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A Level Film Studies Terminology

Terms in this set (26)

Multitrack Sound
Sound sources recorded at different times are blended to create a cohesive whole. This method of sound recording was developed in 1955
Existentialism
A philosophy that emphasised the existence of the individual person s a free and responsible agent
High concept
Films centred on a relatively simple scenario that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise
Mixing/Layering
Techniques used to combine a range of sounds or tracks see the sound design/multitrack sound
Humanist Irony
Can be conceived as an approach to art that highlights the human condition in a rather tongue-in-cheek way. Thus, in a broadly comedic sense, we explore our nature such as the need for personal identity and freedom.
Hollywood 10
10 witnesses from the film industry who refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation of Communist influence in Hollywood.
Introspection
observation or examination of one's own mental and emotional state, mental processes, etc.; the act of looking within oneself.
Cultural Capitalist
Assets that give someone social mobility. This can involve education personality and speech.
Iconography
The symbolic meanings of subjects and signs used to convey ideas important to particular cultures or religions, and the conventions governing the use of such forms.
Auter
Certain directors will have a strong aesthetic; you will begin to see this recurring; visual styles and motifs. These directors have become well known as auters.
screenplay
Written by the screenwriter, this document tells the story and will contain no camera direction
Binary opposition
Characters or ideas that represent sets of opposite values
Spectator
An individual member of the audience thought we may view a film in the cinema, the experience is individual.
Wipe
A type of transition from one shot to another in which the second shot appears to push the first shot off the screen.
Zoom in/out
The camera shot moves closer to or further away from the subject.
Genre
A type of category. The characteristics that differ.
French New Wave
A film movement (1950s and 1960s) in France in opposition to the conventional studio system. Films often low budget with young actors, shot on location, used unconventional sound and editing patterns, naturalistic acting, unresolved endings and addressed the struggle for personal expression. This broke classic Hollywood but inspired people like Hitchcock.
Expressionist
Expressionist films depict a widely distorted reality for emotional effect.
Dialect
Two opposing or contradictory ideas or views are juxtaposed as a way of examing and discussing them
Cinema Verite
A style of documentary film making also called observational cinema.
Hook
An exciting scene early in the script to grab the audience's interest.
Hybrid Genre
A film that combines two or more distinct genre types - it cant be easily categorised by a single genre or sub-genre.
Independent film
A film that recieves 50% of its funding from one of the 'big six' major film studio's. Typically have small budgets and the filmmaker has control in how they tell the film.
Chiaroscuro lighting
Lighting for light/dark contrast (fast falloff) to emphasize volume and specific areas
auteur
a filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great that the filmmaker is regarded as the author of the movie.
Auteur Theory
a critical method by which a film is viewed as the product of its "auteur" or director and is judged by the quality of its expression of the director's personality or world view; usually used to relate a film to others by the same director.
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