Film Introduction Year Ten English

Why do we study film? Films are a powerful medium which can influence our thoughts and behaviours. They can provide us with understanding of the world around us and challenge the ways that we interpret society.

How do we study film? Learning about film techniques and their effects. Viewing films and identifying how these techniques are used and to what effect. Considering the choices that directors make in films. Analysing aspects of the film such as setting, character, theme/main ideas, narrative structure etc. and how these are developed.

Film Techniques Terminology that we need to know

GENERAL TERMS

Director A film director is the person who directs the making of the film. The director visualises the script and guides the actors and technical crew to create that vision.

Frame One of the many still (or nearly so) images which compose the complete moving picture. Framing refers to what is included and excluded in an individual shot.

Shot A shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time.

Scene The action in a single location and continuous time. A number of shots make up a scene. Scenes can be long or short.

Cinematography Cinematography is the art and technique of film development. It refers to all the different processes and decisions which make a film. (e.g. shooting, developing, editing etc.)

Costume The things that characters wear (clothes, accessories, hairstyles etc.) This is very important to our understanding and impressions of characters, as well as setting.

Props Anything movable or portable on set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes and electrical equipment.

CAMERA SHOTS AND ANGLES

Extreme Long Shot A shot in which figures appear small in the landscape. Often used at the beginning of a film or sequence as an “establishing shot” to show the setting. Also used to make a figure appear small or isolated.

Long Shot A shot in which a figure can be seen from head to toe.

Medium/Mid Shot Shows a figure approximately from waist to the head. Allows the audience to easily recognise a character but also to see what they are doing with their hands.

Close Up Head and shoulders. Allows the audience to easily see facial expressions and interpret what characters are thinking and feeling.

Extreme Close Up A shot which focuses on a single feature e.g. eyes, mouth, etc. Used to emphasise facial expression to show what characters are thinking or feeling.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot A shot in which we see a character over the shoulder of another. Often used in interviews or conversations.

Point-of-View Shot A shot from a character’s point of view- like we are seeing through their eyes.

High Angle The camera points downwards- it is positioned ABOVE the subject. This usually makes the subject seem vulnerable or insignificant.

Low Angle The camera points upwards- it is positioned BELOW the subject of the shot. Usually makes the subject seem grand or threatening.

Eye Level The camera views the subject from an even level.

Bird’s Eye View/Aerial Angle A shot which looks vertically down on a subject.

Deep Focus Everything in the shot is in focus. This means we can be looking at action taking place in the foreground, background and midground at the same time.

Shallow Focus Isolates the subject from the background, so the subject is in focus but the background is blurry. Effects of this can include things like, focusing the viewer’s attention of important features of the shot- drawing attention to character and action, rather than background or context.

CAMERA MOVEMENTS

Panning Pivoting the camera to the side in order to scan a scene or follow a moving subject. The camera does not move off the same base position.

Tracking Moving the camera itself towards or away from a subject or following a moving subject.

Tilt Pivoting the camera vertically up or down.

Zoom The subject of a shot is made smaller or larger (zoom in or zoom out) without moving the camera itself.

SHOT TRANSITIONS

Fade An image on screen is gradually faded in or out. Usually a fade involves an image losing colour and light saturation before disappearing.

Dissolve One image dissolves into another or into a blank screen. This is often a process in which the image appears pixelated before disappearing.

Cut One image is suddenly replaced with another. This is the most common way to transition between one shot and another.

Cross Cut In a cross cut the camera will cut away from one piece of action, to another and often backwards and forwards again. This is typically used to suggest that the action is happening simultaneously or that the scenes shown are related in some way.

Montage A series of shots (usually related) are edited together in order to save time. Effects: –To show the passage of time –To indicate some kind of relationship between the shots.

Editing Pace This term refers to the pace at which different shots are placed together. If a lot of shots are shown in a short space of time this would be a fast editing pace. Few shots in a longer space of time slows the pace. Pace can also be achieved through different transitions- cuts tend to increase the pace while fades and dissolves often slow the pace.

Flash Forward/ Flash Back Flash back/forward are scenes which break the chronology (logical order of time) in the film to show a scene which happens either in the past or the future. They are usually used to signal the fact that the event show is significant to the action taking place in the present. They can often be recognised by use of fades/dissolves to transition, difference in quality of lighting and other features which differ from the action in the present.

LIGHTING

High Key Lighting Lighting that is bright and relatively low in contrast.

Low Key Lighting Lighting that is much darker with pronounced shadows and dramatic contrasts.

SOUND

Digetic Sound Sound that represents what is going on in the scene- sound which we can see the source of. E.g. dialogue, sounds made by cars, thunder, noises made by animals etc.

Non-Digetic Sound Sound which the audience knows is not part of what is happening on screen- which has clearly been added after shooting for effect. E.g. voiceovers, soundtrack/music.

Dialogue The things that characters say to each other. Conversations.

Music/Soundtrack Soundtrack refers to the music which is used throughout the film. Music is often used to influence the way that the audience responds to what is happening in a scene.

Voiceover Dialogue from a narrator or character which is placed over the top of a scene, but is not happening in the scene. Often used to narrate or comment on what is happening.

Sound Effects A sound other than speech or music which is made artificially and used for effect.