Intro Film

the study of how history is written or constructed--narratives are the result of precesses of selection and construction (film history must be reflected upon, not just in relation to its content, but also in relation to the processes by which it has been written)

an overarching account of some area of human experience which attempts to make complete sense of that ares (related to metatheory--an overarching, all-embracing system for explaining some area of human experience)

has been a move away from metanrratives in historical studies and from metetheory in theoretical studies (in film studies)

the way in which an image can contain a whole world of significance and meaning

what is filmed (setting, props, costumes, etc.)

Nelmes also connects with cinematography--how it is filmed (depth of field, focus, lighting, and camera movement)--also called mise-en-shot

(coined by Gilles Deleuze)

a cinema in which the image is at the service of the narrative, and in which the audience experience is of the 'movement' of the film toward the closure of the narrative resolution

development from the movement image

suggests a cinema in which the narrative priorities of mainstream commercial cinema are replaced by ones which are more reflective--in particular, our understanding and experience of time becomes central

the mental processing of audio-visual information in ways that allow us to 'place' and 'manage' the film experience

There is an implication that the automatic nature of this processing is part of the relatively passive pleasure of mainstream commercial cinema. Other kinds of cinema may disrupt the sensory motor mechanism.

division of the film industry concentrating on the public screening of the film

division concentrating on the marketing of film, conneting the producer with the exhibitor by leasing films from the former and renting them to the latter

division concentrating on the making of film

an association of companies, operating collectively in the marketplace by pooling the patents held by each individual company

Edison's first movie camera

where a company is organised so that it oversees a product from the planning/development stage, through production, through market distribution, through to the end-user

in the case of the film industry, this translates to a company controlling production, marketing and exhibition of its film

a group of companies operating together to control the market for a commodity --illegal in U.S.

where a state of limited competition exists between a small group of producers or settlers

important cinemas would show films immediately upon their theatrical release ('first-run')

similar local theaters would show films on subsequents runs ('second/third-runs')

1930's government program designed to rescue the American economy from the Great Depression (commonly known as 'New Deal')

court order made with the consent of both parties (defendent and plaintiff) which puts to rest the lawsuit brough against the former by the latter

where a film is only screened in one cinema

where a film is shown simultaneously at a number of cinemas

showing a movie in a few cities (in up to 200 screens) to help build up word-of-mouth enthusiasm for "off-center" (mainstream, but not blockbuster) films

where a film opens 'wide' and is shown simultaneously at an enormous number of cinemas, accompanied by heavy media promotion

linked to saturation runs

becoming an entrenched stratgy for 'event' films such as big summer releases where a film can open in 3,000+ US and Canadian screens simultaneously

help ensure that big films reap big returns at box office (particularly on opening weekend before reviews come out)

free coverage of subjects the media feel are newsworthy

promotion on TV, radio, billboards, printed media and the internet

mutually beneficial promotion liaisons between films and other consumer products and/or personalities

where manufacturers pay a film company to use a film title or image on their products

(highly problematic term, various definitions)

• Nelmes--a production realised outside one of the Majors
• --does not imply a production context outside the mianstream institutional framework altogether, nor does it imply a film produced in an alternative aesthetic format to "classic Hollywood"

combined or related action by a group of individuals or corporations towards a common goal, the combined effect of which exceed the sum of the individual efforts

meaning, literally, 'put into the scene'

term originated in theater--everything which appears within the frame including setting, props, costume, and make-up, lighting, the behavior of performers, cinematography, and special effects

sometimes also referred to as 'montage' (from French monter-'to assemble')

joining together of different pieces of film stock in post-production

both a historical period within Hollywood cinema (which ended the decline of the vertically integrated studio system in the 1950s), and to the narrative and formal conventions established and promoted during this time; the terms 'classical narrative' and 'Hollywood narrative' are frequently used interchangeable with the term 'mainstream narrative' since this constitutes cinema's dominant mode of story telling

meaning literally 'advanced guard'

an aesthetic term for art (and artists) seeking to challenge, subvert or reinvent artistic tenets and conventions

a ramatically experimental trend within the arts which grew up at the start of the twentieth century, encompassing a wide array of movements along with the innoations of individual artists not directly affiliated with a particular movement

involves a rejection of nineteenth-century styles, traditions, and ideas, and a self-conscious (self-reflexive) appraoch to aesthetic forms, in which artistic expression was itself explored, questioned, and reinvented

a literary theory which developed in Russia in the early 1920's, which sought to establish a scientific basis for the study of literature and literary effects

a dissolve is an editing technique using superimposition, which produces a gradual transition between one image and the next, during which the two shots for a time occupy the frame simultaneously, appearing merged together

emphasizes this transition through the introduction of ripples, or waves, within the image

(flashback)

an elliptical cut, where the transition between one image and the next is disruptive because it is in some way spatially or temporally inconsisten, or because the two images involved are very similar

the fictional world in which we presume the story takes place

the use of digital software to create, change, or enhance aspects of mise-en-scene

lighting design (normally using a three-point system) where there is little contrast between the light and shadowed areas of the frame

lighting design where there is a stark contrast between the light and shadowed areas of the frame--frequently produced using ony one light source

term originated in critical discourses on film noir

dangerous, seductive, female characters who are normally literally 'fatal' in that they cause the death of the hero

one uninterrupted (uncut) image on-screen whether it is shot with a mobile or a stationary camera

refers (during shooting) to a single, uninterrupted recording of the camera before the director calls 'cut'

the choices made about what to include within the frame and what to exclude

provided by the arrangement of setting, lighting, and props within the frame, which determine the degree to which the space depicted in the cinematic image appears to recede backwards and to take on three-dimensionality

converging lines, size diminution, and the suggestion of different 'planes' in the fore, middle, and background of the shot all accentuate the sense that there is a lot of space between the camera and the farthest visible object in the frame

the range of shots which suggest the apparent distance of an object from the cmaera

conentionally defined according to the framing of the human form

object shown takes up most of the screen (face from neck up)

object shown takes up virtually the whole screen (as in a shot of a body part, such as a leg or an eye)

object shown (typically human body from head to toe) fills around three-quarters of the height of the screen

object shown (typically a human body from head to toe) fills a small fraction of the screen

also known as the 'plan Americain' because of frequency in classical Hollywood

human body is shown from mid-calf/knees upward

human body is shown from waist upwards

a framing containing two or three people

camera looks down from above on to the objects or scene filmed

camera looks up from below at objects or scene filmed

camera is at same level as objects or scene filmed

camera is not level causing mise-en-scene to appear slanted withing frame

camera movement in which camera itself remains in the same place but swivels round horizontally

very fast pan

camera movement in which the camera moves horizontally by travelling along the ground (originally on 'tracks' on which a wheeled support 'dolly' for camera could be mounted)

camera movement in which the camera remains in one place but swivels up or down

camera movement in which camera moves above the ground in any direction (for which it is mounted on the arm of a special 'camera crane')

shot at start of film or scene which establishes spatial relationships within mise-en-scene and locates the story within the diagesis

opening within a lens controlling the amount of light that passes through the lens to the film

smaller perture= less light hitting film

the ability of a lens to bend the incoming light on to the film plane

shorter focal length provides wider angle of view (dictates what appears within frame)

longer focal length provides narrower field of view but greater magnification of what is shown

sensitivity of the photographic emulsion of the film to light

higher speed of film will require less light (smaller aperture may be used) in order to produce a properly exposed image--tends to provide greater contrast in tone than slower film stock

shot in which lens alters the angle of view (either from narrow to wide or wide to narrow)

effect is sudden change in shot scale within one take

process by which more than one image is exposed on the same frames of the film stock

type of shot in which aspects of mise-en-scene are photographed separately and then combined into one image in post-production

opaque images mask out certain areas of film negative, and subsequent passes through the camera allow the initially matted-out space to be exposed with another image--nowadays often achieved using 'blue screen'- process where action filmed in front of a blue screen. footage then used to create an image of performers infront of a dark background, silhouette of the performer against a clear background, which is used to 'cut out' space for performer in the scene on to which the action is to be matted

joining of two strips of film in the editing room, and the resulting immediate change from one image to another on-screen

an editing technique in which one of the juxtaposed images in a black screen

• 'fade out' -- image slowly darkens
• 'fade in' -- image slowly emerges out of darkness

editing techniques in which the transition from one imag to another is marked by the closing and reopening of an 'irish' or circular hole in center of frame

editing that alternates shots occurring in different story locations to imply that the events shown are occurring simultaneously

editing that produces violent contrast between images, most often by switching between close and long shot scales

editing where shots repeat part or all of the action shown in the previous shot

editing technique which dictates that the camera should remain on one side of an imaginary line drawn through a scene

editing technique which dictates that the camera should be stationed at an angle of at least 30 degrees from its location in the previous shot

cut in which one shot shows a person looking at something off-screen, and the other shot is thereby posited as the object of that person's gaze

more usually the shot showing the gazing person comes first, although cuts which show the gazer second are by no means uncommon

cut which joins two spaces together by virtue of the fact that an action shown in the first shot is then completed in the second

cut which switches between complementary spaces, sometimes with the camera stationed in almost opposing/facing positions within the confines of the 180 degree rule

an audio connection between scenes, where sound from one scene continues into the beginning of the scene which follows, or where sound belonging to the opening of a scene begins during the close of the scene which precedes it

the height or depth of a musical sound as it is determined by its frequency relative to other notes

tonal quality of a musical sound

(what makes a saxophone sound different from a clarinet)

has political significance, manipulating the spectator into specific ways of thinking about and relating to the world

developed as a central concept in relation to the control of the spectator

cinematic looking has also been ssociated with theories ofdesire and ppleasure, theories often founded in psychoanalysis

the distinctive way the film spectator is placed inside the fiction world of the film, placed by the apparatus and by the conventions of film form (such as in shot-reverse shot dialogue editing)

captures the idea that a set of ideas, attitudes, practices, become so dominant that we forget that they are rooted in the exercise of power and that we could choose differently

hegemonic ideas, attitudes, practices appear as 'common sense' and any alternatives appear odd or potentially threatening by comparison--the ideological rendered invisible

a familiar pattern recognised by the mind that allows us to orient ourselves and make sense of what is in front of us

we automatically look for schemas we have become accustomed to from our previous experience of film

usually seen to have developed circa 1920 and lasting until circa 1950

indicates the period of Hollywood history in which the major studios controlled all aspects of the production, distribution and exhibition of their products

used by critics in a number of different ways--can refer to the contemporary historical moment (period after modernity)

an artistic or aesthetic stle which priveleges surface appearances over 'deep meaning' or 'truth'

theoretical position which adopts a sceptical attitude towards toalising notions of truth, reality, and progress

characterized by strategies of irony, intertextuality, pastiche, bricolage, eclecticism, self-reflexivity

strongly linked with postmodernism

designates the ways in which a film either explicitly or implicity refers to other films (through allusion, imitation, parody or pastiche) or in its broader sense, the varius relationships one text may have with other texts

an aesthetic style in which a new composition is composed wholly or in part from elements selected from a range of previous styles, forms, texts, genres drawn from different periods and from both high and popular culture

one of the principal aesthetic strategies of postmodern art

the practice of classification

the practice of classifying films into groups baed on similarities of form and/or content

a term used to describe and categorise visual motifs in films--usually associated with genre insofar as visual patterns of setting, dress, props and style have been used to classify and analyze films generically, but also shares similarities with mise-en-scene

used to describe films or texts which self-consciously acknowledge or reflect upon their own status as fictional artefacts and/or the processes involved in their creation--one of the principal aesthetic strategies of postmodern art

term used by Jim Collins to describe the extreme 'knowingness' and high degree of media iteracy evinced by both contemporary cinema and its audience

literally-a manuscript written over a previous text that has been entirely or partly erased

figuratively-a film or text with multiple levels of meaning created through dense layers of intertextuality--associated with postmodern aesthetics

the 'outside' of the film/text

the range of cultural texts which relate in some way to the film/text, but in a narrower sense refers to the non-filmic intertexts which in varying degrees relate to the film/text (such as marketing and promotional materials, film reviews)

French term-originated in the pages of film journal Cahiers du cinema in 1950s

directors who infuse their films with their distinctive personal vision through the salient manipulation of film technique--"genuine artists"

contrasted with metteurs-en-scene

technically competent directors who merely execute the processes of filmmaking without consistently stamping their 'personality' on the material from one film to the next

to study film as if it were the creative expression of a single individual, usually held to be the director

coined by Monroe Beardsley

the difference between a text's meaning and what its author intended

criticism dependent on or directed towards uncovering the intentions of the author/artist falls foul of the 'intentional fallacy' insofar as the meaning of a text is not fixed within it, but created in the historically situated act of reading

period of Hollywood history in which the major studios controlled all aspects of the production, distribution, and exhibition of their products

designates the ways in which a film either explicitly or implicity refers to other films or various relationships one text may have with others

recently coined term which describes 'virtual' or non-human actors

digitally scanned or motion-captured versions of 'real' actors, as well as entirely computer-generated characters

used here to indicate a version of popularized (and to some extent individualized) feminism that different from (comes after) the highly politicized feminism of 1970s