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Stack #4735518
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Cinematic language | The integrated system of visual, aural, and narrative techniques filmmakers uses to communicate meaning, evoke emotions, and guide audience attention without relying solely on dialogue |
| Implicit meaning | Deeper underlying themes, subtext, or message that a movie suggests rather than stating directly. |
| Explicit meaning | The surface-level, directly stated plot, action, and dialogue that requires no deep interpretation. |
| Formal analysis | Examines its form-the technical and structural elements that make up the move- to understand how it creates meaning, mood, and emotion. |
| Cinematic invisibility | The collection of editing and filming techniques used in traditional cinema to make the filmmaking process unnoticeable to the audience. |
| Cultural invisibility | Systematic underrepresentation, misrepresentation, or complete omission of certain marginalized groups from a society’s mainstream media, cultural narratives, and public discourse. |
| Form | The overall system of relationships among the parts of a film. Ex: Mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, sound, and narrative structure |
| Content | The literal subject matter, story, characters, and themes that a movie is about. |
| Patterns | Repeating structures, visual motifs, and editing rhythms that shape how a story is told and experienced. |
| Manipulation of time | To compress, expand, or reorder the real-world duration of events to serve the dramatic needs of a story. |
| Manipulation of space | A fundamental language of cinema, used by directors and cinematographers to alter how an audience perceives depth, distance, scale, and emotion. |
| Realism | Artistic and narrative style that attempts to represent life, characters, settings, and events as closely as possible to their real-world counterparts. |
| Antirealism | Deliberately rejects the mirror-like replication of real life, opting instead to distort or abstract reality to convey deeper emotional, psychological, or thematic truths. |
| Formalism | Prioritizes the technical, visual, and sensory form of a movie over the realistic reproduction of everyday life. |
| Verisimilitude | The quality of a movie feeling believable, genuine, and true to life, even when the story is fictional or fantastical. |
| Narration | he specific technique or commentary used to convey a story to the audience. It is the process by which a narrator (either a visible character, an unseen voice-over, or an omniscient presence) delivers information about the plot. |
| Narrator | voice or a presence that guides the audience through the story, most often delivered via voice-over (V.O.), on-screen commentary, or written text. |
| Narrative | motion picture that tells a fictional, or fictionalized, story through a structured sequence of events. |
| Camera narration | touches on a few distinct concepts—ranging from the foundational visual mechanics of cinema to specific stylistic devices. |
| first-person narration | occurs when the storytelling is tied directly to the subjective experience, voice, or visual field of a specific character within the story. |
| direct address narration | a rhetorical and storytelling technique where a speaker or narrator breaks conventional narrative distance to communicate straight to an addressee. |
| third-person narration | relies on an external narrator who refers to all characters using third-person pronouns (he, she, they) or proper names. |
| omniscient narration | a storytelling approach where an all-knowing perspective—often delivered via a disembodied voice-over, an external narrator, or through the camera and editing style itself—has complete access to the thoughts, feelings, motivations, and events. |
| restricted narration | restricted narration (also known as perceptual or knowledge restriction) is a storytelling technique where the camera and plot limit the audience's access to information, tying it closely to what a single character (usually the protagonist) know/see/hear |
| 3 act narrative structure | foundational storytelling framework that divides a narrative into three distinct functional parts: Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution. Traced back to classical dramatic theory and popularized for modern screenwriting and fiction |
| round vs flat characters | Round characters: Multidimensional, layered, and complex personalities resembling real people. Flat characters: Two-dimensional, relatively uncomplicated figures built around a single dominant trait, idea, or stereotype. |
| protagonist/antagonist | Protagonist: The main character who drives the narrative forward toward a core goal. Antagonist: The opposing force that creates obstacles, conflict, and resistance. |
| antihero | a central protagonist who lacks the traditional, idealized traits of a classic hero—such as noble self-sacrifice, unwavering morality, or heroic valor—yet still drives the narrative forward and earns the audience's investment. |
| story vs plot | Story: the larger, chronological sequence of all the events that happen—including everything the characters go through, their backstories Plot: the specific, causal web of why those events happen and how they are arranged to create tension or meaning. |
| diegesis | diegesis refers to the total fictional world of the story—the internal space, time, and reality inhabited by the characters. |
| diegetic/nondiegetic | Diegetic: Anything that belongs to the narrative world (the "diegesis"). Characters within the film can see, hear, or interact with these elements. Nondiegetic: Anything that exists outside the story world. |
| story and plot order | Story: The full, chronological chain of events that make up the narrative Plot: The specific, selective arrangement and structuring of events as they are actually presented to the audience on screen. |
| story/plot/screen duration | Story: encompasses the entire, comprehensive chain of events in a narrative Plot: the specific selection and arrangement of events as they are actually presented to the audience by the filmmaker Screen duration: simply the physical running time of movie |
| summary relationship | describes the temporal connection between screen duration and plot or story duration |
| stretch relationship | temporal relationship where the screen duration (the time it takes for an event to unfold on-screen) is longer than the plot duration |
| real time relationship | real-time relationship film sits at the intersection of temporal mechanics and interpersonal storytelling. |
| mise-en-scéne | literally translates to "placing on stage." In film studies, it refers to everything that appears before the camera and how it is arranged to tell a story. |
| design | refers to the comprehensive visual and sensory framework that shapes a movie's storytelling. |
| composition | the intentional arrangement of visual elements within the camera frame—such as actors, props, scenery, lighting, and color. |
| production designer | production designer in film is the creative head of the art department responsible for establishing the overall visual aesthetic, tone, and environment of a movie. |
| setting | refers to the specific time, geographical location, and social or cultural milieu in which the narrative takes place. It encompasses both the abstract context of the story's world and the physical environment where action unfolds. |
| location shooting | refers to the practice of producing a film, television show, or commercial in a real-world, practical environment—either indoors or outdoors |
| soundstage | is a large, soundproofed, hangar-like indoor structure used in film and television production to shoot scenes and record clean dialogue. |
| décor and props | Décor: overarching visual environment and background elements chosen to dress a space Props: any movable, portable object that an actor handles, uses, or interacts with on screen |
| costume design | the art and process of envisioning, researching, planning, and creating (or sourcing) the clothing, shoes, and accessories worn by performers on screen. |
| hair/makeup | collaborative unit responsible for everything visible above an actor's wardrobe neckline |
| lighting quality | refers to how light behaves, interacts with a subject, and dictates the transition between highlights and shadows (known as shadow edge transfer). It is primarily categorized into a binary spectrum: hard light and soft light. |
| lighting ratio | is the measurement of the relative intensity of light illuminating different areas of a scene or a subject's face. |
| three-point lighting | a foundational standard technique in film, television, and photography used to illuminate a subject while deliberately controlling shadows and creating a sense of three-dimensional depth. |
| high-key/low-key lighting | High key: A lighting design that uses a high amount of fill light to wash out most dark shadows, resulting in low contrast and an evenly illuminated frame. Low key: dominant key light with little to no fill light, resulting in high contrast |
| lighting direction | refers to the path or angle from which a light source originates relative to the subject and the camera, determining where illumination falls and where shadows are cast. |
| rule of thirds | foundational composition guideline in filmmaking and cinematography where the frame is mentally divided into a 3-by-3 grid using two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. |
| compositional stress | visual technique that occurs when a filmmaker intentionally breaks standard compositional rules—most notably the rule of thirds—to create a sense of visual imbalance, unease, or psychological tension. |
| lead room/eye room | refer to foundational principles of camera framing that manage empty space within a shot to guide the viewer's attention and create a natural visual flow. |
| headroom | headroom refers to the vertical distance or empty space between the top of a subject’s head and the upper edge of the frame. |
| negative space | Negative space in film refers to the empty or unoccupied area around, beside, above, below, or behind the main subject within the frame. |
| deep-space composition | mise-en-scène technique where significant visual and narrative elements are arranged at varying distances from the camera across multiple distinct planes: the foreground, middle ground, and background. |
| kinesis | movement of objects, figures, and actors within the frame. |
| figure movement | figure movement refers to the physical action, gestures, walking, and positioning of actors (or objects and animals) within the frame of a shot. |
| blocking | refers to the precise choreography, positioning, and physical movement of actors in relation to each other, the set, and the camera. |
| director of photography | the chief of the camera and lighting crews on a film set. They are responsible for making both the artistic and technical decisions regarding the visual look, style, and mood of a movie. |
| shot | the basic building block of visual storytelling: a continuous, uninterrupted strip of footage recorded from the moment the camera starts rolling until it stops. |
| take | refers to a single, continuous recorded performance of a specific shot—starting from the moment the camera begins rolling until it stops |
| setup | a setup can refer to either a technical production term on a movie set or a narrative structure term in screenwriting. |
| camera crew | a specialized team of production professionals hired to operate, maintain, and manage cameras and related optical equipment during a film, television, or video shoot. |
| slate | slate (also known as a clapperboard, clapboard, or movie slate) is a device used at the beginning or end of a shot to visually and audibly synchronize picture and sound |
| fast vs. slow film stock | Slow: Typically ISO 50 to 200 Fast: Typically ISO 800 and higher |
| aspect ratio | the proportional relationship between its width and its height, describing the overall shape of the video frame. |
| color temperature | refers to the characteristic of visible light from a source, measured numerically on the Kelvin scale (K). It dictates how the color of light is perceived by a camera sensor or film stock and how a scene’s white balance is established. |
| color grading | the creative post-production process of altering and enhancing the color, contrast, saturation, and tone of film or video footage to establish a specific visual aesthetic, mood, or emotional atmosphere. |
| lens | the transmissive optical component attached to the front of a camera body that refracts and focuses light onto the film plane or digital image sensor. |
| aperture | adjustable opening or diaphragm inside a camera lens through which light passes on its way to strike the film strip or digital sensor, functioning much like the pupil of a human eye. |
| iris | a cinematic technique where an expanding or shrinking circle—surrounded by a black mask—opens to reveal a scene or closes to conclude it. |
| focal length | the optical distance measured in millimeters (mm) from the optical center (or nodal point) of a lens to the film plane (or digital sensor) when the lens is focused at infinity. |
| short-focal-length lens | lens with a small optical distance (typically 35mm or less for full-frame/35mm film equivalents) from the optical center of the lens to the film plane or sensor, which results in a wide-angle field of view. |
| long-focal-length lens | a lens that has a focal length longer than the diagonal measure of the film or digital sensor receiving the image (typically anything above 70mm–85mm and up to super-telephoto lengths like 300mm+ on standard formats). |
| middle-focal-length lens | a lens that closely approximates the natural field of view and perspective of the human eye. |
| prime lenses | a camera lens with a fixed focal length (such as 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm) that cannot physically zoom in or out. |
| zoom lens | a camera lens with a variable focal length that allows the operator to continuously change the magnification and field of view—moving smoothly from wide-angle to telephoto |
| depth of field | refers to the distance range between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp and in focus |
| rack focus | a quintessential cinematography technique that shifts the lens's focal plane from one subject to another within a single, continuous shot. |
| framing | framing refers to the presentation, placement, and boundary-setting of subjects, objects, and space within the rectangular edges of a shot. |
| implied proximity | refers to the perceived or psychological distance between the camera (and consequently the viewer) and the subject on screen, which does not always match the actual physical distance in the real world. |
| camera angle | a camera angle refers to where the camera is physically placed in relation to the subject of a shot. It is a fundamental tool of visual storytelling used to shape audience perception. |
| camera height | camera height (sometimes referred to as the camera's vertical position or level) is the physical distance of the lens relative to the ground and the subject's body |
| deep-focus cinematography | technique where the foreground, middle ground, and extreme background of a shot are all kept in sharp, simultaneous focus. |
| types of camera movement | Pan: The camera pivots left or right from a fixed point (like a tripod). Tilt: The camera pivots up or down from a fixed point. Dolly: The camera physically moves closer to or further from a subject Zoom: Camera stays still, focal length lens moves in |
| onscreen/offscreen space | Onscreen: The visible area inside the camera frame at any given moment, containing all characters, props, and set elements physically shown to the audience. Offscreen: The unseen realm that exists just beyond the borders of the frame |
| long take | filmmaking technique where a single, uninterrupted shot lasts for a much longer duration than the conventional editing pace of a film |
| special effects | refer to the practical, physical, or optical illusions created live on-set during the filming process to simulate unreal or imagined events. |
Created by:
ajpatton08