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. A shot taken fro a position directly above the action - also called a 'birds' eye shot'






2. The first print made from a film negative






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






4. 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






5. Exposed and developed film stock from which the master positive is struck. If projected - the negative would produce a reverse of the image - with dark areas appearing white and vice versa or - if color film - areas of color appearing as their comple






6. 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






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






8. Any noticeable but unintended discrepancy from one shot to the next in costume - props - hairstyle - posture - etc.






9. A group of films within a given genre that share their own specific set of conventions that differentiate them from other films in the genre. For example - the slasher film is a subgenre of the horror genre






10. Secondary footage that is interspersed with master shots - sometimes in the form of footage shot for another production or archival footage






11. The falling or unraveling action after the climax of a narrative that leads to resolution






12. Fish-eye lens; With a focal length of 15mm or less - this lens presents an extremely distorted image - where objects in the center of the frame appear to bulge toward the camera






13. 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






14. A shot that contains two characters within the frame






15. A technique of shooting a scene at a very high speed (96 frames per second) - then adding and subtracting frames in post-production - 'fanning out' the action through the overlapping images






16. 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






17. An uncredited actor - usually hired for crowd scenes






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






19. Individuals who were prevented from working in the film industry because of their suspected involvement with Communist interests






20. A shot filmed from an airplane or helicopter






21. The annotated script - containing information about set-ups used during shooting






22. 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






23. Literary narration from a viewpoint beyond that of any one individual character






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






25. 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






26. A short documentary on current events - show in movie theaters along with cartoons and feature films beginning in the 1930s






27. 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






28. 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






29. The practice or repeatedly casting actors in similar roles across different films






30. A production term denoting a single uninterrupted series of frames exposed by a motion picture or video camera between the time it is turned on and the time it is turned off. Filmmakers shoot several takes of any scene and the film editor selects the






31. 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






32. 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






33. A similarity established between two characters or situations that invites the audience to compare the two. It may involve visual - narrative - and/or sound elements






34. The distance that appears in focus in front of and behind the subject. It is determined by the aperture - distance and focal length of lens






35. A story narrated by one of the characters within the story - using the 'I' voice






36. Any noticeable but unintended discrepancy from one shot to the next in costume - props - hairstyle - posture - etc.






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






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






39. A measure of a film stock's sensitivity to light. 'Fast' refers to sensitive film stock - while slow film is relatively insensitive






40. A scene transition in which the first frame of the incoming scene appears to push the last frame of the previous scene off the screen horizontally






41. A chemical coating on film stock containing light-sensitive grains






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






43. A shot taken from a vantage point so close that only a part of the subject is visible. On an actor - it might show only an eye or a portion of the face






44. A shot that focuses audience attention on precise details that may or may not be the focus of characters






45. Standard shot pattern: A sequence of shots designed to maintain spatial continuity. Scene begin with an establishing shot - then move to a series of individual shots depicting characters and action - before reestablishing shots re-orient viewers to t






46. An abrupt - inexplicable shift in time and place of an action not signaled by an appropriate shot transition






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






48. A character who in some way opposes the protagonist - leading to protracted conflict






49. 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






50. A system for combining two separately filmed images in the same frame that involves create a matte (a black mask that covers a portion of the image) for a live action sequence and using it to block out a portion of the frame when filming the backgrou