Basic Terminology Activity

Define each of the following and give a relevant example of each one.

Film – a thin flexible strip of plastic or other material coated with light-sensitive emulsion for exposure in a camera, used to produce photographs or motion pictures.

Cinema – A place where films are viewed,

Shot – A film sequence photographed continuously be by camera, Eg the movie's opening shot is of a character walking across a featureless landscape.

Edit – Choose material and arrange it to form a coherent whole.

Scene - a sequence of continuous action where the setting is fixed and does not usually involve a change of characters

Frame - A single complete picture in a series forming a movie.

Framing – Is a technique used to bring the focus to the subject.

Diegesis – A narrative or plot, typically in a movie.

Outline the four elements of Film Style. Discuss each element and again give relevant examples for each point. This includes film and reasoning

Mise-en-scene – The arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play. An example is that of a cluttered, disorganized apartment being used to reflect the disorganization in a character's life in general

Cinematography - Is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. For example the lighting used during a scene at night is not going to be ultra bright.

Editing - Is to remove unnecessary or inappropriate words, sounds, or scenes from a movie or text. For example to remove a scene because it ruins the fluency of the film.

Sound – Music, speech and sound effects when recorded used to accompany a film. For example a gun shot sound in a war scene.

What is a Narrative? List three films in which Narrative is extremely important.

A narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events.

V for Vendetta, Se7en, Gran Torino

What is Genre? List six different styles of Genre and list two films for each different style of Genre.

Comedy – The Hangover, Dodgeball

Horror – Paranormal Activity, The Grudge

Action – Die Hard, Mission Impossible

Drama – Invictus, The Lovely Bones,

Documentary – Bowling for Columbine, Sicko

Western – 3:10 to Yuma, Brokeback Mountain.

What is Intertextuality? How would you best explain this to someone who had never heard of it? Give three examples

Intertextuality is when there is a reference to another movie purely to evoke past memories for that film. Intertexuality is highly used in Mockumentary films Eg, Disaster movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie.