Film Terminology

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Film Terminology

• The buzz words that make movie buffs true movie
  buffs.

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Scene vs. Shot

• Shot
• what is recorded by a single, uninterrupted
  operation of the camera
• when a camera starts to where it stops

• Scene
• section of film of continuous action taking place
  in continuous time and space
• usually contains multiple shots

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• Take
• a version of a shot

• Cut
• 1. action of stopping the film (Cut!)
• 2. a strip of film
• 3. joining separate shots together.
• 4. a version of a movie (directors cut)

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Frame (3 definitions)

• 1. a single picture from a strip of film
• 2. borders of the projected film on a screen
• 3. to position the camera in such a way that the
  subject is kept within the borders of the image

Collin Farrel in Phone Booth (2002)
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Widescreen/Letterbox

• a VHS or DVD version that is shown with the same
  dimensions and ratios as the original (or close
  to it) theater version

Return of the King (2004)
http//www.widescreen.org/widescreen.shtml
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The Mummy (1999)
Cutthroat Island (1995)
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Intertitles/ title cards
D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915)

• printed material that appears periodically on the
  screen, most often used in silent films to give
  exposition, dialogue, thoughts, descriptions not
  shown.

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Mise-en-scène

• French for staging the composition and
  arrangement of a shot

The Graduate (1967)
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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The Searchers (1956)
Rain Man (1988)
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• Montage
• type of editing in which brief shots are used to
  present a condensation of time and events
• http//www.movie-montage.com/trainingMontages.php
  

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• Voice-over
• off-camera narration or commentary.
• narrating I a storyteller, usually a part of the
  movie
• voice of God a disembodied, objective voice with
  no part in the story
• voice from the machine not the voice of God, but
  a random voice that tries to wrap up the ending
• repetitive voice over voice from a character
  reverberating in another characters head,
  usually previous dialogue
• and more!

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Types of Shots

• Close Up (CU)
• shot of the head
• Close Shot (CS)
• shot of the head and shoulders

Braveheart (1995)
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
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• Long Shot (LS)
• Aka the Full Shot (FS)
• a shot of the entire person and much of the
  background

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
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• Medium Shot (MS)
• a shot between a close shot and a long shot

Bourne Identity (2002)
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
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• Extreme Close Up (ECU)
• close up of a specific body part eye, mouth,
  etc
• Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
• broad, panoramic view

Fellowship of the Rings (2001)
War of the Worlds (2005)
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• Establishing Shot (ES)
• a shot which defines and area or setting

The Searchers (1956)
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Shot-reverse-shot

• alternating shots of characters in a conversation
  so that the first person is seen, then the other

Notice how the camera is over this fellows
shoulder. What is the next shot in the film?
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
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• Objective Shot
• Represents what the camera sees
• Subjective Shot
• Represents what a character sees

Memento (2000)
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Random picture of a tunnel in Scotland
How did Dark Passage (1947) use subjective shots?
Imagine a character is walking down a dark
passageway. What would it look like from a
subjective shot?
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• Pan
• camera placed on a stationary base and pivots
  horizontally. A swish pan is one that moves
  quickly to create blur.
• Tilt
• when a camera moves vertically up and down
• Tracking Shot
• a camera mounted often on a track or on a
  vehicle the camera moves with the action.

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• Fade
• Fade-out (FO) when the light decreases to
  (usually) blackness.
• Fade-in (FI) when darkness gradually becomes
  lighter.
• It doesnt have to be blackness. Can be
  bright, like Return of the Kings three fades

The Truman Show (1998)
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• Dissolve
• outgoing and incoming images mergeone
  disappears to be replaced by another.
• Form dissolve is when similar frames fade (bodies
  in the same location)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)
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• Iris Shot
• a masking shot in which everything is blacked
  out except for one portion, usually in the shape
  of a circle, but often times a key hole,
  binoculars, etc.

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• Wipe
• One shot is pushed off the frame by another
  shot replacing it.