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editing

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The process by which the editor combines and coordinates individual shots into a cinematic whole; the basic creative force of cinema.

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flashback

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A device for presenting or reawakening the memory of the camera, a character, the audience—or all three—in which the action cuts from the narrative present to a past event, which may or may not have already appeared in the movie either directly or through inference. Compare flashforward.

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flash-forward

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A device for presenting the anticipation of the camera, a character, the audience— or all three—in which the action cuts from the narrative present to a future time, one in which, for example, the omniscient camera reveals directly or a character imagines, from his or her point of view, what is going to happen. Compare flashback

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ellipsis

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In filmmaking, generally an omission of time—the time that separates one shot from another—to create dramatic or comedic impact

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montage

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In Hollywood, beginning in the 1930s, a sequence of shots, often with superimpositions and optical effects, showing a condensed series of events

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continuity editing

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A style of editing (now dominant throughout the world) that seeks to achieve logic, smoothness, sequential flow, and the temporal and spatial orientation of viewers to what they see on the screen.

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discontinuity editing

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A style of editing—less widely used than continuity editing, often but not exclusively in experimental films—that joins shots A and B to produce an effect or meaning not even hinted at by either shot alone.

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master shot

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A shot that ordinarily serves as a foundation for (and usually begins) a sequence by showing the location of ensuing action. Although usually a long shot or extreme long shot, a master shot may also be a medium shot or close-up that includes a sign or other cue to identify the location. Master shots are also called cover shots because the editor can repeat them later in the film to remind the audience of the location, thus "covering" the director by avoiding the need to reshoot.

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axis of action

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See 180-degree system. The fundamental means by which filmmakers maintain consistent screen direction, orienting the viewer and ensuring a sense of the cinematic space in which the action occurs. The system assumes three things: (a) the action within a scene will always advance along a straight line, either from left to right or from right to left of the frame; (b) the camera will remain consistently on one side of that action; and (c) everyone on the production set will understand and adhere to this system. axis of action

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reverse shot

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A shot in which the angle of shooting is opposite to that of the preceding shot

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match cut

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A cut that preserves continuity between two shots. Several kinds of match cuts exist, including the eye-line match cut, the graphic match cut, and the match-on-action cut

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crosscutting

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Editing that cuts between two or more actions occurring at the same time, and usually in the same place. Compare intercutting and parallel editing

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intercutting

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Editing of two or more actions taking place at the same time that creates the effect of a single scene rather than of two distinct actions. Compare crosscutting and parallel editing

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jump cut

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The removal of a portion of a film, resulting in an instantaneous advance in the action—a sudden, perhaps illogical, often disorienting ellipsis between two shots

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fade-in

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Transitional devices in which a shot fades in from a black field on black-andwhite film or from a color field on color film, or fades out to a black field (or a color field). Compare dissolve. fade in

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fade-out

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Transitional devices in which a shot fades in from a black field on black-andwhite film or from a color field on color film, or fades out to a black field (or a color field). Compare dissolve. fade out

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dissolve

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Also known as lap dissolve. A transitional device in which shot B, superimposed, gradually appears over shot A and begins to replace it at midpoint in the transition. Dissolves usually indicate the passing of time. Compare fade-in/fade-out.

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wipe

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A transitional device between shots in which shot B wipes across shot A, either vertically or horizontally, to replace it. Although (or because) the device reminds us of early eras in filmmaking, directors continue to use it.

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iris shot

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Optical wipe effect in which the wipe line is a circle; named after the iris of a camera. The iris-in begins with a small circle, which expands to a partial or full image; the iris-out begins with a large circle, which contracts to a smaller circle or total blackness.

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split screen

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A method, created either in the camera or during the editing process, of telling two stories at the same time by dividing the screen into different parts. Unlike parallel editing, which cuts back and forth between shots for contrast, the split screen can tell multiple stories within the same frame

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outtakes

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Material that is not used in either the rough cut or the final cut, but is cataloged and saved.

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mixing

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The process of combining different sound tracks onto one composite sound track that is synchronous with the picture

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fidelity

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The faithfulness or unfaithfulness of a sound to its source.

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diegetic sound

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Sound that originates from a source within a film's world. Compare nondiegetic sound.

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nondiegetic sound

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Sound that originates from a source outside a film's world. Compare diegetic sound

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internal sound

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A form of diegetic sound in which we hear the thoughts of a character we see onscreen and assume that other characters cannot hear them. Compare external sound

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external sound

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A form of diegetic sound that comes from a place within the world of the story, which we and the characters in the scene hear but do not see. Compare internal sound.

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interior monologue

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One variation on the mental, subjective point of view of an individual character that allows us to see a character and hear that character's thoughts (in his or her own voice, even though the character's lips don't move).

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dialogue

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The lip-synchronous speech of characters who are either visible onscreen or speaking offscreen, say from another part of the room that is not visible or from an adjacent room

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ambient sound

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Sound that emanates from the ambience (background) of the setting or environment being filmed, either recorded during production or added during postproduction. Although it may incorporate other types of film sound—dialogue, narration, sound effects, Foley sounds, and music—ambient sound does not include any unintentionally recorded noise made during production.

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sound effects

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A sound artificially created for the sound track that has a definite function in telling the story

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Foley sounds

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A sound belonging to a special category of sound effects, invented in the 1930s by Jack Foley, a sound technician at Universal Studios. Technicians known as Foley artists create these sounds in specially equipped studios, where they use a variety of props and other equipment to simulate sounds such as footsteps in the mud, jingling car keys, or cutlery hitting a plate.

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Photography

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Literally, "writing with light"; technically, the recording of static images through a chemical interaction caused by light rays striking a sensitized surface.

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camera obscura

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Literally, "dark chamber." A box (or a room in which a viewer stands); light entering (originally through a tiny hole, later through a lens) on one side of the box (or room) projects an image from the outside onto the opposite side or wall.

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revolver photographique

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Also known as chronophotographic gun. A cylinder-shaped camera that creates exposures automatically, at short intervals, on different segments of a revolving plate.

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fusil photographique

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A form of the chronophotographic gun (see revolver photographique)— a single, portable camera capable of taking twelve continuous images.

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kinetograph

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The first motion-picture camera.

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kinetoscope

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A peephole viewer, an early motion-picture device

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aesthetic approach

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this approach seeks to evaluate individual movies and/or directors using criteria that assess their artistic significance and influence

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technological approach

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Historians who chart the history of cinema technology examine the circumstances surrounding the development of each technological advance, as well as subsequent improvemen

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economic approach

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Historians interested in this subject help us to understand how and why the studio system was founded, how it adapted to changing conditions (economic, technological, social, historical), and how and why different studios took different approaches to producing different movies, how these movies have been distributed and exhibited, and what effect this had on film history

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social approach

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Writing about movies as social history continues to be a major preoccupation of journalists, scholars, and students alike. Historian Ian Jarvie suggests that, in undertaking these studies, we ask the following basic questions: Who made the movies, and why? Who saw the films, how, and why? What was seen, how, and why? How were the movies evaluated, by whom, and why?4 In addition, those interested in social history consider such factors as religion, politics, and cultural trends and taboos, and ask to what extent, if any, a particular movie was produced to sway public opinion or effect social change.

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analog

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Film is an analog medium in which the camera creates an image by recording through a camera lens the original light given off by the the subject and stores this image on a roll of negative film stock. Opposite of digital

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digital

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An electronic process that creates its images through a numbered system of pixels (which we can think of as the binary numbers 0 and 1) that are stored on a flash card or a computer hard drive

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shooting

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The first stage of creating motion pictures, in which images are recorded on previously unexposed film as it moves through the camera. Shooting is followed by processing and projecting.

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processing

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The second stage of creating motion pictures in which a laboratory technician washes exposed film (which contains a negative image) with processing chemicals. Processing is preceded by shooting and followed by projecting.

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projecting

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The third stage of creating motion pictures, in which edited film is run through a projector, which shoots through the film a beam of light intense enough to project a large image on the movie-theater screen. Projecting is preceded by shooting and processing

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exposure

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(the length of time that the film is exposed to light), and the opening of the lens aperture (this regulates the amount of light that passes through the lens onto the surface of the film);

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pixels

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Short for "picture elements," these are the small dots that make up the image on a video screen. The dots (denoted by the binary numbers 0 and 1) are meaningless in themselves; but when they are arranged in order, like the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, they form a picture.

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resolution

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The capacity of the camera lens, film stock, and processing to provide fine detail in an image.

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preproduction

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The initial, planning-andpreparation stage of the production process.

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production

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The second stage of the production process, the actual shooting. Production is preceded by preproduction and followed by postproduction.

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postproduction

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The third stage of the production process, consisting of editing, preparing the final print, and bringing the film to the public (marketing and distribution). Postproduction is preceded by preproduction and production

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producer

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The person who guides the entire process of making the movie from its initial planning to its release and is chiefly responsible for the organizational and financial aspects of the production, from arranging the financing to deciding how the money is spent.

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director

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The person who (a) determines and realizes on the screen an artistic vision of the screenplay; (b) casts the actors and directs their performances; (c) works closely with the production design in creating the look of the film, including the choice of locations; (d) oversees the work of the cinematographer and other key production personnel; and, (e) in most cases, supervises all postproduction activity, especially the editing.

film and culture vocab: 8-11 – Flashcards

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