1. Background terms you need to know for this course.
Basic Film Terms
Background terms you need to know for this course.

2. soundtrack auditory accompaniment to the visual elements of film
includes dialogue, music, and sound effects

3. shot
the uninterrupted action on the screen that results from a single take that has been printed and edited

4. take
an attempt to get a shot on film; the single, uninterrupted operation of a camera as it continuously exposes a series of frames

5. editing
organizing and assembling shots; the art of selecting, trimming, coordinating, and cutting the footage into a projection sequence that will become the film

6. scene a series of consecutive shots that take place in one location
This scene is a confrontation between cops and criminals on a city street.

7. sequence
a group of consecutive shots and/or scenes that is not restricted to a single location but has its own beginning, middle, and end
If a movie was a book, a sequence would be a chapter.
Ex. - In a movie about a date, one sequence could be about the boy picking the girl up and meeting her parents.

8. plot
the individual events and their arrangement in a narrative work; it may not follow the chronological events of “the story”

9. exposition
the part of a narrative work, often the beginning, which establishes for the audience the general situation of the characters and the premises for the action
Ex. – “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
Ex. – The scene in the beginning of a romantic comedy where the audience learns the man has loved his coworker for years.

10. denouement
the point in the plot , after the climax, when everything unravels and is resolved.

11. suspense
a state of uncertainty and delay that builds up anxiety as one awaits the outcome of a situation

12. “in media res” “in the middle of things”
when the first scene of a movie starts after events important to the story have already taken place
Ex - a story about a bank robbery that starts during the getaway and flashes back to the actual robbery or never shows the actual robbery

13. flashback
a shot, scene, or sequence that has taken place in the past, before the present time established in the film
Ex – Two characters are talking about an event from their past. The screen gets cloudy. We then see the scene from the past.

14. director
the individual responsible for putting a work on film and sometimes for the vision and final realization of the entire motion picture

15. cinematographer
director of photography; the individual in charge of putting each scene on film: including the lighting; the composition of the scene; the colors of the images; the choice of cameras, lenses, filters, and film stock; the settings of the camera; the set-ups and movements of the camera; and the integration of any special effects

16. producer
the person in charge of all the financial and administrative aspects of a film’s production, from the very inception of the film project and its initial planning through all stages of production, distribution, and advertising