The following terms are fundamental to the Film Unit .....

a shot - what is recorded between the time the camera starts and the time it stops.

a scene - a group of related shots, usually limited to one setting and group of characters.

a sequence - a group of related scenes - like a chapter in a book.

a long shot - also called an establishing shot, this shot shows the main object or character and the general surroundings.

a medium shot - shows the main object or character and the immediate surroundings.

a close-up - shows only the main object or character or some part of it/him/her.

a reaction shot - a shot of a person who is listening or otherwise reacting non-verbally to a speaker.

a two-shot - commonly used to photograph a conversation, the two-shot shows both parties at once.

selective focus - directs our attention to an object or character that is in focus while the rest of the scene is blurred.

a pan - the movement of the camera on a fixed base (turn, tilt, or swivel).

film stock - the type of film used - the basic choice is between black & white or color.

high-angle shot - the camera is higher than the subject and looks down on it.

low-angle shot - the camera is lower than the subject and looks up to it.

editing - the process of connecting pieces of film together to make a movie. Editing involves selecting and organizing the shots, selecting the transitional devices, intercutting, crosscutting, setting up contrasting shots, symbols, and leitmotifs (repetition of shots to establish a theme). The timing, or pace of the film is also done during editing by controlling the physical length of the pieces of film.

a cut - literally cutting the film and reconnecting it in order to put scenes in order and build the film. The cut makes an abrupt transition from shot to shot and is a primary tool of the film editor.

intercutting - cutting from within a scene to a shot of another location, object, person, etc. This is usually done to make some kind of point or comment.

crosscutting - results from frequent intercutting and is done to show two or more convergent or parallel actions occurring at different times and/or locations.

fade-in, fade-out, dissolve, iris-in, iris-out, wipe - various transitional devices, some no longer used unless the director wants to make a deliberate reference to older film technique.

montage - a French word from Russian film theory that expresses the idea that "shots, when placed together, add up to more than the sum of the parts." In other words, a single shot acquires meaning when placed in a context of other shots.

theme, thesis, vision - an idea or a thing to "say" - a purpose. Theme is the ingredient that distinguishes a good film, like a good story, and elevates it to the level of Art.

projection speed - film is normally projected at 24 frames per second (fps).

The following questions & observations are intended to help you probe the nature of cinematic art.

1. Early films were made with a fixed camera that photographed a group of actors doing a play. Obviously, today's films employ vastly different techniques, yet some similarities between films and plays remain. What are they? In what important ways are films different than plays?

2. "The plays we most highly value are literature: the word dominates ... Film, however, is more a matter of pictures than words." Just how are these non-verbal communications managed? What is the "grammar" of film that makes it possible to tell a story in pictures?

3. "Some of the greatest sequences in cinema have no dialogue." Can you think of an example from a film favorite of yours?

4. "A camera, like a novelist's point of view, comments on a story while telling it." What are some of the comparisons and contrasts that can be drawn between point of view in the novel and the filmmaker's use of the camera?

5. How can a film communicate the unspoken thoughts, dreams, and feelings of a character? How, for example, might a filmmaker handle one of Hamlet's soliloquies?

6. Films, like books, range in quality from good to bad, worthwhile to worthless. What makes a good film good? What different needs do films of various types appeal to?

7. What is the nature of photographic truth? Is it accurate to say "the camera never lies"? If that is the case, which of an infinite number of pictures that can be taken of a single object at any moment in time is the most "true"? How does the director's choice of a shot color or comment on the thing being photographed?

8. Editing is the basis of film art.