Film Studies

Hey. In English this term, we are doing Film Studies. Did you know any of these terms? I sure did!

Frame - Dividing line between edges of screen image and the enclosing darkness
Cinematic shots - defined by the amount of subject matter within the frame
ELS - Extreme Long Shot - taken from a great distance
LS - Long Shot - shot taken from a distance to show landscape, a building or a large crowd
MS - Medium Shot - shot between long and close-up - taken from waist up
CU - Close-Up - shot of small object or face to fill screen - adds importance
ECU - Extreme Close-Up - Small object or part of face that covers whole screen
Over the Shoulder Shot - two figures, one to the back and other facing
Types of Angles
Bird's Eye View - Directly over the top of object
High Angle - h/a - Looks down at what is being photographed - general overview
Low Angle - l/a - Below the subject - increases height and power of subject
Oblique Angle - lateral tilt of camera - falling out of frame
Point of View - POV - a vantage of a particular character or what the character sees
"Eye-Level" - Roughly 5-6 feet off the ground - actual observer might view a scene
Camera Movement
Pan - Horizontally on fixed base
Tilt - Up or down on fixed base
Tacking (Dolly) Shot - through a space on a wheeled track (or dolly) - stays on same plane
Boom - Up or down though space
Zoom - Not a camera movement - shift of focal length of camera lens to give the imperssion that the camera is getting closer or farther away
Getting from Scene to Scene
Cut - Transition between scenes where one ends and another begins - Most Common
Dissolve - Gradual transition where one scene is superimposed over the beginning of another
Fade-Out/Fade-In - scene gradually goes dark or emerges from dark
Wipe - optical effect in which one shot appears to push the preceeding one from the screen
Iris - Optical effect in which one shot appears to emerge from a shape
What this means - Basic elements - to tell the basic elements of film that a director can use to tell his/her story - Through editing, these shots are put together to create a coherent story.