film terminology
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to the Language of Film Study
Introduction to aLanguage of Film Study
Purpose
• To acquaint ourselves with the terminology we will use in this course for the deciphering of how film communicates information
The Act of Communication (Roman Jakobson)
Addresser
Message
Contact
Code
Context
Addressee
Roman Jakobson (1896-1982)
• Born in Moscow
• As a young theorist, hung out with avant-garde poets in the 10s and 20s
• Russian Formalist, Czech Structuralist, taught at New School, Harvard, MIT
The Act of Communication (Roman Jakobson)
Addresser
Message
Contact
Code
Context
Addressee
The Act of Communication (Roman Jakobson)
Addresser
Message
Contact
Context
Addressee
Terminology sources:
Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. 9th ed. New York, NY: 2010. Print.
Mise-en-Scene
• Definition:
All of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed.
fr. Bordwell and Thompson’s glossary to Film Art
9th edition, p. 492
Mise-en-Scene
• Definition:
All of the elements in front of the camera to be photographed.
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
• Setting
• Costume and Make-up
• Lighting
• Staging: Movement and Performance
fr. Bordwell and Thompson’s Film Art
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
• Decor
• Lighting
• Space
• Costume
• Acting
fr. Yale’s Film Analysis Guide
Decor
The objects contained in and the setting of a scene
– sets
– props
Evgenii Bauer, Child of the Big City, 1914
Lighting
Key terms:
• Three-point lighting
– High-key lighting
– Low-key lighting
Three-point lighting
High-Key Lighting
Low-key, high contrast lighting: “Chiaroscuro”
Diegesis
• “Diegetic” refers to something in the story.
• “Non-diegetic” is something outside of the story, usually used to tell the story.
D. W. Griffith, The Cricket on the Hearth, 1909
Władysław Starewicz, The Cameraman’s Revenge, 1912
John Carpenter, The Thing, 1982
Color lighting
Space
Alexandrov, Circus
Evgenii Bauer, Child of the Big City, 1914
Offscreen space
Acting (Staging Performance)
Acting (Staging, Performance)
Costume and Make-up
Mozzhukhin as Kornilov
Mozzhukhin as Father Sergius
Mozzhukhin as the Devil
Cinematography
• The relationship of the camera and laboratory/development phase to the mise-en-scene
Elements of Cinematography
• Quality
• Framing
• Scale
• Movement
Quality
Colour
Scale
• Extreme long shot
• Long shot
• Medium long shot (3/4 length)
• Medium shot
• Medium close-up
• Close-up
• Extreme close-up
Movement
• Panning
• Tilting
• Tracking
Tracking Shot
Editing
• Transitions
• Matches
• Duration
Transitions
• Wipe
• Dissolve
• Jump cut
• Establishing shot
Matches
• Eyeline match
• Graphic Match
Eyeline Match: Vertov, Man with the Movie Camera
Eyeline match
Graphic Match
Duration
• Long take
– Famous Russian practitioners of the long take: Bauer, Dovzhenko, Tarkovsky, Sokurov
Sound