Basic Introductory Information (You should know a lot of these from English)

The orders and the actions of the story. (What happens in the story) Plot The orders and the actions of the story. (What happens in the story)

Theme An implicit or recurrent idea or concept in a work of art. (The point or message the art is trying to convey) THIS IS NOT ONE WORD! Titanic Wrong Example: Love. Titanic Correct Example: Love once felt, endures forever.

ACTOR Embodies and performs a film character through gestures and movements.

PERFORMANCE The actor’s use of language, physical expression, and gesture to bring a character to life and communicate important dimensions of that character to the audience.

Characters Individuals who motivate the events of the story. This includes the protagonists, the antagonists, as well as the supporting and minor characters

Protagonists Characters we identify as positive forces in a film. 

Antagonists Characters who oppose the protagonists as negative forces. 

Minor or secondary characters Surround, contrast, and support protagonists and antagonists.

Tone The general atmosphere of a film and the effect it has on a person. This is usually created through a combination of sets, colors, lighting, sound effects, and music.

Scene One or more shots that take place in terms of a continuous space, time, and action.

Sequence Any number of shots that are unified as a coherent action, or as an identifiable motif, regardless of changes in space or time.

Whereby a story shifts dramatically to an earlier time in the story Flashback Whereby a story shifts dramatically to an earlier time in the story

Dialogue Conversation between two or more people. 

Monologue A long speech by one speaker. 

Printed words inserted between images in silent films. Intertitles Printed words inserted between images in silent films.

Settings A fictional or real place where the action and events of the film occur. Settings are Characters Too Film

Set A constructed setting for filming, often a studio soundstage

Narration The perspective through which the characters, events, and action of the plot appear.  

First person narration The reflection of one person’s subjective point of view.  

Third person narration An objective detached point of view

PROPS Objects that function as parts of the sets or as tools used by the actors. In Praise of Chairs Film

COSTUMES Clothing and related accessories that a character wears or that define that character. Costume Design Film.

Diegetic Sound Any sound that could logically be heard by a character within the movie environment. (ex. A character speaking, cat growling, gunshot, traffic) Example of diegetic sound

Nondiegetic Sound Sounds in film that characters in the film could not possibly hear. (ex. Movie music, voice-over narration, sounds added in horror films to emotionally manipulate the audience) Example of nondiegetic sound