Film Language for GCSE (1)

8/15/2019 Film Language for GCSE (1)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-language-for-gcse-1 1/14

Editing The selection of material to make a coherent whole. In film and television an editor uses

a variety of methods to move from one sequence to another. This is referred to as a “transition”.

Montage The term is taken from the French “to assemble”. It has several meanings in the

contet of film and is not eclusively used to refer to “!oviet Montage”. "#$ It is used as a

synonym for editing. "%$ In &ollywood cinema it means to edit a concentrated sequence using a

series of brief transitions creating the effect of the 'assage of time or movement over largedistances or for e'ressionistic moods. "($ Thematic or “!oviet” montage was develo'ed by

!ergei Eisenstein by arranging striking )uta'ositions of individual shots to suggest an idea that

goes beyond meanings within an individual shot. &e called this “collision montage”. "*$ +ny

sequence that creates a 'articularly significant effect mainly through its editing. The shower

scene in ,sycho would be such an eam'le.

M+-/ E0EME1T!2

G R A I N: 3E1E4 E,E!E1T+TI/14

+56IE1-E4 I1!TIT5TI/14 1++TI7E3enre The classification of any media tet into a category or ty'e4 for eam'le2 news4 horror4

documentary4 soa' o'era and so on. 3enres tend to have identifiable codes "technical codes and

camera movements$ and conventions that have develo'ed over time and for which audiences

may have develo'ed 'articular e'ectations. Media tets that are a miture of more than one

genre are called “generic hybrids”.

e'resentation2 The re8'resentation of 9reality: through film4 maga;ines4 and news'a'ers.

e'resentation is used to describe the manner in which segments or individuals in society "for

eam'le4 women4 the elderly4 ethnic minorities$ are 'ortrayed in the media. E.g. 'eo'le4 'laces4

things

ealism The dominant mode of re'resentation in television4 mainstream films and 'rint. The

term usually im'lies that the media tet attem'ts to re'resent an eternal reality2 a film or

television 'rogramme is “realistic” because it gives the im'ression that it accurately re'roduces

that 'art of the real world to which it is referring. &owever4 the conce't is much more com'lethan this brief definition. /ne suggestion is to think of “realisms” rather than realism.

Institution2

• Film 'roduction2 -andidates will study the organi;ations and 'rocess after the

'roduction.

• !ources for films where ideas for films come from screen'lay8 franchises



• Film Funding

,rivate funding4 'roduct 'lacement4 'roducers

The main roles in film production (producers, directors, technical and cast)

6istribution2

• -reating 'rints of films for distributing to cinemas and the emergence of digital

distribution

•Marketing8 audience research and targeting4 test marketing "screening$4 advertising4release schedules4 trailers

• ,romotions8 merchandising tie8ins4 websites4 'ublicity4 s'onsorshi's4 branding

!u'erhero film merchandising



• <randing2 0ogos

Ehibition2

• -inema ty'es and ownershi'8 multi'lees4 mainstream cinemas8 inder'endant4 art8house

• ,rogramming8scheduling8 range of films available

• (6 'ro)ection

• -ertification8 the role of the <<F-

!u'er man coffee mug

merchandising



!tereoty'e2 +n oversim'lified re'resentation of 'eo'le4 'laces or issues4 giving a narrow and=or

eaggerated set of attributes. !tereoty'es are frequently thought to be entirely negative but this

is not necessarily the case.

+llow instant recognition of characters. E.g accents4 dress codes4 ethnicity





+ction and Enigma codes2 +ction?masculine Engima?feminine

Tsevetan Todorov8 equilibrium @ deequilibrium ? new equilibrium

6emogra'hic2 + section of the community=audience for media broken into grou's. E.g. age4

gender

ece'tion Theories2

• &y'odermic needle

The theory is that you are in)ected with the media and acce't that because you are

incredibly 'assive. E.g. the news "I acce't everything I see on the news because they

receive first hand evidence from 'eo'le involved to back u' their statements$

• Two ste' flow theory

Mediated for the masses by trusted individuals. Im'ortant 'eo'le 'ass on their version of

the news=what:s going on in the world.

• &all:s 'referred readings

+$ ,referred <$ /''osition -$ 1egotiated

• 5ses of 3ratifications

• Entertainment

• Information

• ,ersonal elationshi's4 can:t be friend unless consume same 'roducts



• ,ersonal Identity

• Psychographic- as'irers "as'ire to be like :famous: or 9'o'ular: shown in ads$

• Mainstreamers

,eo'le who )ust follow the crowd by looking at 9best selling: items etc.

MI-/ E0EME1T!

+mbient sound 1atural background noise on television4 film or radio. In the same manner4

ambient light refers to natural4 available light that is not enhanced in any way.

6iegetic=non8diegetic sound



6iegetic sound is that which a''ears to come from a recogni;able

!ynchronous=asynchronous sound

!ynchronous sound is where the sound matches the action or s'eech in film or television.

+synchronous sound is when there is a mismatchA the most obvious eam'le occurs when li'8

synch is out4 that is4 when the words s'oken and the li' movement of the actor on screen do not

match.!ynco'ated editing where the action is cut to the beat of the music and is not commonly

seen in music and in action films.

-ontra'untal Music

-ontra'untal music is where the music is at odds with the vision that it accom'anies.

6IE3ETI-

1/186IE3ETI-



7ideo

-inematogra'her The 'erson res'onsible for camera and lighting. /ften referred to as the

“director of 'hotogra'hy”. "6/,$

6ubbing + 'rocess whereby sound is added to film. This may take the form of adding music or

additional sound to dialogue4 or it may refer to the addition of an entire soundtrack4 including

dialogue.

Mise8en8scBne 0iterally4 everything that is “'ut in the scene”4 or 'ut in the frame to be

'hotogra'hed "a''ro'riate to the time and era 'ortrayed. This usually includes 'roduction

design4 set4 location4 actors4 costumes4 make8u'4 gesture4 proxemics and blocking4 etras4 'ro's4

use of colour4 contrast and filter. 0ighting is often included within mise8en8scBne. -amera shotC

com'osition4 framing4 angle and movement are also sometimes referred to as mise8en8shot.

-amera angle The 'osition of the camera in relation to the main sub)ect. It could be a high

angle"inferior$4 low angle"su'erior$4 worm:s8eye view or aerial view.



ule of thirds2

-amera Movement

Doom=6olly2 In and out

Dolly2 -ombination of ;oom and dolly in o''osite directions

,oint of 7iew2 ,/7



Tilt=Elevate2 5' and down

,an=Track2 0eft and right

0ighting

1atural 0ighting2

-hiaroscuro2

&igh8key lighting2



0ow8key lighting2

0eading 0ines2

Form The structure, or skeleton, of a text and the narrative framework

around which it is based. For example, a feature film commonly has a three-

act structure. Some structures are determined by a genre and its

corresponding codes and conventions.

Glossary



Frame s a noun, this refers to the single area on a strip of film that

holds a single image !or a single still image on video". s a verb, it

means to ad#ust the position of the camera or to ad#ust the camera lens to

compose the re$uired image. n image can be framed to construct a close-up

shot, long shot or medium shot.

%ost-production The period and the processes that come between the

completion of principal photography and the completed film or programme.This includes the editing of a film or programme, along with titles,

graphics, special effects and so on.

%roduction &ither the product itself or the actual process of filming.

6ramatic Irony hen the audience knows something that the characters don:t.

,athetic Fallacy hen the emotion of a scene is reflected by the time of day. E.g killing in the

night

Franchise2



-onventions of Movie ,osters

Teaser -inematic elease <illboard

7ery sim'listic4 include not

much more than the franchiseand release date.

<egins to reveal more

information about the cast andactors.

5ses a wider as'ect ratio

MI-/ E0EME1T!2

Documents

Film Language for GCSE (1)