FILM STUDIES

NOTES ON FILM TERMINOLOGY

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Point-of-View: a shot that is taken from the perspective of a character in a sequential or moving image; we, as the audience or viewer, see what he or she sees.

Extreme Long Shot: a panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter-mile away; the human figure is barely visible or not visible at all

Medium Shot: the figure is framed from (approximately) the waist up

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

EXTREME LONG SHOT MEDIUM SHOT

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Close-up: a detailed shot usually showing just the head or a small, significant object; used largely to isolate a subject from the setting and from all other details so that the viewer will pay attention only to that point of focus

Extreme Close-up: singles out a portion of the body or isolates a detail, often used for symbolic purposes to reinforce the significance of an object; may also be used to intensify an emotion or emotional state

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

CLOSE-UP EXTREME CLOSE-UP

COMMON TERMSSTATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Angle: the “camera’s” angle of view relative to the subject

High Angle: the camera “looks” down on the subject; the point of focus often gets “swallowed up” by the setting—metaphorically, the point of focus may seem insignificant

Low Angle: the camera “looks” up at the subject; often used to give the figure a dominate and powerful presence--the audience is made to feel submissive, fearful, or insecure

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

HIGH ANGLE LOW ANGLE

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Flat Angle: the camera is at eye level and on the same plane as the subject—a neutral shot

Bird’s-Eye Angle: the camera shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle; this angle does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action.

Canted Angle: the camera is tilted (i.e. is not placed horizontal to floor level) to suggest imbalance, transition and instability; the world may be considered “out of joint”

Angle of Destiny: the camera is positioned at a high angle from a diagonal in the “ceiling” (or, where a ceiling would be); this angle suggests omniscience, a moment of great contemplation of decision--often held for an extended period of time

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

FLAT ANGLE BIRD’S EYE ANGLE

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Example will be shown on video

CANTED ANGLE ANGLE OF DESTINY

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Background: the area of a visual that appears to be in the distance and provides context for objects in the foreground

Foreground: the area of a visual that appears closest to the viewer

Vanishing Point: converging parallel lines that move away from the viewer appear to converge at the horizon in the classic "vanishing point" phenomenon; railroad tracks seem to merge together at extreme distance as do the sides of roads or rivers

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

BACKGROUND & FOREGROUND

VANISHING POINT

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Internal Framing: a frame (within the frame of the visual), such as a window or a doorway, limits the point of focus, symbolically suggesting entrapment, protection, or isolation

Open Space: the point of focus is surrounded by space that is purposefully left empty or uncluttered; the subject usually appears vulnerable, isolated, or solitary

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

INTERNAL FRAMINGOPEN SPACE &

NEGATIVE SPACE

STATIC, SEQUENTIAL & MOVING IMAGES

Negative Space: When a photographer references negative space, the phrase is being used descriptively to refer to parts of the image within the frame that are not the subject otherwise described as positive space. For example, a dense or detailed image may have an absence of negative or open space. In sequential or moving images, the necessary context must be established for the viewer to recognize negative space; something moves into the negative or otherwise negative space. In these cases the negative space refers to the times when the subject is positioned such that a noticeable imbalance exists in the frame often to create anxiety or anticipation on the part of the viewer. As humans typically prefer balance in composition, we anticipate something will move into the space and dramatic effects are achieved when, for example, the beautiful heroine comes ….wait for it…out of the white fog.

TERMS SPECIFIC TO MOVING IMAGES

Transitions: the editing technique that joins two scenes of a moving image together

Cut: an instantaneous change from one shot to another

Match Cut: an action begins in one scene, and is connected by a similar action in the next scene; this implies a connection between the two (for instance, temporal, symbolic, etc.)

Flash Cut: the cut is a bright flash of light

TERMS SPECIFIC TO MOVING IMAGES Jump Cut: several cuts in succession creating a sense

of discontinuity by violating the rules of temporality

Dissolve: the gradual disappearance of one shot while another shot gradually appears and comes into clear focus

Match Dissolve: an image from the first sequence retains its "shape" as the image from the second sequence dissolves in; a match dissolve implies a symbolic connection between the two images and sequences

Superimposition: exposure of more than one image on the same film strip

TERMS SPECIFIC TO MOVING IMAGES Fade In/Out: ending a scene by underexposing to

black or overexposing to white, or beginning a scene in the same manner, moving from black or white to clear focus; the fade out/in is usually used to indicate the passage of time or a change of location in narrative

Wipe: a transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating the first shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one; the images do not blend, as in a dissolve

Swish Pan: an extremely quick pan, appearing as a blurred image; links the two sequences with a sense of action or urgency

TERMS SPECIFIC TO MOVING IMAGES

Iris In/Out: the new image appears as an expanding circle in the middle of the old image or the old image becomes a contracting circle that disappears into the new image

Pan: pan is a contraction of the panoramic and is used to describe the movement of the camera from side to side (horizontal movement) on a vertical axis to follow the action in a scene

Tilt: the camera moves vertically up or down on a horizontal axis to record a person climbing a flight of stairs, for example, or follow an object falling from a height

TERMS SPECIFIC TO MOVING IMAGES

Dolly or Track: the camera is mounted on a cart or some other vehicle so that it can move alongside the subject, and keep pace with it, forward, backward, or around the subject; the camera can also dolly or track in towards the subject or away from the subject (unlike panning or tilting, the camera itself physically moves rather than merely pivoting on an axis)

Zolly (also known as a dolly zoom or a trombone): as the camera lens zooms in on a point of focus, the camera unit dollies backwards, creating a sense of dizzying epiphany