Movies and Meaning- Pearson New International Edition

by Stephen Prince

  Implicit Causality The loose sequencing of narrative

  video image closely matches the original theatrical aspect

  events. Narrative causality is minimized, and the viewer’s

  ratio, the trade-off is a small and narrow image as displayed

  sense of the direction in which the story is moving is weaker

  on a television monitor.

  than it is in films that feature explicit causality.

  Implied Author The artistic perspective implied and em-

  Limited-Release Market The theatrical distribution of in-

  bodied by a film’s overall audiovisual design.

  dependent film, typically on a smaller scale than the release

  market for major studio productions.

  Intensity A basic attribute of color. Intensity measures the

  brightness of a hue.

  Linear Editing System Until the late-1990s, editors worked

  on celluloid film, with the footage in their workprints de-

  Internal Structural Time The dynamic tempo of a film, es-

  rived from camera negative. Using a linear system, the editor

  tablished by its internal structure (camera positions, editing,

  searched for material by running footage from beginning to

  color and lighting design, soundtrack). Perceiving this inter-

  end and joined shots sequentially, one after another. Such

  nal tempo, viewers label films as fast or slow moving, yet

  editors were in physical contact with actual film, unlike

  internal structural time never unfolds at a constant rate. It

  those using nonlinear systems who access an electronic sig-

  is a dynamic rhythm. Filmmakers vary the tempo of internal

  nal via a keyboard.

  structural time to maintain viewer interest.

  Live Action Those components of a special effects shot or

  Interocular Distance The amount of distance or separation

  scene that were filmed live before the camera. These elements

  between human eyes. Stereoscopic cinema scales interocular

  may then be composited with digital effects.

  distance in terms of dual camera position to elicit 3D effects.

  Long Shot One of the basic camera positions in which a

  Interpretation The goal of criticism. By examining a film’s

  camera is set up at some distance from the subject of the

  structure, a critic assigns meaning to a scene or film that it

  shot. Filmmakers usually use long shots to stress environ-

  does not immediately denote.

  ment or setting.

  Interpretive Processing The viewer’s attribution of mean-

  Long Take A shot of long duration, as distinct from a long

  ing to audiovisual information, as distinct from perceptual

  shot, which designates a camera position.

  processing, which is the purely perceptual response to

  this information. Film viewing involves both components.

  Low-Angle A camera angle usually below the eye level of

  Understood in terms of perceptual processing, a viewer

  performers in a scene.

  watching a cross-cut sequence sees a succession of shots

  Low-Key Lighting A lighting design that maximizes con-

  flashing by on screen as an alternating series. Via interpre-

  trast and fall-off by lighting selected areas of the scene for

  tive processing, the viewer attributes a representation of si-

  proper exposure and leaving all other areas underexposed.

  multaneous action to the alternating series. This attribution

  Majors The large studio-distributors that fund film pro-

  is not a meaning contained within the images themselves. It

  duction and distribute films internationally. Collectively,

  is the viewer’s contribution.

  these companies constitute the Hollywood industry. They

  Iris An editing transition prevalent in silent cinema. A cir-

  are Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, MGM/UA,

  cular mask closed down over the image (an iris out) to mark

  Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Universal.

  the end of a scene or, alternatively, opened up (an iris in) to

  Male Matte In a matte/counter-matte system, the male

  introduce a new scene.

  matte, also known as a holdout matte, is a black silhou-

  Jump Cut A method of editing that produces discontinuity

  ette of the foreground element with all other areas of

  by leaving out portions of the action.

  the film frame being transparent. The opaque silhouette

  Key Frames In digital animation, the points at which a

  blocks light from being transmitted through the film in

  character’s position changes substantially. The animator

  this area during printing (or, if working digitally, during

  specifies and creates these key frames, and a software pro-

  compositing).

  gram then creates the intervening frames.

  Master Shot A camera position used by filmmakers to

  Key Light The main source of illumination in a scene usu-

  record the entire action of a scene from beginning to end.

  ally directed on the face of the performer. Along with fill

  Filmmakers reshoot portions of the scene in close-up and

  and back lights, it is one of the three principal sources of

  medium shot framings. Editors cut these into the master shot

  illumination in a scene.

  to create the changing optical viewpoints of an edited scene.

  Latent Meaning Meanings that are indirect or implied by a

  When used to establish the overall layout of a scene or loca-

  film’s narrative and audiovisual design. They are not direct,

  tion, the master shot can also double as an establishing shot.

  immediately obvious, or explicit.

  Matched Cut A cut joining two shots whose compositional

  Leitmotif A recurring musical passage used to characterize

  elements strongly match. Matched cutting establishes conti-

  a scene, character, or situation in a film narrative.

  nuity of action.

  6

  Glossary

  Matte A painted landscape or location that is composited

  from a multiplane camera. It can move toward or away

  with the live action components of a shot. Mattes were

  from them, and they can be moved across its field of view.

  traditionally done as paintings on glass, but many con-

  Multipass Compositing Method for creating a final, ren-

  temporary films use digital mattes created on a computer.

  dered image from separate operations carried out upon

  Matte can also refer to a mask that is used to block or hide

  different image layers. Prior to the digital era, multi-pass

  a portion of the frame, as when producing a widescreen im-

  compositing had been carried out on optical printers. Some

  age in theatrical projection. See Soft-Matted , Hard-Matted,

  of the optical printer effects shots in Return of the Jedi were

  Counter-Matte, Traveling Matte .

  so complex that they required more than a hundred passes.

  Maquette A small, 3D sculpture that forms the basis for

  Music One of the three basic types of film sound. Film

  subsequent digital animation. Often used in creature effects.

  music may include the score that accompanies the dramatic

  Medium Shot One of the basic camera positions in which

  action of scenes as well
as music originating on screen from

  a camera is set up to record from full- to half-figure shots of

  within a scene.

  a performer.

  Negative Cost Accounting term for the expenses incurred

  Melodrama The predominant dramatic style of popular

  by a film production, excluding the cost of advertising and

  cinema, emphasizing clear moral distinctions between hero

  publicity.

  and villain, exaggerated emotions, and a narrative style in

  Negative Parallax In stereoscopic cinema, placement of

  which the twists and turns of the plot determine character

  the left-eye image on the right, and the right-eye image on

  behavior.

  the left, requiring that viewers converge their eyes to fuse

  Method Acting An approach to screen performance in

  the images. This results in positioning objects in front of the

  which the actor seeks to portray a character by using per-

  screen.

  sonal experience and emotion as a foundation for the por-

  Neonoir Film noir made in the contemporary period and

  trayal.

  shot in color.

  Miniature A small-scale model representing a portion of a

  Neorealism A filmmaking style that developed in postwar

  much larger location or building.

  Italian cinema. The neorealist director aimed to truthfully

  Mise-en-scène A film’s overall visual design, created by

  portray Italian society by avoiding the gloss and glitter of

  all of the elements that are placed before the camera. These

  expensive studio productions, emphasizing instead location

  include light, color, costumes, sets, and actors.

  filmmaking, a mixture of non- and semiprofessional actors,

  Mockumentary A fiction film that uses the style of docu-

  and simple, straightforward visual technique.

  mentary to create the illusion, typically for comic effect, that

  Newspaper/Television Reviewing A mode of film criticism

  it is a documentary.

  aimed at a general audience that performs an explicit con-

  Monocular Depth Cues Informational sources about

  sumer function, telling readers whether or not they should

  depth, distance and spatial layout that can be perceived with

  see the film being reviewed. Film reviews presented as part of

  one eye.

  television news or review programs also belong to this mode.

  Montage Used loosely, montage simply means “edit-

  New Wave A new stylistic direction or design appearing

  ing.” In a strict sense, however, montage designates

  within a national cinema in the films of a group of (usually

  scenes whose emotional impact and visual design are

  young) directors who are impatient with existing styles and

  achieved primarily through the editing of many brief

  seek to create alternatives.

  shots. The shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho is a

  Nodal Tripod Camera mount that enables a camera to

  classic example of montage editing.

  pivot around the optical center of the lens, producing no

  Motion Control Cinematography in which the camera’s

  motion perspective. Often used in shots employing hanging

  movements are plotted by computer so that they can be rep-

  miniatures to disguise the presence of the miniature.

  licated when designing the digital components of the shot.

  Nondiegetic sound Sound that cannot be heard by charac-

  Motion Parallax Also known as motion perspective , the

  ters in a film but can be heard by the film’s viewer. See also

  term designates the changing positions of near and far ob-

  diegetic sound.

  jects as the viewer or the camera moves through space.

  Nonlinear Editing Systems Computerized editing on digital

  Motion Perspective The change in visual perspective

  video. This system gives editors instantaneous access to any

  produced by the camera’s movement through space. The

  shot or scene in a film and enables them to rapidly explore

  visual positions of objects undergo systematic changes as the

  different edits of the same footage. Once a final cut has been

  camera moves in relation to them. Camera movement will

  reached on the digital video footage, the camera negative is

  produce motion perspective but a zoom shot will not.

  then conformed (edited to match) this cut. Unlike an editor

  Multiplane Camera A standard tool of 2D animation used

  using a linear system who would actually handle film, the

  to produce effects of camera movement and motion and

  nonlinear editor uses a computer keyboard to find shots and

  depth perspective. Cells are arranged at varying distances

  join them together.

  7

  Glossary

  Nonsynchronous Sound Sound that is not in synch with a

  Perceptual Processing The film viewer’s perceptual response

  source visible on screen.

  to audiovisual information, as distinct from interpretive pro-

  cessing, which is the active interpretation of that information.

  Normal Lens A lens of moderate focal length that does not

  Film viewing involves both components. The viewer sees color,

  distort object size and depth of field. The normal lens records

  depth, and movement (perceptual processing) in cinema and

  perspective much as the human eye does.

  may attribute particular meanings to those perceptions (inter-

  Off-Screen Sound A type of sound in which the sound-

  pretive processing). Understood in terms of perceptual process-

  producing source remains off-screen. Off-screen sound

  ing, a viewer watching a cross-cut sequence sees a succession

  extends the viewer’s perception of a represented screen

  of shots flashing by on-screen as an alternating series. Via in-

  location into an indefinite area of off-screen space.

  terpretive processing, the viewer attributes a representation of

  180-Degree Rule The foundation for establishing conti-

  simultaneous action to the alternating series. This attribution

  nuity of screen direction. The left and right coordinates of

  is not a meaning contained within the images themselves. It is

  screen action remain consistent as long as all camera posi-

  the viewer’s contribution.

  tions remain on the same side of the line of action. Crossing

  Perceptual Realism The correspondence of picture and

  the line entails a change of screen direction.

  sound in cinema with the ways viewers perceive space and

  Open Matte Formatting of 1.85:1 aspect ratio films for the

  sound in the real, three-dimensional world.

  television/home video ratio of 4:3 by transferring the film

  Perceptual Transformation Those properties of cinema

  full frame without the matting that was used during projec-

  (e.g., a telephoto lens or a simultaneous zoom and track in

  tion in theaters.

  opposite directions) that distort or alter the visual informa-

  Optical Printer Device used to composite effects shots dur-

  tion that viewers encounter in the everyday world or that

  ing the Hollywood studio era. Optical printers were made

  create completely novel visual experi
ences that have no basis

  of a synchronized process camera and a process projector

  in real-world experience. An example of the latter would be

  that was called the printer head. Master positive footage of

  the high-speed bullet effects used in The Matrix.

  effects elements—models, travelling mattes, animation—was

  Performance Capture Digital means for extracting the

  loaded into the printer head and run through and photo-

  movements of a live actor and compositing these into a

  graphed frame by frame in the process camera. (A process

  cartoon or special effects character. The live actor’s perfor-

  camera is one used in the laboratory for effects work, in

  mance is thereby mapped onto the digital character.

  distinction to a production camera used to film live action.)

  Performance Style The actor’s contribution to the audiovi-

  The final composite (the finished effects shot) was created

  sual and narrative design of a film.

  gradually by this process of re-photographing each of its

  components.

  Persistence of Vision A characteristic of the human eye in

  which the retina briefly retains the impression of an image

  Ordinary Fictional Realism A subcategory of the real-

  after its source has been removed. Because of persistence of

  ist mode of screen reality. Such films feature a naturalistic

  vision, viewers do not see the alternating periods of light

  visual design, a linear narrative, and plausible character be-

  and dark through which they sit in a theater.

  havior as the basis for establishing a realist style.

  Phi Phenomena The many different conditions under

  Pan A type of camera movement in which the camera piv-

  which the human eye can be fooled into seeing the illusion

  ots from side to side on a fixed tripod or base. Pans produce

  of movement. Beta movement is one of the phi phenomena.

  lateral optical movement on-screen and are often used to

  follow the action of a scene or to anticipate the movements

  Photogrammetry Method of building a 3D environment in

  of performers.

  the computer by using photographs. By tracing the camera’s

  lines of sight in multiple photographs of the same area, and

  Pan-and-Scan A method of formatting wide-screen motion

  plotting their intersection, a 3D model of the depicted area

  pictures for video release. Only a portion of the original

  can be assembled.

  wide-screen image is transferred to video. A full screen im-