3x5 INDEX CARDS ARE YOUR FRIEND!!!

1.1VOCABULARY:

Cinema - The production of movies as an art or industry.

Persistence of Vision - Aphenomenon whereby the retina retains a brief afterimage of something seen.

Critical Flicker Fusion – The point at which a rapidly flashing light appears continuous.

Apparent Motion – The point at which rapidly presented images appear to move smoothly.

Celluloid - A flexible transparent strip used to capture images.

Intermittent Motion - Motion that is not continuous.

Maltese Cross Gear - Two gears designed so that one gear uses intermittent motion.

Kinetoscope – A box containing a motion picture viewable through a peep hole.

Projector - A device with a system of lenses used to project slides of film onto a screen.

Film Studio - A room from which various films are produced and recorded.

Black Maria - A studio invented by Edison that rotates to admit sunlight.

Patent - A government license conferring the sole right to exclude others from making, using or selling and invention.

Special Effects - Illusions or visual tricks used in film.

Cutting -Severing a length of film into two pieces.

Splicing - Attaching two separate pieces together using tape.

Chiaroscuro - The use of strong contrast between light and dark in images.

Fill Light – Lighting used to soften shadows on a subject.

1.2VOCABULARY:

Shutter – A mechanical iris that opens and closes to block light.

Vitaphone Disc – A disc separate from a film reel synched to play sound meant to be paired with video.

Reel - A cylinder on which celluloid is wound.

Soundtrack – The part of a film strip containing all of a film’s sound.

Pantomime – Conveying meaning using nothing more than exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.

Synchronization –Any process ensuring that audio and video occur simultaneously in film.

Talkies - Films that include sound and spoken dialogue.

Blimp - A box or hood covering a camera in order to block sound.

Boom Mic - A microphone suspended on a stick used to record sound.

Foley Stage - A studio designed to fake sound effects for use in a film.

Silent Film - A film with no synchronized recorded sound or dialogue.

1.3VOCABULARY:

Auditory – Of or related to the sense of hearing.

The Elements of Sound – Speech, music and noise.

Diegetic Sound – Sound that naturally inhabits the scene being filmed.

Non-Diegetic Sound – Sound that does not naturally inhabit the scene being filmed.

Musical Score – Background music composed by an orchestra for a film.

Bass – Low, deep, heavy sound.

Voiceover – Dialogue in film not accompanied by an image of the speaker.

Dialogue Overlap – Arranging a cut so that dialogue beginning in shot A continues in shot B.

1.4VOCABULARY:

Wild Sound – Sound recorded on set while the camera is not running.

Takes – An unedited attempt to record a useable shot.

Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) – A technique where actors use lip-sync to re-record dialogue.

Voiceover – Dialogue in film not accompanied by an image of the speaker.

Dissonance – Clashing chord combinations that create tension, suspense.

Leitmotif – A recurring musical theme associated with a particular character, object or idea.

Genre – The expectations and conventions typical of films belonging to a given type or category.

Show-Business – Theater, movies, television and pop music as a profession or industry.

Choreography – The art of planning the movement of a group of performers.

Musicals – (conventions of this genre include all of the bulleted entries below …)

  • Pre-recorded musical numbers and lip-synching.
  • Musicals tend to be brightly lit and filled with colorful costumes and settings.
  • Most are optimistic, light-hearted stories that feature romance and comedy.
  • Settings and themes tend to involve elements of show-business.
  • Characters tend to express their strongest emotions through song and dance.
  • Cameras tend to be very mobile in order to draw attention to the choreographic elements of the film.

Theme – A concept or idea explored throughout a work of literature, art or film.

Symbolism –An object that has deeper meaning associated with it in literature, art or film.