Factual Film - Justin Pipkins
Factual film can be split up into different categories such as historical drama, biographical film, films based on true stories, and documentary films. Factual films are based on true characters and or events. They are nonfictional works that set out to document reality and historical context. In a way, the first motion pictures were factual film, they portrayed reality, more on the side of documentary as there was no narrative or story line.
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Film Noir - LaShonda Davidson
Film noir is a style that is usually considered to be of dark content. This type film usually involves suspense, thriller and gloomy atmosphere and mood. The cinematography consists of low lighting, thus the implication of it being a ‘dark film’. For more modern films, the term neo-noir is used to place emphasis on the more up-to-date contents and themes.
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Focal Length - Yerang Jeong
Focal length is the distance from the center of the lens to the camera sensor. The field of view, or the range of scene that we can see, depends on the focal length. If we use a short focal length, we can capture more because of the wider picture angle. It is effective to show backgrounds or whole situations. On the contrary, if we use long focal length, because the picture angle becomes narrower, we can capture the subject more specifically in order to show a character’s face or mentality.
In Midnight in Paris, the director shows they are in the art museum by using short focal length at first. We can see hallway, many pictures held on the wall, and another person. However, the next shot shows there are just four people including main characters, and it especially makes us focus on Picasso’s picture which has an important role in the movie during the next scene which used long focal length. |
Focus - Blake Guffey
Focus refers to the convergence of light from an object, and its reconvergence through the camera lens in a film shot—more simply put, a camera’s focus determines, to a large degree, the way in which we see an image being shot.
The two most distinct focus techniques are deep focus and shallow focus. Deep focus shots allow for a greater depth in what the viewer sees, allowing us to not only view what is happening closest to the camera, but to also clearly see what is taking place in further planes of view within the shot. This technique allows for multiple actions and meanings to develop within a single shot at different depths. Shallow focus, in turn, places the emphasis on a single object, or group of objects, closest to the viewer while leaving the background in an almost sightless haze. This is usually done to emphasis the importance of the objects in focus, asking the viewer to eliminate all other considerations from his view. |
Form - Dylan SchraderForm is how the subject of a film is expressed and experienced. It doesn’t just allow the content to be seen, it shapes the way the content of a film is seen. Form allows the artist to shape our experience of the film. Form is also called cinematic language: the techniques and tools the filmmaker uses to show meaning and set tone for the viewer. The filmmaker uses lighting, cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene, and other tools and techniques to do this
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Frame - Andy Thigpen
Framing - Derek McClanahan
Framing describes the composition of a particular shot. This includes the subject matter of each shot and how they are positioned within a particular frame. Framing is important in film because it helps tell the story by indicating which people or objects are important by directing our attention toward them.
There are a variety of different types of framing shots and number of rules to be considered when framing particular shots. Types of shots include wide/establishing shot, long shot, medium-long shot, medium shot, close-up, and extreme close-up. These shots help establish who or what is the center focus in the scene. There are also rules of framing which include: the rule of thirds (positioning of the character), headroom (amount of space between the top of the head and the top of the frame), leadroom (amount of space between subject and side of frame), lookroom (space between the character and the side of the frame in the direction they are looking), angle direction, and symmetrical balance. Framing techniques have been a critical aspect of the filmmaking process since the birth of motion picture production. Without these rules, films would be nothing more than a collection or random, boring pictures. Quality videography rests on the foundation of good framing. |
Frontal Lighting - Leila Turbeville
_ Frontal lighting tends to eliminate shadows and creates a more two dimensional image because of their absence. The frontal light is sometimes called the “key light” which provides the most light. This very bright shot from The Exorcist is well-lit and contrasts starkly with most of the other dark, shadowy scenes in the film.
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Function - Heather Rhodes
A function is what the audience gains from a particular element in a film. Most elements serve several purposes. It is the director’s job to make sure the function is portrayed properly to the audience.
In Gone with the Wind, land is used as a function. Although Scarlett’s entire way of life is gone, she fights to keep the land because it is all that remains of the world that she lost. When she goes to Atlanta, she knows that the land will be there waiting for her. Scarlett uses the land as a starting point to help her rebuild. Life will always be changing, but the land will always be there for people to start their life over again. |
Generic Transformation - Roger Fountain
Generic Transformation- A genre changing to adapt to the style of the present.
Over time a genre will transform to meet the needs and expectations of the current audience. For example, the horror genre today is not what it used to be. It’s been transformed to focus more on gore and jump scares than on creepy atmosphere and over the top reactions. Many say that this is a shift in the wrong direction, but it’s a shift none the less. Another example of generic transformation can be found in the genre “gangster films”. The Godfather’s story focused on family relationships, loyalty, and in the midst of the story, there were attempted murders, the passing of a family business, and some casualties. The soundtrack consisted of the classic trumpets, the film was an actual film reel, the wardrobes were reflective of the times, and the plot was slower paced. In 2012’s Killing Them Softly the story focuses on a underground gambling ring. This is a gangster film, but it is far different from The Godfather. There are distant shots of smoke coming out of someone’s gun and the shooter’s “target” falling to the ground, when someone gets shot in The Godfather. To keep up with the amount of violence movie goers want to see, Killing Them Softly has shots of more graphic violence. Including close-up shots of a man getting beaten outside of his car, CG (computer graphics) blood and brains coming out the back of someone’s head (as seen above), and a man riddled with gushing red holes thanks to the business end of a sawn off shotgun. Also, thanks to the success of shows such as Breaking Bad, there is a desire for drugs in movies. So, there is a heroin addict in Killing Them Softly. Film genres adapt to what is popular at the time. This is what “generic transformation” is. There was very little drug references in The Godfather; and now there is a whole show being dedicated to the selling of meth. Some people think movies shape the way people think. This is true to a certain extent, but the general consensus is that movies act as a mirror and just reflect what the audience desires to see. Generic transformation demonstrates this theory. |
Genre - Whitney Berryman
Genres are groups of films coalesced because of their similar conventions
The word “genre” is French, and it means “kind” or “type.” The scientific term “genus” can also be associated with it because of its link to classification. Film genres are helpful to both producers and audiences. By examining the genres that are popular during a certain time period, producers can identify which types of movies will bring them the most profit. Audience members can determine which films they are interested in seeing based upon the recognition of genres. Often, films can fall under several categories, which blurs the lines between specific genres. This encourages the evolution of genres. I have included a diagram that maps out a few film genres and three examples of a specific genre: musicals. |
Group Point of View - Jordan Lash
Group point of view- A camera shot that shows the point of view of a particular group of people. The camera shot is always done at the group’s level and shows what they are seeing. The class is cinematography.
Context- The film company, Vitagraph, is perhaps the first to utilize the POV shot and use a group as the point of view. In Vitagraph’s 1910 film, Back to Nature, Vitagraph created a shot of a group of people on a ship looking down over the railing and then a lifeboat is shown to create the point of view of the group on the ship. In Larry Trimble’s, Jean and the Waif (1910), Trimble introduces the group POV in his movie with an intertitle that is, “What they saw in the house across the court.” Alfred Hitchcock used this shot in his film, The Birds (1963). In the Birds, people watch from a diner window as a bird attacks a gas-station attendant that will later lead to an explosion. |
Hard Lighting - Andy Thigpen
Hard lighting is used to create distinct and defined shadows. This is contrasted with soft lighting which creates more vague and diffused shadows. Hard and soft lighting indicates the overall effect and quality of the light used, not the way it is used (i.e. direction and source). An example of hard lighting would be the sun shining at noon, while soft lighting would be the sun at dawn.
Because light plays a crucial role in making movies, lighting decisions have affected cinematographic choices since the early days of film. Lighting in cinema is often an indicator of mood. Hard lighting is used to depict strong emotional struggle or intense moments in the film. This is due, in part, by the lights themselves. The more direct and intense a light is, the harder the light is. Its use, however, ultimately lies in the creative decisions of the director. Hard lighting was used frequently in film noir, as it created suspenseful moods and dynamic visuals. |
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Height of Framing - Brittany Buckner
High-key Lighting - Jordan Sparks
High-key lighting contributes to the overall brightness of an image. In contrast to the suspenseful effects of low-key lighting, high key lighting brightens a room, which creates a lighter mood within a frame. High-key lighting is generally acquired using three different light sources. By using multiple light sources, shadows that may be found on an actor’s face are dulled and may make the actor or model appear more youthful.
This style of lighting was more commonly found in older films. Today, many filmmakers have opted to stray away from high-key lighting for faster and cheaper alternatives. In addition, high-key lighting does not create much drama; therefore, as technology continues to develop, the prevalence of high-key lighting in film has significantly diminished. |
Ideology - Turner Renick
Ideology is the shared customs or beliefs of a group, usually things that are taken for granted.
Some films contain certain social values. The Sandlot shows the importance of childhood and maintaining it for as long as you can. The boys from The Sandlot do this by playing baseball and having friendships that last a life time. |
Instructional Film - Dylan SchraderInstructional Film generally teaches the viewer skills they need or want to know, like playing guitar or survival training for the military. They are often cheesy in nature, not well produced, and some multinational corporations (not mentioning the name of this office supply chain that owns a stadium in LA) enjoy torturing their employees by making them sit through hours of these movies with bad acting, dated clothes, and often even outdated information.
There are others that people spend hundreds of dollars on to try to talk themselves into working out (but in reality they have just spent a lot of cash) that feature very attractive, athletic people( that seem to have the personality of finely gritted sand paper that looks in the mirror and asks all of its friends a rhetorical “how good do I look?” at least three times a day) doing things with a permanent smile on their face, while a stern looking man with a bald head encourages them in a tough, but helpful, manner. Generally, these are advertised after all of the watchable television is over. |
Intellectual montage - Spencer Murphy
An intellectual montage is a series or collage of images that, combined, create a meaning not found in any single image.
This method of montage is a part of Soviet montage theory, a school of cinema that relies heavily on editing. Serge Eisenstein was the leading advocate for the use of montage, stating that the intellectual montage exhibits how everyday thoughts are formed. The space montage in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life suggests the smallness of man--without ever showing a human--by showing us the vastness of the universe. |
Intercutting - Stephanie Fitzgerald
Intercutting is where the camera cuts back and forth to separate places in one scene. This can be the camera simply cutting to a different view or to a different place. Intercutting can show two people who are talking to each other on the phone, or it can show two unrelated things. Intercutting can also show a flashback or flash-forward to a different time. In many cases, intercutting is used to save time while telling the story, to compare the likeness of two scenes, or to contrast the difference of two scenes.
One of the first films to demonstrate intercutting was “A Corner in Wheat” where Griffith uses the camera to cut between the lives of the rich and the poor. Another was “Life of an American Fireman” directed by Edwin Porter. The scene of a burning house showed cuts from inside and outside the burning house. One of the most apparent examples of intercutting that comes to mind is the very famous scene in “The Godfather,” directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In this famous scene, Michael is in a church and taking part in the baptism of his nephew. At the same time, the scene is cutting to the mass slaughter that Michael’s men are involved in. He is making vows and washing his hands of sin while the dirty work is being done. It is an extremely powerful scene. |
Interior Monologue - Breanna CarlisleInterior monologue is the vocalization of thoughts or feelings to reveal what is going through a character’s head in a narrative. It is used in the 1948 film Hamlet. Laurence Olivier adapts Hamlet’s soliloquies into interior monologues. This allows him to transform how Shakespeare conveyed Hamlet’s inner thoughts and emotions to theatre audiences into a more comprehensible form for film audiences.
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Interpretation - Yerang Jeong
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The word
interpretation is from Latin, “interpretationem” which means explanation and
exposition. Interpretation means the
viewer’s own thoughts and feelings about characters, situation, and anything
that they can see from the movie like costume, action, make up, and hairstyle.
The movie, Inception (2010), is a good example of “interpretation”. The special top plays important roles in the movie, especially helping viewers to know if the character is experiencing a dream or “reality.” If the top continues spinning, it means that the character is still in his dream, but if the top falls down, it means that he comes back to the reality. While the movie shows us whether it is dream or reality in the middle of the movie, as we can see from the still shot, the director gives viewers a chance to interpret at the end of the movie. That is, noone can be sure what the end of the movie is. |