Test your basic knowledge |

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. The imagined world of the story






2. A scene filmed and processed but not selected to appear in the final version of the film






3. Non-diegetic; any element in the film that is not part of the imagined story world






4. A shot that appears during or near the end of a scene and reorients viewers to the setting






5. Thin - flexible material comprised of base and emulsion layers - onto which light rays are focused and which is processed in chemicals to produce film images






6. Assists the editor with various tasks - including taking footage to the lab - checking the condition of the negative - cataloguing footage - and supervising optical effects - often produced by an outside company






7. The first shot in a standard shot sequence. Its purpose is to provide a clear representation of the location of the action






8. A shot taken from a level camera located approximately 5' to 6' from the ground - simulating the perspective of a person standing before the action presented






9. The measurement of how forgiving a film stock is. It determines whether an acceptable image will be produced when the film stock is exposed to too little or too much light






10. An effect created when too little light strikes the film during shooting. As a result the image will contain dark areas that appear very dense and dark (including shadows) and the overall contrast will be less than with a properly exposed image






11. The chronological accounting of all events presented and suggested






12. A camera shot taken at a large distance from the subject. Using the human body as the subject - a long shot captures the entire human form






13. A platform on wheels - used for mobile camera shots






14. A complete narrative unit within a film - with its own beginning - middle - and end. Often scenes are unified - and distinguished from one another - by time and setting






15. Squeezes the image at a ratio of 2:1 horizontally onto a standard film frame. On the projector - it unsqueezes the image - creating a widescreen aspect ratio during presentation






16. The practice of shooting during the day but using filters and underexposure to create the illusion of nighttime






17. 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






18. A mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation






19. A series of individual drawings that provides a blueprint for the shooting of a scene






20. A documentary or occasionally - a narrative film that presents only one side of an argument or one approach to a subject






21. Any narrative - visual - or sound element that is repeated and thereby acquires and reflects its significance to the story - characters - or themes of the film.






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






23. A style of stage acting developed from the teachings of Constantin Stanislavsky - which trains actors to get into character through the use of emotional memory






24. 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






25. Muted - washed out color that contains more white than a saturated color






26. 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






27. Also called 'stop motion photography.' A technique of photographing a scene one frame at a time and moving the model between each shot






28. An uncredited actor - usually hired for crowd scenes






29. A consistent style - theme - and subject matter developed over the course of a director's body of work






30. A flexible celluloid strip that - along with the emulsion layer - comprises 35mm film stock






31. A technique of running the motion picture camera at a speed slower than projection speed (24 frames per second) - in order to produce at a fast motion sequence when projected at normal speed. The term derives from early film cameras - which were cran






32. A format that uses a larger film stock than standard 35mm. IMAX - Omnimax - and Showscan are shot on 70mm film






33. A method for producing a widescreen image without special lenses or equipment - using standard film stock and blocking out the top and bottom of the frame to achieve an aspect ration of 1.85:1






34. A change of focus from one plane of depth to another. As the in-focus subject goes out of focus - another object - which has been blurry - comes into focus in either the background or the foreground






35. The camera does not move across an imagined line drawn between two characters






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






37. A narrative - visual - or sound element that refers viewers to other films or works of art






38. Early films that documented everyday events - such as workers leaving a factory






39. Dutch angle; a shot resulting from a static camera that is tilted to the right or left - so that the subject in the frame appears at a diagonal






40. A device used to manipulate the amount and/or color of light entering the lens






41. A machine used to create optical effects such as fades - dissolves - and superimpositions. Most are now created digitally






42. 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






43. An actor whose career rests on playing minor or secondary quirky characters rather than leading roles






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






45. The technique of telling the story from an all-knowing character. Films that use restricted narration limit the audience's perception to what one particular character knows - but may insert moments of omniscience






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






47. A brief chronological description of the basic events and characters in a film. It does not include interpretive or evaluative claims






48. An attribute of newer television monitors - where each frame is scanned by the electron beam as a single field. If slowed down - each frame would appear on the monitor in its entirety on the screen - rather than line by line - as is the case with int






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






50. Assists the gaffer in managing lighting crews