comm 223_some key film terms

8/2/2019 COMM 223_Some Key Film Terms

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SomeKeyFilmTerms

Partofbeingagoodfilmstudentisknowingthelanguageoffilm. Hereisaverybrief

introductiontosomeofthemostcommontermsyouwillrunacrossintheclassroom. Itisby

no

means

comprehensive;

nonetheless,

it

should

give

you

some

basic

terms

to

use

when

speakingandwritingaboutfilm. Formanyofyou,thislistwillbereview,butineveryones

case,besuretoclarifyanytermsthatyoufindconfusing,asyouwillbeexpectedtouseterms,

whenappropriate,inyourfilmcourseshereatSalisbury. Afewofthesetermscomefrom

literaryanalysisandfromthetheater,butmostarespecifictofilm.

narrative Anadjectivedescribingafilmasbeingprimarilyaworkoffiction,oranounthat

looselymeansafictionalstory.

documentary Alsoanadjectiveornouncategoryusedtodescribeaworkofnonfiction.

plotrefers

to

all

aspects

of

the

narrative

that

we

see

on

screen.

For

example,

in

the

film

Jaws,

ChiefBrodystalkingtothetowncouncilonscreenwouldbepartoftheplot.

story referstoallaspectsofthenarrativethatwedonotseeonscreen;theseaspectsmay

includeeventsbefore,during,orevenaftertheplotofthefilm. InJaws,forinstance,Chief

Brodyhadbeenapoliceofficerinthecitypriortothefilmsbeginning;thisinformationispart

ofthestorybutnotpartoftheplot.

diegesis referstothenarrativethatweseeonscreen. Thistermismuchmorespecifictofilm,

however,andreferstotheworldthatthecharactersinhabitasmuchastheplotofthefilm.

Theadjectivediegetic,forinstance,referstosomethingthecharactersinthefilmcould

perceive,whereasnondiegeticreferstosomethingtheycouldnot(seediegeticandnondiegetic

soundbelow).

pointofview Mostpeopleassumefilmalwayshasathirdpersonperspective,butevenwhen

itdoesnotuseaPOVshot(seebelow),filmoftenhasamoresubjectiveperspectivethrough

theuseofcameraplacement,voiceover,andothercinematechniques.

miseenscne referstoeverythingintheframeofthefilm,whichwouldincludelighting,set,

props,andthestagingandmovementofactors. Thetermderivesfromthetheater,whereitis

usedinasimilarway. Inthe1950s,agroupofFrenchcriticsatthejournalCahiersduCinma

usedthis

term

in

adifferent

way.

For

them,

mise

en

scne

meant

aspecial

aspect

of

cinema

associatedwithcertaindirectors. Eventually,youwillwanttounderstandbothmeaningsofthe

term,sincethissecondarymeaningiscloselyconnectedtotheideaofauteurismincinema..

Initially,however,usemiseenscneinthefirstsense.


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setting liketheliteraryterm,thiswordreferstothetimeandplaceofthefilm. Thesettingfor

TheUsualSuspects,forinstance,isNewYorkandLosAngelesatatimecontemporarywiththe

filmsyearofrelease(inthiscase,1995).

set Thistermreferstotheactualconstructioninwhichtheactorsarefilmed. InTheUsual

Suspects,for

instance,

aset

might

be

the

interrogation

room

in

the

film.

Sets

are

usually

built

forafilm,asopposedtoshootingonlocation,whereasceneisshotintheactualplaceinwhich

itoccursinthefilm. IfafilmcrewshotonlocationinVenice,Italy,forinstance,theymight

actuallybeshootingthesceneingondolasonthecanals. Setisalsousedgenerally,however,

asadesignationfortheplacewhereafilmisbeingshot. (Soeveninlocationshooting,the

directorwouldbeonthesetofhisorherfilmeverytimeheorshewenttotheplacewhere

thecrewwasshootingforthatday.)

prop anothertermborrowedfromtheater. Apropisgenerallyanyobjectonaset,though

clearlytheobjectsthatcharacterswilltouchbecomemoreimportant. Atrumpet,forinstance,

mightbepartofthebackdropinamusicstorescene,butifacharacterisgoingtoplaythe

trumpet,theproptakesonmoreimportance.

costumes whatthecharactersarewearing. Bearinmindthatevenifacharacteriswearing

contemporaryclothing(insomecases,theactorsownclothing),thatclothingisstillconsidered

acostume.

lighting Thistermreferstothewayinwhichlightsareusedforagivenfilm. Lighting,in

conjunctionwiththecamera,setsthevisuallookforafilm. Thekeylightisthemainlightused

forascene;backlightreferstoasecondarysource,usuallyplacedbehindtheactors;andfill

referstoalightplacedtothesideoftheactors. Thissystemiscalledthreepointlightingand

wasvery

common

in

classical

Hollywood

films.

You

may

also

run

across

the

term

low

key

lighting,whichmeansthatthefilmwasshotoftenusingonlythekeylightataverylowsetting.

Thislowleveloflightingcreatesdarkshadowsonthefacesofactorsandisparticularlymoody

whenusedwithblackandwhitefilm. Itismostoftenassociatedwithfilmnoirbutisnot

exclusivetothatgenre.

shot(andcloseupv.longshot) generally,thesmallestunitofunbrokenfilm. Thecameracan

movewithinashot,butthesecondthatthefilmmakesatransition(seebelow)toanother

shot,thepreviousshothasended. Alternatively,whenusedwithcertainadjectives,shotalso

referstothedistancefromthecameratothesubject,almostalwaystheactor. Inalongshot,

onecanseetheentirebodyoftheactor;inamediumshot,onecanseetheactorfromthe

waistup;inacloseup,onecanseeonlytheactorsface(thereisnosuchtermastheshortshot). Youmightalsoseeanextremecloseupinafilm,whereyoucanonlyseepartofthe

actorsface(justtheeyes,forexample).

pan themovementofastationarycameraonahorizontalaxis.Acameraonatripodthat

movesfromlefttoright(followingaparade,forinstance),wouldbepanning.


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tilt themovementofastationarycameraonaverticalaxis. Acameraonatripodthatmoves

upanddown(followingaplanelanding,forinstance),wouldbeperformingatilt.

trackingshot themovementoftheshotwhenthecameraisnolongerstationary. Theterm

referstothetracksthatcameraswereoncerolledonwhencreatingoneoftheseshots.

Althoughtracks

are

still

often

used

with

atracking

shot,

the

term

might

also

refer

more

generallytoamovingshotthatappearsstable,suchasasteadicamshot,whichusesa

gyroscopetoavoidtheshakyeffectsassociatedwithhandheldshots. Youmayalsorunacross

thetermdollyshot,whichreferstowhatthecamerarestson(aplatformwithwheels)while

thecameramovesincertainkindsofshots. Dollyshotissometimesusedinterchangeablywith

trackingshot,sincedolliesveryoftenusetracks.

handheldshot referstoashotwherethecameraisheldbythecameraoperator. Handheld

shotsareoftenassociatedwithacertainlook,whichisshaky,andmostpeopleassociatethe

handheldshotwithakindofdocumentaryrealism. Narrativefilmsandtelevisionoftenusethe

handheldforthisreason,astheyareabletocreateasenseofgrittyrealism. Thetelevision

showLawandOrder,forinstance,oftenuseshandheldshotswhenthedetectivesare

questioningsuspectsonthestreets,givingtheviewerthesensethatthesceneismorereal.

Bearinmind,however,thatnoonetechniqueeverhasthesamemeaningineveryfilm(a

handheldshotmightbeusedtodecreasethesenseofrealism).

craneshot Ashottakenfromacrane. Youoftenseetheseshotsatthebeginningofascene

(usingitasanestablishingshot)ortheendofascene. Theendofamovie,infact,oftenusesa

craneshot(thoughsometimesisevenmoreextreme).

POVshot standsforPointofViewshot. Thistypeofshotdoesnotrefertothetechnology

usedso

much

as

the

way

we

interpret

it.

In

this

kind

of

shot,

we

are

looking

through

the

eyes

ofacharacter;youhaveprobablyseenaPOVshotwhenacharacterwhohasbeenrendered

unconsciousiswaking(theothercharacterslookdirectlyintothecamera,inalowangleshot

(seebelow),andsayAreyouokay?astheedgesoftheframeareblurredandthespeechhas

anechoeffect).

highangleshot,lowangleshot Thesetermsrefertocameraplacement. Ifacamerais

lookingdownonanactorfromahighvantage,itisahighangleshot;ifacameraisplacedvery

lowtothegroundandlooksupatactors,itisalowangleshot. Highangleshotsmight

emphasizethatcharactersarebeingoverwhelmedbytheircircumstances, whilelowangle

shotsmightemphasizethatcharactersaresomehowlargerthanlife. Beverycareful,however,

whenattachingacertaincinematechniquetoarecurringplotdeviceortone. Therearealways

exceptions,andyouneedtoevaluateeverysceneindividually.

take(andshortv.longtake) generally,atakereferstothetimeashotisbeguntothetimeit

stops. Onafilmset,adirectormighthavetogothroughseveraltakesbeforesettlingonthe

shotheorshewants(youhaveprobablyseenthisinfilmsbefore,withtheclapboardand

someoneshoutingTake12meaningtheyhavedonethisshoteleventimesbeforethisone).


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Alternatively,likeshot,takealsotakesonasecondarymeaningwhencombinedwithcertain

adjectives(inthiscase,longandshort),exceptthatalongorshorttakereferstotime,whereas

alongshotorcloseupreferstodistance. Ashorttake,forinstance,mightbeoneortwo

secondslong,althoughcontemporaryfilmscontinuetouseshorterandshortertakesofless

thanasinglesecond(makingtwoorthreeseconds,whichsoundslikeashortamountoftime,

notvery

short

at

all).

A

long

take

would

refer

to

asingle

unbroken

shot

that

lasts

for

alarger

amountoftimethirtyseconds,forinstance. Oneextremerecentexampleofalongtake

wouldbeRussianArk,afilmshotondigitalvideoandusingasingle,verylongtakeforthe

entirefilm. AnothermoreextremeexamplewouldbeAlfredHitchcocksRope,wherethe

directorusedlongtakesofseveralminutesapieceandattemptedtohidethecutsbytracking

behindcharactersbacksorpiecesoffurniture. Somedirectorsarealsofamousfortheuseof

longtakes,suchasJeanRenoirandOrsonWelles.

frameLiterally,aframeoffilmreferstothesmallestunitoffilmpossible. Filmframesappear

onafilmstrip,which,whenprojected,createstheillusionofmotion. Filmisshownat24

framespersecond(orf.p.s.,acommonabbreviation). Inamuchloosersense,scholars

sometimestalkabouttheframetomeanthefoursidesofthefilmasitisbeingprojected,and

theyalsooftenuseitasaverb(e.g.Thefilmframestheactioninsuchawaythatwecansee

bothcharactersatonce.)

screen oftenusedwithonorofftorefertowhatweseewithintheframe. Onscreenaction,

forinstance,issomethingwecansee,whereasoffscreenactionmightbesomethingwehear

butwhichtakesplaceoutsidetheframe. Screenalsoreferstotheactualphysicalscreenon

whichweprojectafilm.

shallow/softfocus referstohowmuchoftheshotisinfocus. Withshalloworsoftfocus,

generallywe

can

only

see

the

actors

face

in

focus.

The

background

appears

blurry.

This

kind

of

focuswascommoninClassicHollywoodandisstillcommon,becauseiftheviewercannotsee

thebackground,thenthedirectordoesnotneedtolightthebackground,forinstance,ormake

surethebackgroundisperfectlyordered. Also,ablurrybackgroundfocusesourattentionall

themoreonwhatisinfocus,whichisgenerallytheactorsface. Shallowfocusisachievedwith

alonglens(thiscanbeconfusing,sinceonewouldassumeashallowfocuswouldrequirea

shortlens).

deepfocus referstoashotinwhicheverything,includingthebackground,isinfocus. This

typeofshotismuchmoredifficulttoachieve,sincetheentiresetmustbeadequatelylit,

designed,etc. Also,thedangeristhattheviewersattentionwillshiftfromsubjectto

backdrop,butsomedirectorsusethisdangertotheiradvantage. WilliamWyler,forinstance,

inTheBestYearsofOurLives,showsamanplayingapianointheforegroundwhileanother

maninthebackgroundcallshisgirlfriend(thefirstmansdaughter)tobreakthingsoff.

Withoutdeepfocus,thisshotwouldbeimpossible. DirectorsJeanRenoirandOrsonWellesare

mostoftenassociatedwithdeepfocus,whichsometimes(butdoesnotalways)accompany

longtakesandamovingcamera(sinceeverythingislit,thecameraismuchmoreabletomove

fluidlyandrepositionitselfamongactorsandprops).


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rackfocus Shiftingthefocusfromoneobjecttoanotherwithinasingleshot. Sometimes,

directorswillusearackfocuswhentwocharactersareonscreenatoncebutarepositionedat

differentdistancesfromthecamera.

editing referstothewaythatindividualshotsareconnectedtooneanothertomakethefilm.

montage thiswordhastwomeanings. First,montagecansimplybeanotherwordforediting,

whichisoftenthewayyouwillseeitinfilmtheoryorwhenwestudytheSovietfilmmakersof

theearlytwentiethcentury. Second,andmorecommonlyincontemporaryusage,montage

referstoaseriesofshotseditedtogethertoshowalongeractivityevolvinginashorteramount

oftimeortoshowaseriesofrelatedactivities. Asportsfilm,forinstance,mighthaveatraining

montage,wherethecharacterbecomesmuchbetteratthesport(thefilmmightcondense

threemonthsoftraining,forinstance,intoatwominutemontageofjogging,liftingweights,

etc.). Orafilmmightshowaseriesofrelatedactivitiesthroughmontage. Forinstance,afilm

aboutanewsstationmighthaveamontageoftheeveningnewspreparingtoair(withshotsof

makeupbeingappliedtotheanchorsfaces,camerasbeingmovedintoposition,producers

arguingoverastory,andotherimagesandsoundswemightassociatewiththisscene).

transition referstothewayashotmovesfromonetothenext. Filmsuseseveraldifferent

kindsoftransitions,including:

cut simplysplicingoneshottothenext. Themostcommonkindoftransitions,cutsareusedextensivelyinediting.

dissolve whenoneshotbleedsintoanother. Inotherwords,theendofthefirstshotisstillvisibleasthesecondshotbecomesvisible. Dissolvesareoften(butnotalways)

usedto

show

asmaller

amount

of

time

passing

than

afade

in

or

fade

out.

fadein,fadeout Goingfromblack(nothingonthescreen)toashot(fadein),orgoingfromashottoblack(fadeout). Thesetransitionsusually(butnotalways)connotea

largeramountoftimepassingormightalsobeusedtosignalabreakinthenarrative

(theendofanact,forinstance).

wipe oneshotwipesacrossthescreenandreplacesanother. Youdonotseewipesusedoverlyoftenincontemporaryfilms,althoughsomedirectorsusethemoften(the

StarWarsfilmsusewipesconsistently).

irisin,

iris

out

this

transition

almost

never

appears

in

contemporary

films

and

was

usedmuchmorecommonlyinearlycinema. Here,theshotgoesfromafullframeto

focusingasmallcirclearoundacertainpartoftheshot,witheverythingelseblackedout

(theirisin),orthereverseoccurs(theirisout). Youmayhaveseenthistransitionatthe

endofaLooneyTunescartoon,whenthecartooncharacterwillsometimespokehisor

herheadoutoftheirisasitclosesinandcrackonelastjoke(e.gwhenPorkyPigsays,

Thathatha,thatsallfolks).


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scene aseriesofshotsthatformacohesiveunitofnarrative. Forinstance,inRearWindow,

wemightdiscussthescenewhereGraceKellykidsJimmyStewartaboutnotmarryingheryet.

Filmshavebothactsandscenes,liketheater,althoughtheyareoftenlessobviousbecause

therearerarelyintermissionsoraccompanyingprogramsinfilm. Screenwriterstypicallyuse

actswhenwritingafilm. Scholars,however,almostneverdiscussanactofafilm,whereas

sceneis

used

extensively.

continuityediting alsocalledinvisibleeditingorClassicHollywoodediting. Thissystemof

editingisthesystemthatClassicHollywoodestablished(thoughithadbeeninusebeforethat

period)andisessentiallythesystemthatexiststoday. Understandingthissystemiscrucialto

understandingcinema,sinceeventhosedirectorswhobreakwiththissystemareinasense

definingthemselvesagainstit. Thissystemisassociatedwiththefollowingotherterms:

establishingshot Thistermhastwomeanings. Inonecontext,establishingshotreferstotheshotatabeginningofafilmorscenethatestablishedlocation. Forinstance,if

thesettingofafilmis1940sOccupiedFrance,thefilmmightopenwithashotofthe

EiffelTowerwithtwoGestaposoldiersintheforeground. Thisshotestablishesplace

(andsometimes,asinthisexample,time). Establishingshotisalsousedincontinuity

editingtodescribeashotthatestablishesthespatialrelationshipsinagivenscene.

shot/reverseshot Afteranestablishingshot,theshotreverseshotreferstothecloseupsusedwhentwocharactersareinconversation. (Becausewehavealreadyusedan

establishingshot,wenowknowwherethecharactersareinrelationtooneanother.)

matchonaction connectstwoshotscuttogetherbyhavingacharacterfinishanactioninthesecondshotbeguninthefirstshot. Forinstance,ifacharacterlightsa

matchin

the

first

shot,

the

same

character

will

draw

it

up

to

acigarette

in

the

second.

eyelinematch Thedirectionsthatactorslookaffectthewayweperceivetheirspatialrelationshipstooneanother. Eyelinematchesareimportantforestablishingwhoa

characteristalkingtoorwhatacharacterislookingat. Forinstance,ifacharacteris

talkingtotwopeopleoneithersideofhimorher,thenthecharacterwilllooktotheleft

ofthecameratoconnotethatheorsheistalkingtothepersoninthatdirection.

the180degreerule Thistermreferstotherulethatonceaspatialrelationshiphasbeenconfirmedwiththeestablishingshot,nocloseupwillcrosstheimaginaryline

drawnbetweenthosetwoactorsuntilanewline(oraxis)hasbeenestablished,usually

throughanother

establishing

shot.

zoomin,zoomout usingcertainlenses,thecameracanmovemorecloselyintoasubject(the

zoomin)orpullback(thezoomout). Thezoominissometimescalledapushin,andthe

zoomoutissometimescalledthepullback.

sound everythingwehearfromtheaudiotrackofthefilm.


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music anymusicthatcomesfromtheaudiotrack. Musicmightbediegetic(asongonthe

radioofacaracharacterisdriving)ornondiegetic(scarymusicwhenavillainappearson

screen).

diegeticsound soundthatothercharacterswouldbeabletohear. Asongonaradio,for

instance,as

acharacter

drives

down

the

highway,

would

be

adiegetic

sound,

as

would

someonecoughingaudiblyduringascene. Itisimportanttonotethatdiegeticsoundisasound

thatcharacterscouldhear,eveniftheyarenotpresentwhenthatsoundoccurs. Thesoundof

aradioplayinginanapartment,forinstance,isadiegeticsound,evenifnocharacterispresent

intheapartmentduringthescene.

nondiegeticsound soundthatcharacterscannothear. Thetwomostcommontypesof

nondiegeticsoundarevoiceovers,whichisacharactersnarrationthatplaysoveranygiven

scene,andnondiegeticmusic,whichismusicusedtoinflectthemoodofagivenscene. Creepy

horrormoviemusic,forinstance,thatplayswhenacharacteriswalkingintoanoldhouse,is

nondiegeticmusic,sincethatcharactercannothearthemusic. Sometimes,thiseffectis

parodied(withcharacterscommentingonthescarymusicplaying),andsomedirectorswill

transitionfromanondiegeticsoundtoadiegeticsound(orviceversa),aswhenasongis

playingonaradiothatthenbecomesthenondiegeticmusicevenasthecharactersmoveintoa

newscenewithouttheradioinit.

ambientsound Thistermgenerallyreferstoanysoundsthatareusedtoestablishlocation.

Theambientsoundofasceneinapark,forinstance,mightincludebirdschirping,children

laughing,oradogbarking. Theambientsoundofatrainstationwouldincludethewhineof

trainbrakes,thetinnysoundsofarrivalanddepartureannouncements, andthegeneralnoise

of

people

walking

and

talking.

SOURCE:Johnson,David.T.,http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dtjohnson/filmterms.htm


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comm 223_some key film terms

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