(SEE ALSO THE DEPARTMENT GLOSSARY)

Some Technical Terms

Three phases of film making

Pre-production Work done on a film before the filming starts
Production The filming phase
Post Productionwork done on the film after filming
 Writing: treatment: a descriptionof the film as though the writer was watching it
script: a written form giving the text on one side and sound on the other.
story boards: an illustrated version showing shot by shot with indications of movement
 Photography lenses wide angle
normal
telephoto
zoom (changes from wide angle to telephoto)

Shots

One shot (one person in the frame)
Two shot (2 people in the frame)
Three shot (3 people in the frame)
long shot: rather distant - whole figure is visible
medium shot: about half the body is visible
close up: shot is basically of the head or part of the body or object
extreme close up: facial feature fills the screen
point of view (POV) shot: shot appears from the point of view of one of the characters.
establishing shot: indicates where the action is happenng or going to happen.
master shot: a shot that shows the entire scene.
long take: a take which runs a substantial length of time.
sequence shot: a long take which is complex in some way (usually its camera movements)
Dutch angle shot: A shot composed in such a way that the horizon line is not parallel to the bottom of the frame. In other words, the image appears tilted to one side or the other.

Camera movement

pan: camera moves on its own axis
tracking shot: camera moves along a track or on wheels
tilt: camera moves up on itas own axis
boom or crane shot: camera is raised on a boom or crane
dolly: camera move in toward or away from the subject

Sound

synch(ronized) sound: sound matches the film so that people's voise match lip movements correctly
MOS (mit out sound) picture that is recorded without sound
wild sound or ambient sound: sound in the background often ecorded without picture
voice over: a voice (sometimes not identified) that speaks over images not of the speaker speaking. A voice that has no screen source

Optical Effects

fade out: picture becomes darker until it vanishes
fade in: picture starts from darkness and appears
dissolve: fade in one scene while fading out another
wipe: one image appears to push another off the screen
superimposition: two shots appear simultaneously one over the other
irising: picture gets smaller into a small circle which shrinks to a point and disappears.

Editing cut: a shift from one shot to another
form cut: the shape in one shot matches the shape in the next
cut on action: the same action contunues from one shot to the next
jump cut: either nothing remains the same in the shots or the camera move slightly between the two shots

Other terms

rack focus: camera focus on one object and then shifts focus to another object in a different plane from the camera
zoom in dolly out: camera moves in while the zoom lens makes image appear rto go in the other direction (Vertigo shot)
studio/lot shots: film shot at a studio or on their lot
location shot: shots made away from the studio in an actual location
aspect ratio: the relationship between the height and width of the screen
continuity errror: a mistake in which something which is happening in one shot is failing to happen in the following shot with no reason or time given for the omission. e.g. A person has a drink in the right hand and in the next shot it is on the left hand (or missing altogether)
 credits: the information telling the audience the names and roles or positions of the people (and sometimes animals) involved in the making of the film.
 subtitles: words which appear usually at the bottom of the frame often translating the dialogue from another language
intertitles: vernal information appearing in writing usually between shots of images - usually found in "silent" films.
clap board: usually a slate wuth a bar hinged on the top. The shot # and take # and other information is written on the clap board to identify the shot which follows. At the start of the shooting. the director says "action" or some such thing and the person holding the clap board raises the board on the top on ts hinge and slams it down making a loud "crack". This will later allow the film editor to sunchronize the sound against the image.

 SOME TERMS ABOUT FILM ANALYSIS

chiaroscura: Rembrandt lighting - pools of light surrounded by darkness
continuity error: a mistake in which what occurs in one shot can not follow from what preceeded it
diegetic: the world of the film
ellipsis: something lost or cut out in a sequence (often time)
eruption of the repressed: one interpretation for horror films
flashback: a sequence which occurs in a film where the audience sees something which happened previously
gaze (male): the way the camera looks at things - often from a male point of view
genre: a kind or type of film defined by content and often set pieces
hermeneutics: the techniques used to break a textual (or filmic) code.
images of entrapment: visual depictions of people ensnared. Often frames within frames, bars betweent he camera and the subject, images of enclosure (ceilings appearing to press

down on the character)
intertextuality: the artist refers to something in another work of art.
liminal: a transition point - sometimes between the conscious and subconscious but often between two states. It comes from the Greek word for "threshhold"
linear and non-linear structure: the time line of the film follows chronological time (linear) or does not (non-linear)
motif/trope: and element with meaning that repeats
narration: how the story is told,
first person: the narrator knows only what the character who is speaking knows
omniscient: the narrator knows more than any of the characters
off screen sounds: sounds for which the source is not seen on camera
playing against type: castiung an actor as a character or in a role normally not associated with the actor
sartorial code: the use of clothing as code
scopophilia: a desire or drive to see or look at
specularize: the filmmaker's approach to making something spectacular - often the thing the audience wants to see for the genre of film involved
shock/suspense: shock is usually something sudden and unexpected which passes quickly. Suspense builds tension and takes time to do
symbol: something which stands for something else arbitrarily.
text: the plot; the story what you would tell you friends the picture is about
subtext: an underlying deeper meaning often either expressed through the plot as a metaphor or an exemplar variable: anything which has an alternative possibility e.g. is the shot a "close up" or a "medium shot"

FIVE COMMON SUBTEXTUAL THEMES

1. social structure/power structures/social relationships, class, caste. ethnicity gender, etc.
2. religion
3. science and technology
4. psychological/sexual
5. reflexivity