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Test your basic knowledge |
Film Vocab
Start Test
Study First
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 large-budget film whose strategy is to swamp the competition through market saturation
Blockbuster
Flashing
Protagonist
Open-ended
2. The distance in millimeters from the optical center of a lens to the lane where the sharpest image is formed while focusing on a distant object
Focal length
Interpretive claim
High-key lighting
Special visual effects
3. A genre film that radically modifies accepted genre conventions for dramatic effect
Visual effects
Revisionist
On-the-nose dialogue
Polarizing filters
4. An optical effect whereby the human eye fills in gaps between closely spaced objects - so that two light bulbs flashing on and off are understood as one light moving back and forth
Flashing
Phi phenomenon
Rotoscope
Recursive action
5. A part of the story world implied by visual or sound techniques rather than being revealed by the camera
Offscreen space
Tight framing
Crane shot
Optical printer
6. A machine used to create optical effects such as fades - dissolves - and superimpositions. Most are now created digitally
Optical printer
Horizontal integration
Syuzhet
Depth of field
7. A shot that focuses audience attention on precise details that may or may not be the focus of characters
Cutaway
Iris in...
Scratching
Panning and scanning
8. The length in minutes for a film to play in its entirety (for example - 120 minutes). Also referred to as 'screen time.'
Running time
Split screen
Cel
Method acting
9. The central cause(s) behind a character's actions
Motivation
Neutral-density filter
Subgenre
Progressive scanning
10. A musical in which some or all musical numbers are not motivated by the narrative; for example - characters sing and dance throughout the film but at least some performances are not staged for an onscreen audience. Examples include Oklahoma - The umb
Assistant Editor
Third-person narration
Integrated musical
Match on action
11. A chemical coating on film stock containing light-sensitive grains
Emulsion
Eye-level shot
Depth of field
Orthochromatic
12. A marketing strategy of screening a blockbuster prior to general release only in premier theaters
Star system
Roadshowing
Dolly
Composition
13. A technique of cutting back and forth between action occurring in two different locations - which often creates the illusion that they are happening simultaneously. Also called 'cross cutting.'
Parellel editing
Tinting
Video assist
180-degree rule
14. Using computer graphics to 'build' structures connected to the actual architecture on set or location
Extreme long-shot
Pre-production
Digital set extension
Shot transition
15. A visual effect achieved through the use of photography and digital techniques that appears to stop time and allow the viewer to travel around the subject and view it from a multitude of vantage points
Best boy
Frozen time moment
Long shot
Exposure
16. A shot transition that emphasizes the visual similarities between two consecutive shots
Graphic match
Oeuvre
Shutter
Dissolve
17. Light striking the emulsion layer of the film - activating light-sensitive grains
Special visual effects
Figure placement and movement
Frozen time moment
Exposure
18. A type of documentary film whose purpose is to present the way of life of a culture or subculture
Promotion
Ethnographic film
Dailies
Matte painting
19. A technique used to join live action with a pre-recorded background image. A projector is placed behind a screen and projects an image onto it. Actors stand in front of the screen and the camera records them in front of the projected background
Depth of field
Rear projection
Ethnographic film
Focus puller
20. A long shot in which the film frame resembles the proscenium arch of the stage - distancing the audience
Tableau shot
Genre conventions
City symphony
30-degree rule
21. A computer-generated actor that some speculate will replace flesh and blood actors in the not so distant future
Synthespian
Soundtrack
Line of action
Cameo
22. An outlawed studio era practice - where studios forced exhibitors to book groups of films at once - thus ensuring a market for their failures along with their successes
Motivation
Anamorphic lens
Matte painting
Block booking
23. Also called 'full screen -' the technique of re-shooting a widescreen film in order to convert it to the original television aspect ration of 1.33 to 1. Rather than reproduce the original aspect ratio - as a letterboxed version does - a panned and sc
Panning and scanning
Low-key lighting
Blocking
Flashforward
24. The falling or unraveling action after the climax of a narrative that leads to resolution
Director
Base
Subgenre
Denouement
25. A compositing method that allows cinematographers to combine live action and settings that are filmed or created separately. Actors are filmed against a green or blue background. During post-production - this background is filled in with an image thr
Speed
Horizontal integration
Extra
Green screen
26. Dialogue that restates What is already obvious from images or action
On-the-nose dialogue
Handheld shot
Classical style
Split screen
27. A shot transition where shot A slowly disappears as the screen becomes black before shot B appears. A fade-in is the reverse of this process
Actualitas
Fade-out
Roadshowing
Camera distance
28. Sound recorded on a set - on location - or - for documentary film - at an actual real-world event - as opposed to dubbed in post-production through ADR or looping
Focal length
Sound bridge
Score
Direct sound
29. A style associated with Hollywood filmmaking of the studio and post-studio era - in which efficient storytelling - rather than gritty realism or aesthetic innovation - is of paramount importance
Special visual effects
Slow motion
Character actor
Classical style
30. The period after principal photography during which editing and looping take place - and special visual effects are added to the film
Spec script
Forced development
Vista Vision
Post-production
31. A machine that converts film prints to videotape format
Forced perspective
Telecine
Frame narration
Visual effects
32. The practice of shooting during the day but using filters and underexposure to create the illusion of nighttime
Color consultant
Letterboxing
Day for night
Pixilation
33. The aspect ratio of 1.33:1 - standardized by the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences until the development of widescreen formats in the 1950s
Academy Ratio
Crab dolly
Genre
Matte painting
34. 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
Three-point lighting
Vista Vision
Zoom in...
Three-point lighting
35. Creating the appearance of movement by drawing a series of frames that are projected sequentially - rather than photographing a series of still images
Animation
Telecine
Tilt
Fabula
36. A device that projects photographs or footage onto glass so that images can be traced by hand to create animated images
Blockbuster
Continuity error
Rotoscope
Aperture
37. The length in minutes for a film to play in its entirety (for example - 120 minutes). Also referred to as 'screen time.'
Running time
Glass shot
Three-act structure
Plot summary
38. Also called 'full screen -' the technique of re-shooting a widescreen film in order to convert it to the original television aspect ration of 1.33 to 1. Rather than reproduce the original aspect ratio - as a letterboxed version does - a panned and sc
Panning and scanning
Go-motion
Polarizing filters
Shot
39. Dense accumulation of detail conveyed in the opening moments of a film
Wide-angle lens
Exposition
Diffusion filters
Fog filter
40. A crew member who reports to the Director of Photography (DP) and is in charge of tasks involving lighting and electrical needs
Insert
Mixing
Gaffer
Compositing
41. 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
Director
Shot
Third-person narration
Lightning mix
42. A shot filmed from an airplane or helicopter
Realist style
Persistence of vision
Soundtrack
Aerial Shot
43. The measure of intensity or purity of a color. Saturated color is purer than desaturated color - which has more white in it and thus offers a washed-out - less intense version of a color
Matte
Saturation
Wireframe
Analog Video
44. The practice of Hollywood studios contracting out post-production work to individuals or firms outside the U.S.
Post-production
Wide-angle lens
Extra
Outsourcing
45. A fiction film (often a comedy) that uses documentary conventions on fictional rather than real-world subject matter
Cinerama
Mockumentary
Re-establishing shot
Orthochromatic
46. A documentary or occasionally - a narrative film that presents only one side of an argument or one approach to a subject
Propaganda film
Wide-angle lens
Graphic match
Narrative
47. An alternative to classical and realist styles - formalism is a self-consciously interventionist approach that explores ideas - abstraction - and aesthetics rather than focusing on storytelling (as in classical films) or everyday life (as in realist
Camera distance
Formalist style
Three-point lighting
Natural-key lighting
48. The way an actor delivers a line of dialogue - including pauses - inflection - and emotion
Medium shot
Dye coupler
Line reading
Scratching
49. A contemporary modification of the standard three-act structure that identifies a critical turning point at the halfway mark of most narrative films
Grain
Interpellation
Runaway production
Four-part structure
50. An uncredited actor - usually hired for crowd scenes
Extra
Scene
Frozen time moment
Optical printer