Film+Dictionary

Shawshank || [|Pulp Fiction] || In this conversation from //Star Trek: Into Darkness// the camera maintains a medium shot with some close ups. [|Star Trek]
 * **Film Term:** || **Definition:** || **Why Used?** || **Example:** ||
 * **__Shots:__** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 1. Long Shot (LS) ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 2. Establishing Shot (ES) || An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot || The establishing shot's main role in most of today's films is to provide context. The establishing shot is the only shot that can show the audience the setting, what characters are involved and more complex background and foreground details in a single shot. || This famous establishing shot is from Shawshank Redemption. This is the scene right before Andy is admitted into the prison.
 * 3. Close-up (CS) || A shot of one's face or object that fills the screen completely. || Used to emphasize an object or action. A close-up on a person's face allows the viewer to feel what the character is feeling. || This is an example of a close-up from __Pulp Fiction__ when Samuel L Jackson does his famous speech. This is the whole scene, but you see a good example from 6:15-6:29.
 * 4. Medium Shot (MS) || A medium shot is a type of camera shot used in film that has a scope between a long shot and a close up. It is also called a 'relative' shot. || Medium shots might show one or two people in full, or it may be several people from the waist up. We often see these shots in conversations between characters onstage; it is used to show the audience slightly more of the actor's body language, costume, and other indicators of what is going on without focusing on background elements. || This is a montage of a few scenes from //The Avengers// - see seconds :09-:20. and specifically 0:28-0:48. [|Medium Shot - Avengers]

Finally, in //The Great Gatsby// medium shots are used in fast succession to follow the conversation. [|Gatsby]. See seconds :05-:11 specifically ||
 * **__Focus:__** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 5. Soft focus || Gives the illusion of being out of focus, but without altogether obscuring the sharp edges of objects. Think about the edges of clouds compared to their center; blurry but still distinct. || Soft focus can create a sense of beauty and glamour. It contributes to the aesthetic quality of the film. It can heighten the sentimental quality of a scene. Soft focus is selective and brings a clarity to the narrative of the film. Being a highly stylized effect, actresses began to demand it as they felt it made them more beautiful. || In low-brow art, this was the focus used for glamour photography and many 80s music videos (here's a pretty hilarious one)

A close up of actress Lillian Gish in the "soft style" The style became prevalent in the 1920s. It fell out of vogue by the end of the 30's. ||
 * 6. Rack focus ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 7. Deep focus || A deep focus shot is a shot that gives depth. You can see a lot of the frame in focus. It includes foreground, middle-ground, and background objects all in nearly equal focus. || A deep focus shot is used for a number of reasons. It gives depth and dimension and the ability to focus on more than the closest object in a scene. It was the 3-D before it existed. || Citizen Cane is known for using Deep focus throughout the move. As we can see in this picture, there are many layers of focus. [|Citizen Cane] ||
 * **Camera Angles:** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 8. Low angle (LA) || A shot taken with the camera placed in a position below and pointing upward at the subject. || A low angle shot is meant to give a feeling of powerlessness, making you almost feel childlike. It can sometimes inflict fear into you by the dominating appearance of the figure on the screen. || [|The Dark Knight]

Throughout the movie, //The Dark Knight,// Christopher Nolan uses a lot of low angle shots when filming the Joker. It seems to really help give Heath Ledger an even more villianous look. In this particular scene where the Joker's truck is flipped, the camera angle slowly goes from a normal medium close up to a low camera angle shot while the Joker is shooting at Batman. || This is a scene from Fight Club in which Edward Norton's character, The Narrator, and Brad Pitt's, Tyler Durden, are conversing. Throughout the scene the shot changes from high angle to low angle and back again. The high angle is seen when Tyler is speaking down to The Narrator. This angle shows that The Narrator is and not in control of the situation. || -Used to treat characters as equals -Characters appear "even" with this type of || This is an example of eye level from The Shining//. In this scene, the camera is on the same level as// //the subject.// //http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLOjzZ2Y5iw// || T his is a series of canted angle shots from the film Slumdog Millionaire. || This is perhaps the most famous scene from Michael Mann's "Heat" - the bank robbers vs. cops shootout. There is no background music, narration, or internal dialogue, only the sounds of guns firing, cars crashing, and people screaming - all reverberating across buildings in a busy city environment. The sound makes the scene seem very "authentic" and realistic, to my ears. || This is a scene from one of my favorite movies, The Secret Garden. As Mary is exploring the abandoned rooms of the house, her thoughts as well as the eerie violin are examples of non-diegetic sound. The music really seems to help capture the deadness of the upstairs abandoned room. || (For some reason I can't access the next column to put this picture there, so I am putting it here.) || Taken from an episode of the sitcom Modern Family, the uniform level of lighting in the scene is an example of High-Key lighting || [|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkfi60-6CRI&feature=player_d] [|etailpage]
 * 9. High angle (HA) || A shot that is has the camera above a subject while looking down on them. || High angles are used as a way to make the subject(s) feel small, weak, powerless, trapped, and less in control. This angle reinforces the subject's inferiority. || Fight Club
 * 10. Eye level (EL) || This type of shot is a neutral shot in which the camera is located at normal eye level in relation to the subject. || -Provide frames of reference
 * 11. Dutch angle (aka, "canted" angle) || A shot where the camera is tilted slightly to one side so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame. || This shot is used in horror movies or gangster films to show "the bad guy" or a character who is in a dangerous situation. It is also used to convey tension in a normal scene that is supposed to imply moral uncertainty. || [|Slumdog Millionaire]
 * **Sound** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 12. Diegetic || Sound that originates and takes place "in the world of the film." Sound that is audible to the film's characters, including dialogue and sound effects. || Diegetic sound fleshes out the world that characters in a film "live" in. Manipulation of diegetic sound can affect the mood and setting of a shot or an entire film. || [|Heat]
 * 13. Non-diegetic || Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action. Examples include the narrator's commentary, sound effects which are added for dramatic effect, and mood music. Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside of the story || Using non-diegetic music can help us in a number of ways to resolve what may be happening in the film, provide depth to a character or environment, or introduce a new scene. Often its job is to reinforce a relationship that has bonded the moving images and the sound together. || [|The Secret Garden]
 * **Lighting:** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 14. Low-key || Low key lighting is lighting that uses deep shadows. The general lighting of the scene is very low. low key lighting creates uniform, dark tones. || Low-key is used to reinforce shadows in a scene. It also accentuates the shapes of an object in the scene. Low key lighting tends to make the viewer feel unsure or uneasy. Commonly used in film noir// and horror genres. [[image:engl331/Low-key_cat.jpg width="329" height="234"]]
 * 15. High-key || High-key lighting is lighting that uses multiple light sources, usually one from the right, left, and front of each actor, to create a scene with little to no shadows and light contrast. || High-key lighting is used in scenes for comedy because the lack of drama is well represented by the lack of contrast between light and shadow in the background. High-key lighting also allows quicker and less expensive production because of the shorter set-up time and lack of precision placement necessary for the lighting of a scene. || Modern Family
 * 16. Neutral || Whenlighting is evenly balanced throughout the shot. || A midium shot with an eye-level angle and nuetral lighting might not be saying too much. || Harry potter

14:41 ||
 * 17. Bottom/side || Bottom Lighting: When the lighting source is placed directly below the face. It makes the character seem much more dangerous and scary.

Side Lighting: When the light source is to the side of the character, illuminating only half of their face and casting a dark shadow on the opposite side. Also makes the character look dangerous. || Bottom lighting is used a lot in horror movies, but can also be seen in film noir. It makes the character look more evil by only showing part of the face.

Side Lighting is commonly used in film noir. It makes a character look mysterious or dangerous || Video Example: Bottom & Side Lighting At around 30 seconds, you can see a perfect example of side lighting. The left side of the man's face is lit, while the other half is completely in shadow. At 2:34, you can see an example of bottom lighting. Only the lower half of the character's face is visible, while leaving the other half in shadow.

Picture Examples [|Bottom Lighting]

[|Side Lighting] ||
 * 18. Front/rear || Front lighting: Placing light towards the front of the camera to directly light the subject facing the camera.

Rear lighting: Placing light behind the subject. || Front lighting is used to cover up imperfections and light the whole scene with no difference in texture or visibility. It is the most common and least dramatic type of lighting in film making.

Rear lighting is used to reveal form, such as shadows and silhouettes. It is easier to see small particles such as rain drops or dust when using rear lighting as well. || Seinfeld "Two Face" The first clip is a perfect example of using front lighting to cover up someone's imperfections and present a clean background. Jerry's girlfriend looks attractive when lit from the front. Notice how there are no shadows or silhouettes present.

Shadow's Kiss Skip to 2:06 in this short film noir to see a perfect example of rear lighting. You cannot see any distinguishing features of the man, only his shadow. ||
 * **Camera Movement:** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 19. Pan ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 20. Tilt || The camera remains stationary as the camera head moves up and down the vertical axis. || Used to reveal an object slowly or to follow an object as it moves up or down. || This is a 15 second video showing the camera moving up a tall building to reveal its height.

[|Tilt Shot] || [|Zoom] ||
 * 21. Zoom || The focal length of the lens changes, which makes the object seem to move closer or further away. The camera doesn't actually move. One way to tell the difference between zooming and dollying is to see if the background changes in relation to the objects and flattens a bit (which means zoom). || The audience is directed to a detail that the director does not want them to miss. || This .gif is from Arrested Development.
 * 22. Dolly || (Tracking) The camera moves through space on a wheeled track (or dolly), but stays in the same place of focus. || Because the movement is smoother when transitioning between different scenes, such as having two characters go into a house from a balcony. The camera literally glides with the movement of the characters. || This is the opening shot from the movie Selena (my personal favorite). When the camera is following the carriage and scanning the audience it is attached to a dolly for a smooth take.

[|Selena] ||
 * **Editing Techniques:** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 23. Fade || Occurs when a scene brightens and becomes clearer from black to normal light or brightness decreases and becomes black. || Signifies the beginning of a new scene or the end of a scene. || The opening of the music video "Issues" by Princeton Ave uses a fade in editing technique to open the video.

[|Issues] || [|Dissolve] || Friday the 13th, start at 74:30 || Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, start at 15:20, this movie is totally retarded, so prepare yourself || A quick example. Woman stares at painting, intensity ensues. ||
 * 24. Dissolve || Method of making a transition from one shot to another by briefly superimposing one image upon another and then allowing the first image to disappear. || This is used because it serves as a stronger form of transition than a cut and indicates a distinct separation in action. || Examples of dissolve in many classic movies.
 * 25. Crosscutting || Switching the POV to different characters with each shot in a short string. || This is used to show all the angles of a situation, but also to show what each character is doing at the same time. || []
 * 26. Flashback || Interrupts the present action to show the viewers what happened before/a past event. || This is used to show the audience a character's motivations, what they're thinking, what made them the way they are, and helps the audience catch up without using another half an hour to show in present time what really happened. || []
 * 27. Eye-line match || A film editing technique in which the audience is shown what the character on-screen is looking at by cutting the shot of "character looking at something" and then joining it with a shot of said object. || This technique provides continuity for the viewer, as when we view a character looking at something that is off-screen, we expect to find out what it is they are looking at. || [|La Sindrome di Stendhal]
 * **Mise-en-Scene:** ||  ||   ||   ||

