Film Language

29/3/2016 Film Language | Film English
FILM LANGUAGE
Here is a glossary of film terms :
Animation
A form of filmmaking characterised by photographing
inanimate objects or individual drawings frame by frame,
with each frame differeing minutely from the previous
frame. When these images are projected at the standard
speed of twentyfour frames per second, the images appear
to move.
Here is a nice example of a short animation film.
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http://filmenglish.com/filmglossary/ 1/43
04:28
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Auteur
French for “author”. Used by critics writing for Cahiers
du cinema and other journals to indicate the figure,
usually the director, who stamped a film with his/her own
“personality”. The concept allowed critics to evaluate
highly works of American genre cinema that were otherwise
dismissed in favor of the developing European art cinema.
Auteur theory emphasises the director as the major
creator of film art.
Here is part of a documentary on auteur theory.
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Quotes on the Auteur Theory (pt.1)
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Costume
The clothes that characters wear. Costume in narrative
cinema is used to signify character, or advertise
particular fashions, or to make clear distinctions between
characters.
Here is short video clip which examines the work of a
costume designer.
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The Costume Designer - LA Times Trailer
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Biopic
A biographical film normally about the life of a famous
person.
Here is the trailer to Ray about the life of the singer
ray Charles.
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Captions/ titles
Written labels on the screen. A title designer is
responsible for the captions. One of the most famous title
designers was Saul Bass who worked on many of Hitchcock’s
films. Here are the titles for Vertigo.
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Saul Bass Titles for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' (1958)
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Here is a short film which celebrates Saul Bass’ title
design.
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01:46
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The Title Design of Saul Bass from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.
This short film gives a brief history of title design.
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02:34
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A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on
Vimeo.
Cinematographer, director of photography
The artist responsible for the lighting of a shot and the
quality of the photography in a film.
Here is a master class in cinematography by Christopher
Doyle, the renowned cinematographer of film such as In
The Mood for Love and The Quiet American.
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Christopher Doyle Masterclass in Cinematography
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Diegesis
The narrative elements that are shown or inferred from the
content of a film. The diegesis includes objects, events,
spaces and the characters that inhabit them, including
things, actions, and attitudes not explicitly presented in
the film but inferred by the audience. The audience
constructs a diegetic world from the material presented in
a narrative film.
Dolly shot, tracking shot, trucking shot
A shot taken from a moving vehicle. In the past tracks
were laid on the set to permit a smoother movement of the
camera.
In Hitchcock’s North by Northwest we can see this example
of a dolly shot.
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perseguit trveling
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In the opening scene of Trainspotting there are several
dollying shots to follow the characters as they run.
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Choose Life - Trainspotting (1/12) Movie CLIP (1996) HD
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Editing
The joining together of clips of film into a single
filmstrip. The cut is a simple edit but there are many
other possible ways to transition from one shot to
another.
Here is part of a documentary which explains the work of a
film editor.
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The Magic of Movie Editing
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film/movie buff
A film enthusiast.
Here is a short film which explains how to become a film
buff.
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How to Become a Movie Buff
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Flashback / Flashforward
A jump backwards or forwards in diegetic time. With the
use of flashback / flashforward the order of events in the
plot no longer matches the order of events in the story.
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) is a famous film
composed almost entirely of flashbacks and flashforwards.
The film timeline spans over 60 years, as it traces the
life of Charles Foster Kane from his childhood to his
deathbed — and on into the repercussions of his actions on
the people around him. Some characters appear at several
time periods in the film, usually being interviewed in the
present and appearing in the past as they tell the
reporter of their memories of Kane.
Here is part of documenary discussing the importance of
Citizen Kane.
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1. Citizen Kane (1941)
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Focus
Focus refers to the degree to which light rays coming from
any particular part of an object pass through the lens and
reconverge at the same point on a frame of the film
negative, creating sharp outlines and distinct textures
that match the original object. “Out of focus” means the
images are blurred and lack acceptable linear definition.
In Deconstructing Harry by Woody Allen the main character
is deliberately shot out of focus.
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Out of focus
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Freeze frame
A device which allows you to pause the film and freeze the
image. One of the most famous uses of freeze frame is the
final shot in Truffuat’s 400 Blows.
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four hundred blows
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Genres
Types of film recognized by audiences and/or producers.
These types are distinguished by narrative or stylistic
conventions.
Here is short clip of the American Film Institute’s Top 10
films by genre.
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My List of the American Film Institute Top 10 by Film Genre
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Miseenscene
All the things that are “put in the scene”: the setting,
the decor, the lighting, the costumes, the performance
etc.
In this short clip there is an explanation and examples of
miseenscene.
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Mise-En-Scene, 4 Minute Film School : Indy Mogul
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Scene
A scene is a segment of a narrative film that usually
takes place in a single time and place, often with the
same characters.
Here is one of the most famous scenes from Hitchcock’s
Rear Window.
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Rear Window: The Kiss
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Script, Screenplay, Scenario
A written description of a film’s dialogue and action,
sometimes with basic camera directions.
In this film a screenwriter explains how to write a
screenplay.
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Film Riot - Learn to Write Screenplays for Film
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In this short clip a scriptwriter explains how to write a
filmscript.
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How To Write a Movie Script : How to Format a Three-Act …
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Shot
A single stream of images, uninterrupted by editing; a
unit of film in which the camera does not stop filming.
TYPES OF SHOT:
ANGLES
Aerial shot:
A shot taken from a crane, plane, or helicopter,
restricted to exterior locations.
The trailer for Psycho starts with an aerial shot of
Hitchcock outside The Bates Motel.
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Psycho Trailer (1960)
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Birds’s eye view
A shot in which the camera photographs the scene from
directly overhead.
Crane shot
A shot taken from a mechanical device called a crane which
can carry the camera in any direction.
High angle shot
A shot taken from above the subject.
Low angle shot
A shot taken from below the subject.
SHOT SIZES
Extreme long shot
A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very
small; a building, landscape, or crowd of people will fill
the screen.
Establishing shot
Long or full shot
A type of long shot that includes the human body in full,
with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near
the bottom.It makes for a relatively stable shot that can
accomodate movement without reframing .
Medium long shot
Framing such than an object four or five feet high would
fill most of the screen vertically. Also called plain
américain, given its recurrence in the Western genre,
where it was important to keep a cowboy’s weapon in the
image.
Medium closeup
A relatively close shot, revealing the human figure from
the waist up.
Closeup
A detailed view of a person or object. A framing in which
the scale of the object shown is relatively large. In a
closeup a person’s head, or some other similarly sized
object, would fill the frame.
Extreme closeup
A shot in which the scale of the object shown is very
large, a minutely detailed view of an object or person.
Faces are the most recurrent images in extreme closeups.
An extreme closeup of an actor usually includes only his
or her eyes or mouth.
Point of view shot
A shot taken with the camera placed approximately where
the character’s eyes would be, showing what the character
would see; usually cut in before or after a shot of the
character looking. Horror films and thrillers often use
POV shots to suggest a menacing and unseen presence in the
scene. In Force of Evil we see Franks face in a point of
view shot from the killer above: Then we cut to the
killers face from Franks point of view below.
Reaction shot
A shot to show an emotional response to the immediately
preceding action or words of another character in the
scene, or to an event in the immediately preceding scene
which may or may not involve another actor (e.g., an
explosion, monster, empty room, etc.)
Two shot
A medium featuring two actors in the same frame.
Three shot
A medium featuring three actors in the same frame.
Dutch Tilt
A shot in which the camera angle is deliberately slanted
to one side. This can be used for dramatic effect and
helps portray unease, disorientation, frantic or desperate
action, intoxication or madness.
Stills
Still pictures taken from from a film.
This short clip looks at the work of a film stills
photographer.
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Movie / Film Stills Photographer
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Synopsis
A short description of the main parts of a story.
In this clip we have an explanation of how to write a film
synopsis.
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Writing Lessons : Writing a Film Synopsis
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Teaser
An opening sequence designed to catch the interest of the
audience.
The opening sequence of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs
certainly graps the audience’s attention.
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Thriller
A film with a lot of action and suspense
Trailer
A short filmed advertisement for a film using highlights
from the film with graphics and voiceover commentary to
publicise the film.
The trailer of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a
beautiful example.
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The Godfather - Official Trailer
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Stunts
A dangerous trick, usually done by a stunt man or woamn
substiting the actor.
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6 THOUGHTS ON “FILM LANGUAGE”
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29/3/2016 Film Language | Film English

Quotes on the Auteur Theory (pt.1)

The Costume Designer - LA Times Trailer

Saul Bass Titles for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' (1958)

Christopher Doyle Masterclass in Cinematography

Choose Life - Trainspotting (1/12) Movie CLIP (1996) HD

The Magic of Movie Editing

How to Become a Movie Buff

1. Citizen Kane (1941)

four hundred blows

My List of the American Film Institute Top 10 by Film Genre

Mise-En-Scene, 4 Minute Film School : Indy Mogul

Rear Window: The Kiss

Film Riot - Learn to Write Screenplays for Film

How To Write a Movie Script : How to Format a Three-Act …

Psycho Trailer (1960)

Movie / Film Stills Photographer

Writing Lessons : Writing a Film Synopsis

The Godfather - Official Trailer

6 THOUGHTS ON “FILM LANGUAGE”

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