 251) Person responsible for supervising one or more producers, who in turn are responsible for individual movies. (page 502) Everything that a movie presents on its surface. Compare implicit meaning. (page 12) Exposing the recording media (film or digital media) in a camera to light to produce a latent image on it, the quality of which is determined primarily by the source and amount of light. The cinematographer can further control that image by the choice of lens and film stock, use of filters, and the aperture that regulates the amount of light passing through the lens. Normally, i is desirable to have images that are clear and well-defined, but sometimes the story requires images that are over-exposed (very light) or under-exposed (dark or dense). (page 488) A form of diegetic sound that comes from a place within the world of the story, which we and the characters in the scene hear but do not see. Compare internal sound. (page 398) An actor who, usually, appears in a nonspeaking or crowd role and receives no screen credit. (page 315) XCU) XLS)

A shot that is made from the observer's eye level and usually implies that the observer's attitude is neutral toward the subject being photographed. (page 259) Eye-line match cut An editing transition that shows us what a particular character is looking at. The cut joins two shots: [1], the character's face, with his/her eyes clearly visible, then [2], whatever the character was looking at. When the second shot is of another character looking back at the character in the first shot, the resulting reciprocal eye-line match cut and the cuts that follow, establish the two characters' proximity and interaction, even if only one character is visible onscreen at any one time. (page 365) Factual film A documentary film that, usually, presents people, places, or processes in a straightforward way meant to entertain and instruct without unduly influencing audiences. Compare instructional film, persuasive film, and propaganda film. (page 72) Fade-in/fade-out Transitional devices in which a shot fades in from a black field on black-and-white film or from a color field on color film, or fades out to a black field (or a color field). Compare dissolve. (page 7) Fade-in/...