Week2

Ch.1 Looking at movie

1)formal analysis
-an analytical approach concerned with the means by which a subject is expressed

2)viewer expectations
-our experience of any given film is affected by how that film manipulates expectations.

3)Cultural invisibility, a consequence of shared belief systems, frequently

- is often motivated by a commercial instinct.

- is not always a calculated decision on the part of the filmmakers.

- sometimes leads to viewers being unaware of the film’s implied message.

4)Movies are not similar to stage plays since they generally provide the viewer with a single, uninterrupted, wide-angle view of on-screen action.

5)In movies, meaning is often absorbed intuitively. Some techniques that contribute to a movie having this “invisible meaning” include

-fade-in/fade-out, low-angle shot, and cutting on action.

6)Cutting on action is a common editing technique that hides the shift from one shot to the next by ending the first shot in the middle of a continuing action and starting the next shot at some point further along in the same action.

7)Definition of editing accurately describes film editing as one of the defining characteristics that distinguish movies from other art forms

-the joining together of shots to control what the viewer sees in a movie and how the viewer sees it.

8)cinematic language

-techniques and concepts filmmakers use to connect viewers to a film, which often conceal the means of storytelling

9)implicit meaning

-meaning that lies below the surface of a movie’s story and presentation

Ch2.Principles Of Film Form

1)A movie is a coordinated synthesis of performance, composition, sound, and editing that creates meaning to tell a story. When we analyze this synthesis we are analyzing a film’s form.

2)Realism is concerned with representation and the actual.

3)Cinematic language combines various elements such as lighting, movement, sound, and camera effects into single shots that create meaning analogous to a sentence.

4)Addressing the relationship between form and expectations, this chapter illustrates how a movie's structure is organized around the viewer’s desire to learn the answers to questions posed by story elements.

5)Viewers identify with the lens as filmmakers use the camera to make meaning.

6)What is a MacGuffin?

-It is something of vital importance to the characters in a film that turns out to be less significant to the overall narrative than first expected.

7)A movie is verisimilar if it has the appearance of truth.