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Film Vocab

Subjects : performing-arts, film
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A narrative moment that signals an important shift of some kind in character or situation






2. A specialist who monitors the processing of color on the se and in the film lab






3. A shot transition that involves the gradual disappearance of the image at the same time that a new image gradually comes into view






4. A term applied to film stock that is relatively insensitive to light. This stock will not yield acceptable images unless the amount of light can be carefully controlled






5. An agreement made between filmmakers and those who license the use of commercial products to feature those products in films - generally as props used by characters






6. Processes such as Cinemascope and Cinerama - developed during the 1950s to enhance film's size advantage over the smaller television image






7. An alternative to continuity editing - this style of editing was developed in silent Soviet cinema - based on the theory that editing should exploit the difference between shots to generate intellectual and emotional responses in the audience






8. The written blueprint for a film - composed of three elements: dialogue - sluglines (setting the place and time of each scene) - and description. Feature-length screenplays typically run 90-130 pages






9. An early color process that replaced silver halide grains with colored salts






10. The artful use of light and dark areas in the composition in black and white filmmaking






11. A type of matte shot - created by positioning a pane of optically flawless glass with a painting on it between the camera and the scene to be photographed. This combines the painting on the glass with the set or location - seen through the glass - be






12. Assists the gaffer in managing lighting crews






13. A film style that emerged in the 1910s in Germany. It was heavily indebted to the Expressionist art movement of the time and influenced subsequent horror films and film noir






14. Prefogging; a cinematographic technique that exposes raw film stock to light before - during - or after shooting - resulting in an image with reduced contrast. This effect can also be created using digital post-production techniques






15. Any lens with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal of the frame. For 35mm filmmaking - a 35-50 mm lens does not distort the angle of vision or depth






16. The details of a character's past that emerge as the film unfolds - and which often play a role in character motivation






17. Also called 'rushes.' Footage exposed and developed quickly so that the director can assess the day's work






18. The use of editing techniques - such as a fade or dissolve - to indicate the end of one scene and the beginning of another






19. Devices that attach to actors' faces and/or bodies to change their appearance






20. A narrative approach that limits the audience's view of events to that of the main character(s) in the film. Occasional moments of omniscient narration may give viewers more information than the character shave at specific points in the narrative






21. A direct vocal address to the audience - Which may emanate from a character or from a narrative voice apparently unrelated to the diegesis






22. A system initially developed for marketing films by creating and promoting stars as objects of admiration. The promotion of stars has now become an end in itself






23. A technique used to join live action with pre-recorded background images. A projector is aimed at a half-silvered mirror that reflects the background - which the camera records as being located behind the actors






24. A film style that - in contrast to the classical and formalist styles - focuses characters - place - and the spontaneity and digressiveness of life - rather than on highly structured stories or aesthetic abstraction






25. A property of older television monitors - where each frame was scanned as two fields: One consisting of all the odd numbered lines - the other all the even lines. If slowed down - the television image would appear to sweep down the screen one line at






26. Smaller corporations that did not own distribution and/or exhibition companies in the studio era - including Universal - Columbia - and United Artists






27. A genre film that radically modifies accepted genre conventions for dramatic effect






28. A technician responsible for splicing and assembling the film negative to the editor's specifications






29. Dense accumulation of detail conveyed in the opening moments of a film






30. A shot that makes the human subject very small in relation to his or her environment. The entire figure from head to toe is onscreen and dwarfed by the surroundings






31. A description of film stock that is highly sensitive to light






32. Live action is filmed in front of a blue screen and a matte. It's then joined with the background footage






33. A screenplay written and submitted to a studio or production company without a prior contract or agreement






34. Light striking the emulsion layer of the film - activating light-sensitive grains






35. A large-budget film whose strategy is to swamp the competition through market saturation






36. A film process that uses 35mm film stock but changes the orientation of the film so that the film moves through the camera horizontally instead of vertically. The larger image is of higher quality than standard 35mm processes






37. A shot taken by a camera that is held manually rather than supported by a tripod - crane or Steadicam. Generally - such shots are shaky - owing to the motion of the camera operator






38. A term describing a conclusion that does not answer all the questions raised regarding characters or storylines - nor tie up all loose ends






39. A statement that asserts a judgment that a given film or group of films is good or bad - based on specific criteria - Which may or may not be stated






40. The term for a film's spoken dialogue - as opposed to the underlying meaning contained in the subtext






41. A device worn by a camera operator that holds the motion picture camera - allowing it glide smoothly through spaces unreachable by camera mounted on a crane or other apparatus






42. The person in charge of planning the style and look of the film with the production designer and director of photography - working with actors during principal photography - and collaborating with the editor on the final version






43. An efficient system developed for film lighting. In a standard lighting set-up - the key light illuminates the subject - the fill light eliminates shadows cast by the key light - and the back light separates the subject from the background






44. A term used for any narrative sound - or visual element not contained in the story world. Also called 'extradiegetic'






45. A film composed entirely of footage from other films.






46. A technique of exposing film frames - then rewinding the film and exposing it again - which results in an image that combines two shots in a single frame






47. A production crew responsible not for shooting the primary footage but - instead - for remote location shooting and B-roll. See also B-roll






48. Sound design that blends the speech of several characters talking simultaneously - used to create spontaneity - although it may also confuse the audience






49. These filters bend the light coming into lens - softening and blurring the image






50. The first step in the process of creating CGI. The wireframe is a three-dimensional computer model of an object - which is then rendered (producing the finished image) and animated (using simulated camera movement frame by frame)