How does shot/reverse shot fool viewers in order to achieve continuity?

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ISBN 978-1-29204-129-2

Movies and Meaning An Introduction to Fi lm

Stephen Prince Sixth Edition

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Pearson New International Edition

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Movies and Meaning An Introduction to Film

Stephen Prince Sixth Edition

Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world

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ISBN 10: 1-292-04129-3 ISBN 13: 978-1-292-04129-2

Table of Contents

P E A R S O N C U S T O M L I B R A R Y

I

Glossary

1

1Stephen Prince

1. Film Structure

13

13Stephen Prince

2. Cinematography

57

57Stephen Prince

3. Production Design

95

95Stephen Prince

4. Acting

121

121Stephen Prince

5. Editing: Making the Cut

149

149Stephen Prince

6. Principles of Sound Design

187

187Stephen Prince

7. The Nature of Narrative in Film

229

229Stephen Prince

8. Visual Effects

287

287Stephen Prince

9. Modes of Screen Reality

325

325Stephen Prince

381

381Index

II

G L O S S A R Y

3D digital matte A matte painting that has been camera mapped onto a 3D geometrical model in computer space. The digital matte can then be moved or rotated to simulate the perspective of a moving camera. See also camera mapping .

Additive Color Mixing A system used for creating color on television where red, blue, and green lights are mixed together to create all other hues.

ADR Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is a post- production practice in which actors re-record lines of dia- logue or add new ones not present at the point of filming. Computer software enables proper synching of these lines with the performer’s lip movements as recorded on film.

Aerial Image Printing Method of producing dimensional effects using matte paintings in an optical printer. An image (such as a matte painting) is projected to a focal plane in space (rather than onto a surface) where it can be photographed by the process camera in the optical printer. That footage can be combined with live action footage and other optical elements.

Aerial Perspective A visual depth cue in which the effects of the atmosphere make very distant objects appear bluish and hazy.

Alpha Channel In a digital image, this channel of informa- tion specifies a pixel’s degree of transparency. The alpha channel is often used for generating male and female mattes.

Ambient Sound The background sound characteristic of an environment or location. For a film such as The Last of the Mohicans , set in a forest, ambient sounds include the rustle of branches and the cries of distant birds.

Anamorphic Method of producing a widescreen (2.35:1) image by squeezing the picture information horizontally and stretching it vertically. This method is used for both theatri- cal films and for DVD home video formatted for 16 × 9 (wi- descreen) monitors or projection systems. Unsqueezing the picture information during projection or viewing produces the widescreen image.

Ancillary Market All of the nontheatrical markets from which a film distributor derives revenue. These include home video, cable television, and foreign markets. Angle of View The amount of area recorded by a given lens. Telephoto lenses have a much smaller angle of view than wide-angle lenses. Animation 2D Traditional form of animation in cinema which involves photographing flat artwork, typically a com- bination of characters and background. Camera movement and three dimensional depth perspective is fairly limited. Animatronic Model A motorized, moveable miniature model, often used for creature effects.

Animation 3D Animation of miniature models or puppets or animation inside three-dimensional computer space. Antinarrative A narrative style that tends, paradoxically, toward eliminating narrative by employing lots of digres- sion, avoiding a clear hierarchy of narrative events, and by suppressing the causal connections among events. Art Director Working under the production designer, the art director supervises the translation and sketches into sets. Art Film Films made by overseas directors in the 1950s and 1960s that explored weighty and timeless themes and took film style in new, unexplored directions. Aspect Ratio The dimensions of the film frame or screen image. Aspect ratio is typically expressed in units of width to height. Attributional Errors Mistakes of interpretation that arise when a critic erroneously decides that some effect in a film has a meaning expressly intended by its creators or incor- rectly assigns the creative responsibility for an effect to the wrong member of the production crew. Uncovering these er- rors typically requires documentation of a film’s production history. Auteur A director whose work is characterized by a dis- tinctive audiovisual design and recurring set of thematic issues. Auteurism is a model of film theory and criticism that searches for film authors or auteurs. Auteurist Film Theory (Auteur Theory) A model of film the- ory that studies the work of a film auteur (or author). Directors are generally considered to be the prime auteurs in cinema. Auteurist theory studies the films of a cinema auteur as works of personal expression.

Back Light The light source illuminating the space between performers and the rear wall of a set. Along with key and fill lights, back light is one of the three principal sources of illumination in a scene.

Beta Movement A perceptual illusion in which the hu- man eye responds to apparent movement as if it were real. Because of this illusion, viewers think they see moving fig- ures on a film or television screen when, in fact, there is no true movement.

Binocular Disparity Each eye has a different angle of view on the world, and this difference or disparity provides a source of information about depth, distance and spatial lay- out. Stereoscopic cinema incorporates binocular disparity to create an impression of 3D.

“Blaxploitation” The cycle of films that emerged in the early 1970s aimed at African-American audiences. Most of the “blaxploitation” films were crime and action thrillers.

From Glossary of Movies and Meaning:An Introduction to Film, Sixth Edition. Stephen Prince. Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

1

Glossary

Cognitive Film Theory A model of film theory that exam- ines how the viewer perceptually processes audiovisual infor- mation in cinema and cognitively interprets this information.

Composite in a visual effects shot, combining the image layers to create the finished shot.

Composition The arrangement of characters and objects within the frame. Through composition filmmakers arrange the visual space on-screen into an artistic design.

Computer-Generated Images (CGIs) Images that are created and designed using computer software rather than originating as a scene before the camera that is pho- tographed. Sophisticated software enables digital artists to render textures, lighting effects, movement, and other three-dimensional pictorial information in highly plausible and convincing ways. Bearing this information, CGI can be married (composited) with live action photography to stun- ning effect, as the exciting interaction of real actors and CGI dinosaurs in The Lost World demonstrates.

Condensation A concept in psychoanalytic film theory that denotes the concentration of meaning found in images that are highly charged with emotional or dramatic significance. This concentration is symptomatic of repressed content that find expression in a condensed, indirect manner.

Continuity Editing As its name implies, continuity editing maximizes principles of continuity from shot to shot so that the action seems to flow smoothly across shot and scene transitions. Continuity editing facilitates narrative compre- hension by the viewer.

Contrast The differences of light intensity across a scene. A high-contrast scene features brightly illuminated and deeply shadowed areas.

Convention A familiar, customary way of representing char- acters, story situations, or images. Conventions result from agreements between filmmakers and viewers to accept certain representations as valid.

Convergence Movement of the eyes toward each other that occurs when viewing near objects. Stereoscopic cinema uses convergence information to elicit 3D effects.

Costume Designer Individual who designs costuming worn by actors.

Costumes The clothing worn by performers in a film. Costumes help establish locale and period as well as a given film’s color design.

Counter-Matte A counter-matte masks the frame in an in- verse manner to a matte. Used in combination with a matte, the matte/counter-matte system provides a means of creating composite images. See also Traveling Matte.

Coverage The shots an editor uses to bridge continuity problems in the editing of a scene. By cutting to coverage, rather than relying on the master shot, an editor can finesse many problems of scene construction and can improve an actor’s performance.

Blockbuster A hugely profitable film usually featuring a fantasy theme and a narrative heavily dependent on special effects.

Boom Shot A type of moving camera shot in which the camera moves up or down through space. Also known as a crane shot , it takes its name from the apparatus—a boom or crane—on which the camera is mounted.

Camera Mapping Method of projecting a 2D matte paint- ing onto a 3D geometrical model in computer space. Once the image is projected onto the model, it can be treated as a 3D object and moved or rotated to simulate the perspective of a moving camera.

“Camera Pen” The term used by Alexandre Astruc to designate the use of cinema as a medium of personal expres- sion. The concept was a major influence on French New Wave directors and their conviction that cinema was a direc- tor’s medium (see Auteur).

Camera Position The distance between the camera and the subject it is photographing. Camera positions are usually classified as variations of three basic setups: the long shot, the medium shot, and the close-up.

Canted Angle A camera angle in which the camera leans toward screen right or screen left, producing an imbalanced, off-center look to the image. Filmmakers often use canted angles to capture a character’s subjective feelings of stress or disorientation.

Cells Transparent sheets of cellulose on which an ani- mator draws and paints. A completed scene may be com- posed of numerous cells photographed one behind the other.

Cinematic Self-Reflexivity A basic mode of screen reality in which the filmmaker establishes a self-referential audiovisual design. A self-reflexive film calls attention to its own artificially constructed nature.

Cinematography The planning and execution of light and color design, camera position, and angle by the cinematogra- pher in collaboration with the director.

Cinephilia Love for cinema. This designates a deep passion for the medium of cinema, not merely a fondness for this or that individual film.

Classic Hollywood Narrative Type of narrative prevalent in Hollywood films of the 1930s to 1950s and still popular today. The plot features a clear, main line of action (with subordinate subplots), marked by a main character’s pur- suit of a goal, in which the story events are chained in tight causal relationships. The conclusion cleanly resolves all major story issues.

Close-Up One of the basic camera positions. The cam- era is set up in close proximity to an actor’s face or other significant dramatic object that fills the frame. Close-ups tend to isolate objects or faces from their immediate sur- roundings.

2

Glossary

Digital Backlot Practice of simulating locations using digi- tal tools as an alternative to location shooting.

Digital Composite A composited shot produced digitally, rather than using an optical printer, by adding, substracting or otherwise transforming pixels.

Digital Effects The computer-designed components of a shot that may be composited with live action elements.

Digital Grading Method of digitally altering image ele- ments, such as color balance and saturation, contrast, gamma, and filtration. O Brother, Where Art Thou? was the first feature, shot on film, to be entirely digitized and then color-corrected in this fashion. Also called digital timing.

Digital Intermediate The version of a film on digital video that is subjected to digital grading or the computer correc- tion of color, contrast, and other image qualities. After these corrections are made, the footage on digital video is then scanned back onto film.

Digital Rendering The process during which a synthetic digital image is created from the files and data that an artist has assembled.

Digital Video An increasingly accepted alternative to cel- luloid film, this format captures picture information as an electronic signal in binary code. Images captured on digital video look different than those captured on film, but, once in binary format, images can be stored and manipulated by computer programs for editing and special effects work.

Direct Cinema A documentary style that emerged in the 1960s and sought to minimize all appearances that the film- maker was shaping or manipulating the materials of the film.

Direct Sound Sound that is captured and recorded directly on location. Direct sound also designates an absence of re- flected components in the final recording.

Director The member of the production crew who works closely with the cinematographer, editor, production de- signer, and sound designer to determine a film’s organizing, creative structure. The director is generally the key member of the production team controlling and synthesizing the contributions of other team members. On budgetary issues, however, the director is answerable to the producer who has the highest administrative authority on a production.

Displacement A concept in psychoanalytic film theory whereby repressed ideas, emotions or impulses find a sub- stitute outlet in disguised form as they are projected onto nonthreatening aspects of a scene or situation.

Dissolve A type of visual transition between shots or scenes, created by the editor. Unlike the cut, the dis- solve is a gradual screen transition with distinct optical characteristics. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next shot to produce a brief superimposition.

Diversification A corporate structure in which a company conducts business operations across a range of associated markets and product categories.

Crane Shot See Boom Shot.

Criticism The activity of searching for meaning in an art- work. The critic seeks to develop an original interpretation by uncovering novel meanings inside a film.

Cross-Cutting A method of editing used to establish si- multaneous, ongoing lines of action in a film narrative. By rapidly cutting back and forth between two or more lines of action, the editor establishes that they are happening simul- taneously. By decreasing the length of the shots, editors can accelerate the pace of the editing and imply an approaching climax.

Cue Sheet A breakdown of a scene’s action, listing and timing all sections requiring musical cues.

Cut A type of visual transition created in editing in which one shot is instantaneously replaced on screen by another. Because the change is instantaneous, the cut itself is invis- ible. The viewer sees only the change from one shot to the next.

Deduction The method by which the critic works, using the general goals of the critical model to guide the search for supporting evidence.

Deep-Focus Cinematography A style of cinematography that establishes great depth of field within shots. Gregg Toland’s cinematography for Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane is a classic example of deep-focus composition.

Depth of Field The area of distance or separation between sharply focused foreground and background objects. Depth of field is determined by the focal length of a lens. Wide- angle lenses produce deep focus or great depth of field, whereas telephoto lenses have a shallow depth of field.

Depth Score The way that stereoscopic (3D) space is cho- reographed on screen in order to express a film’s underlying themes and story issues.

Description A stage in creating criticism wherein the critic fully describes those relevant features of narrative or audiovi- sual design on which the critical interpretation will be based.

Design Concept The underlying creative concept that orga- nizes the way in which sets and costumes are built, dressed, and photographed on a given production.

Deviant Plot Structure A narrative whose design and orga- nization fails to conform with viewers’ expectations regard- ing what is proper or permissible.

Dialogue One of the three basic types of film sound, it in- cludes speech delivered by characters in a scene and voice-over narration accompanying a scene or film.

Diegetic Sound Sound that can be heard by characters in a scene and by film viewer. See also nondiegetic sound .

Digital Animation Animation inside three- dimensional com- puter space, aided by software to produce many photographic- like effects. Digitally created lighting effects, for example, can be very elaborate, and when used with texture mapping of skin and other surfaces, these can create remarkable illusions of depth.

3

Glossary

Extras Incidental characters in a film, often part of the background of a shot or scene.

Eyeline Match The matching of eyelines between two or more characters who are engaged in conversation or are looking at each other in a scene, in order to establish rela- tions of proximity and continuity. The directions in which the performers look from shot to shot are complementary. That is, if performer A looks screen right in the first shot, performer B will look screen left in the next shot.

Fade A visual transition between shots or scenes created by the editor. Unlike the cut, the fade creates a gradual transi- tion with distinct visual characteristics. A fade is visible on screen as a brief interval with no picture. The editor fades one shot to black and then, after a pause, fades in the next shot. Editors often use fades to indicate a substantial change of time or place in the narrative.

Fall-Off The area in a shot where light falls off into shadow. Fast fall-off occurs in a high-contrast image where the rate of change between the illuminated and shadowed areas is very quick.

Fantasy A basic mode of screen reality in which settings and subjects, characters, and narrative time are far removed from the conditions of the viewer’s ordinary life. Fantasy characters may have super powers or advanced technology that lends them extraordinary abilities.

Feature Film A film typically running between 90 and 120 minutes.

Female Matte In a matte/counter-matte system, the female matte (also known as a cover matte) is an opaque frame in which the foreground figure is transparent. The opaque area of the female matte blocks light during printing.

Feminist Film Theory A model of film theory that ex- amines the images of women in film and issues of gender representation.

Fetishizing Techniques As emphasized in psychoanalytic film theory, these are elements of style that concentrate the viewer’s attention for extended periods upon erotic imagery or material in a way that displaces other components of a scene or shot.

Fill Light A light placed opposite the key light and used to soften the shadows it casts. Along with key and back lights, fill light is one of the three principal sources of illumination in a scene.

Film Noir A cycle of crime and detective films popular in the U.S. cinema of the 1940s. Low-key lighting was a major stylistic attribute of this cycle.

Film Stock Camera negative identified by manufacturer and number. Stocks vary in terms of their sensitivity to light, color reproduction, amount of grain, contrast, and resolution.

Film Theory A philosophical or aesthetic model that seeks to explain the fundamental characteristics of the me- dium of cinema and how it expresses meaning.

Final Cut The finished edit of a film. The form in which a film is released to and seen by audiences.

Documentary A type of film dealing with a person, situa- tion, or state of affairs that exists independently of the film. Documentaries can include a poetic, stylized audiovisual design, but they typically exclude the use of overt fictional elements.

Documentary Realism A subcategory of the realist mode of screen reality. The documentary realist filmmaker employs the camera as a recording instrument to capture events or situations that are transpiring independently of the filmmaker. Documentary realism is also a stylistic construction in that the filmmaker’s audiovisual design imposes an artistic organiza- tion on the event that has unfolded before the camera.

Dolly A type of movable platform on which the camera is placed to execute a tracking shot. Tracking shots are some- times called dollies or dolly shots.

Editing The work of joining together shots to assemble the finished film. Editors select the best shots from the large amount of footage the director and cinematographer have provided and assemble these in the proper narrative order.

Editor The member of the production crew who, in con- sultation with the director, designs the order and arrange- ment of shots as they will appear in the finished film and splices them together to create the final cut.

Effects (Sound) One of the three basic types of film sound. Effects are all of the nonspoken, nonmusical sounds in a film (e.g., footsteps, breaking glass, etc.).

Emulsion The light-sensitive surface of the film. Light sensitivity varies among film stocks. Fast films feature emul- sions that are very light sensitive, requiring minimal light for a good exposure. Slow films feature emulsions that are less light sensitive, requiring more light on the scene or set for proper exposure.

ENR Named for Ernesto N. Rico, this method of film processing retains a portion of the silver in film emulsion, which is normally removed during developing. This has the effect of making shadows blacker, de-saturating color, and highlighting the texture and edges of surfaces.

Errors of Continuity Disruptions in the appropriate flow of action or in the proper relation of camera perspectives from shot to shot. These errors may include the failure to match action across shots or to maintain consistent screen direction.

Establishing Shot A type of long shot used to establish the setting or location of a scene. In classical continuity editing, establishing shots occur at the beginning of a scene and help contextualize subsequent close-ups and other partial views of the action.

Explicit Causality The tight chaining of narrative events into a strong causal sequence in which prior events directly and clearly cause subsequent events. Characteristic of Hollywood filmmaking.

Expressionism A basic mode of screen reality in which film- makers use explicit audiovisual distortions to express extreme or aberrant emotions or perceptions.

4

Glossary

Gray Scale A scale used for black-and-white cinematography that measures color intensity or brightness. Black-and-white film and the black-and-white video camera can differentiate colors only if they vary in degrees of brightness. The gray scale tells filmmakers which colors will separate naturally in black and white.

Greenscreening Filming of live actors against a blank and colored (green) screen for subsequent compositing with digi- tal elements.

Gross The total box office revenue generated by a film be- fore expenses are deducted.

Hand-Held Camera A camera that is physically held by the operator rather than being mounted on a tripod, dolly, or other platform. It permits more freedom of movement and is especially suited for scenes where the action is spontaneous and unpredictable.

Hard Light Light that is not scattered or diffused by filters or reflecting screens. Hard light can establish high contrast.

Hard-Matted Method of producing letterboxed video transfers of widescreen films. The widescreen ratio is pre- served for viewing on a 4:3 monitor by masking that part of the video signal that displays on the top and bottom of the monitor’s screen and displaying the widescreen image in the unmatted area.

High-Angle A camera angle usually above the eye level of performers in a scene.

High-Definition Video Compared with standard video, which has 480 scan lines of picture information, hi-def video has up to 1080 scan lines. The Sony/CineAlta HD24P format, which George Lucas used to shoot the latest install- ments of his Star Wars series, runs at 24 frames per second, like film, and carries a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.

High-Key Lighting A lighting design that minimizes con- trast and fall-off by creating a bright, even level of illumina- tion throughout a scene.

Historical Realism A subcategory of the realist mode of screen reality. Historical realist films aim to recreate in close detail the manners, mores, settings, and costumes of a dis- tant historical period.

Homage A reference in a film to another film or film- maker. The climatic gun battle on the train station steps in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987) is an homage to Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin (1925), which features the famous massacre on the Odessa steps.

Hue One of the basic attributes of color. Hue designates the color itself. Red, blue, and green are primary hues. They are not mixtures of any other color.

Identification A stage in creating criticism wherein the critic selectively identifies those aspects of the film that are relevant for the critical argument being developed. The identification of selective film elements enables the critic to simplify and reduce the wealth of material in the film.

Ideological Film Theory A model of film theory that exam- ines the representation of social and political issues in film.

Flashing A technique used to de-saturate color and con- trast from a shot and to create a misty, slightly hazy effect. Film stock is flashed by exposing it to a small amount of light prior to developing.

Flicker Fusion Along with persistence of vision and beta movement, this is one of the perceptual foundations on which the illusion of cinema rests. The human eye cannot distinguish the individual still frames of a motion picture because of the speed at which they are projected. Flicker fu- sion designates the viewer’s inability to perceive the pulsing flashes of light emitted by the projector. These flashes and the still pictures they illuminate blend together to produce an illusion of movement.

Focal length The distance between the optical center of the lens and the film inside the camera. Lenses of different fo- cal lengths will “see” the action in front of the camera very differently. See Wide-Angle , Telephoto , Normal , and Zoom Lenses .

Foley The creation of sound effects by live performance in a sound recording studio. Foley artists perform sound effects in sync with a scene’s action.

ForcedPerspective Perspective distortion that takes infor- mational cues about depth and distance—such as the way parallel lines seem to converge in the distance or the way objects seem to grow smaller as they get farther away—and exaggerates these to convey on the small scale of a miniature model or a matte painting an impression of great size or distance.