1. English IV: Film Studies
Introduction to Film
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Citizen Kane (1941)

2. Basic Film Terms

3. Frame One of the many single photographic images in a motion picture.
Individually separated by frame lines.
Usually, 24 frames are needed for 1 second of film.

4. Frame (con’t.)
Dividing line between the edges of the screen image and the enclosing darkness of the theater

5. Types of Shots
Cinematic shots are defined by the amount of subject matter within the frame.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

6. Types of Shots (con’t) Shots can vary in duration Shots vary in time
subliminal (a few frames)
quick (less than a second)
“average” (more than a second but less than a minute)
lengthy (more than a minute)

7. Establishing Shot Also known as Extreme Long Shot
Shot taken from a great distance
Almost always an exterior shot
Shows much of locale
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)

8. Establishing Shot (con’t)
Usually the first shot of a new scene
Designed to show the audience where the action is taking place.
Opening scene from Psycho (1960)

9. Long Shot (LS) Sometimes referred to as a Full Shot or Wideshot
Typically shows the entire object or human figure
Bullit (1968)
Wizard of Oz (1939)

10. Long Shot (con’t.)
Usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings
It is not as far away as an extreme long shot
Approximately the distance between the front row of the audience and the stage
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Dead Poets Society (1989)

11. Medium Shot (MS) Conventional shot filmed from a medium distance
Between a Long Shot and a Close-up Shot
Difficult to precisely define
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

12. Medium Shot (con’t.)
Usually refers to a human from the waist (or knees) up
Allows audience to see body language, but not as much facial expression
Rocky (1976)
Top Gun (1986)

13. Close – Up Shot (CU) Also known as a Close Shot
Appears relatively large and fills the entire frame to focus attention and emphasize its importance
A person's head from the shoulders or neck up is a commonly-filmed close-up

14. Close – Up Shot (con’t.) Pretty Woman (1990)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
The Shining (1980)

15. Extreme Close-Up (ECU)
A shot of a small object or part of a face that fills the screen
Psycho (1960)
The Descent (2006)

16. Over the Shoulder Shot
Usually contains two figures, one with his/her back to the camera, and the other facing the camera
Cast Away
Hollow Man

17. A camera angled slightly upward
Types of Angles
The angle is determined by where the camera is placed not the subject matter
Refers to the perspective from which a camera depicts its subject

18. Bird’s Eye View Camera is placed directly overhead
Extremely disorienting
Viewer is godlike
Beverly Hills Girl Scouts

19. Donnie Darko

20. High Angle (h/a) Camera looks down at what is being photographed
Takes away power of subject, makes it insignificant
Gives a general overview
Saving Private Ryan
Without Limits

21. Low Angle (l/a) Camera is located below subject matter
Increases height and power of subject
The Patriot
Halloween (1978)

22. Oblique Angle
Lateral tilt of the camera so that figures appear to be falling out of the frame
Suggests tension and transition
Sometimes used as the point of view of a drunk
The Matrix

23. Point of View (POV)
A shot taken from the vantage point a particular character, or what a character sees

24. “Eye-Level”
Roughly 5 to 6 feet off the ground, the way an actual observer might view a scene
Most common

25. Camera Movement

26. Pan
The camera moves horizontally on a fixed base.

27. Tilt
The camera points up or down from a fixed base

28. Tracking (dolly) shot
The camera moves through space on a wheeled truck (or dolly), but stays in the same plane

29. Boom
The camera moves up or down through space

30. Zoom
Not a camera movement, but a shift in the focal length of the camera lens to give the impression that the camera is getting closer to or farther from an object

31. Getting from Scene to Scene

32. Cut
Transition between scenes when one scenes ends and another one begins
Most common

33. Dissolve
A gradual transition in which the end of one scene is superimposed over the beginning of a new one.

34. Fade-out/Fade in
A scene gradually goes dark or a new one gradually emerges from darkness

35. Wipe
An optical effect in which one shot appears to push the preceding one from the screen.

36. Iris
An optical effect in which one shot appears to emerge from a shape on the screen.

37. What This Means
These are the basic elements of film that a director can use to tell his/her story.
Through editing, these shots are put together to create (hopefully!) a coherent story.