Film Analysis and Narrative Structure - Key Concepts from Dr. Greg Smith's Essay and Film Art

Exam 1 – Study Guide 50 Questions – 2 points Each – 100 points Total Timed Exam – 1 hour 15 minutes 1. In Dr. Greg Smith’s article “It’s Just a Movie: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes,” what does Smith say is the benefit of critically analyzing films? a. To annoy the viewer. b. To increase the complexity of enjoyment. c. To disrupt your viewing experience. d. To improve your social status. 2. In a narrative film, an element is nondiegetic if it a. does not contribute to the cause-effect flow of the events. b. is off-screen rather than on-screen. c. is not part of the world of the depicted narrative. d. is not directly presented in the plot but can be inferred. 3. As defined by Film Art, a film's "plot" is a. everything visually and audibly present in the film. b. the most important action made by the protagonist. c. the events as viewers mentally reconstruct them. d. a brief summary of the film's action. 4. "Depth" of narration refers to a. how quickly story information is provided to the audience. b. how many lines of action the plot weaves together. c. how much information is presented by a nondiegetic narrator. d. how much the spectator learns about the characters' psychological states. 5. The agent who tells the story in a film is called the a. protagonist. b. commentator. c. antagonist. d. narrator. 6. What is the term for a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space? a. narrative b. plot c. causality d. parallelism 7. In a narrative, the sum total of all events in chronological order is the a. plot. b. range. c. story. d. outcome. 8. A "point-of-view shot" is taken from a. the filmmaker's optical standpoint. b. a character's optical standpoint. c. a remote location. d. a point above the action. 9. Which of the following is NOT an example of a way in which mental subjectivity might be portrayed in a film? a. an internal voice that reports a character's thoughts b. images of a character's memories c. the use of slow motion to suggest hallucination d. dialogue spoken between characters 10. Classical filmmakers prefer that the end of a film a. set up the possibility for a sequel. b. bring closure. c. leave some degree of mystery. d. pose a question to spectators. 11. Action that takes place before the plot begins is called the a. exposition. b. setup. c. opening. d. backstory. 12. Many dramatic scenes use only backlighting, which creates edge lighting and sharp _____. a. facial definition b. deep focus c. silhouettes d. spatial relation 13. In what context was the term mise-en-scene first used? a. black-and-white film b. talking pictures c. stage plays d. visual art 14. Which feature of film lighting refers to the intensity of illumination and the shadows, textures, and edges created? a. quality b. direction c. source d. color 15. Lighting shapes objects by creating _____ and shadows. a. highlights b. characters c. sidelight d. props 16. The primary light source in a scene, providing the dominant illumination and casting the strongest shadows, is called the _____ light. a. fill b. available c. key d. back 17. Film illumination that creates strong contrasts between light and dark areas and sharp, dark shadows is ___-key lighting. a. high b. three-point c. low d. back 18. In terms of function in the context of a film, acting performances can be considered along two dimensions: individualization and _____. a. exaggeration b. imitation c. expression d. stylization 19. Sometimes the filmmaker will create a slightly unbalanced shot in order to a. force the audience's attention to what is happening in the background. b. prime our expectation that something will change position in the frame. c. de-emphasize the importance of any one character in the frame. d. muddle the focus of the narrative and keep the viewer guessing. 20. Use of very small color contrasts, in which a filmmaker emphasizes a single color, varying it only in lightness or purity, is known as _____ color design. a. balanced b. polarized c. monochromatic d. full-spectrum 21. Which one of the following statements is true? a. Costumes and makeup may function to reinforce the film's narrative and thematic patterns. b. Costumes are separate from props and should not be used as such. c. Makeup in film was originally developed in response to the popularity of horror and science fiction films. d. Since the filmmaker usually wants to emphasize the human figures, the costumes provide a neutral background to the settings. 22. Technicolor was notable for a. its soft, warm pastels. b. its ease of use during shooting. c. its sharp, saturated hues. d. its need for less light than earlier color processes. 23. Tinting and toning are a. printing techniques used to correct flaws in an image's color. b. makeup used to adjust skin tones to suit the color balance of the film stock. c. methods of using filters to change the color of the light on the set. d. methods for using dyes used to add color to black-and-white film. 24. The projection speed for sound films was first standardized at a. 24 frames per second. b. 50 feet per minute. c. 36 frames per second. d. 30 minutes per reel. 25. Which of the following is NOT affected by the focal length of the camera lens? a. magnification b. depth c. scale d. aspect ratio 26. A zoom lens is a a. lens with an extremely long focal length. b. lens that can change focal length while a shot is being filmed. c. lens with a special mount that can be changed quickly between shots. d. short lens used for rapid camera movements. 27. "Depth of field" refers to a. the distance the actors have to be from the camera to prevent their heads from going out of the frame. b. the distance from the camera to the back wall of the set. c. the range of distances from the lens in which objects filmed will be in focus. d. how large objects appear within the frame. 28. In a canted camera position, objects on the screen appear a. upside down. b. not to be level. c. as seen from directly above. d. as seen at ground level. 29. The speed of motion presented on-screen depends on a. the number of frames per second of celluloid used. b. the rate of projection alone. c. the rate of shooting and the rate of projection. d. frame size and shape. 30. Shots in which a filmmaker prefers bumpy over smooth camera movements are usually created a. by the operator walking with a handheld camera. b. in the postproduction phase. c. with a camera mounted to a dolly. d. by the operator deliberately jerking the camera up and down rapidly. 31. Slices of glass or gelatin placed in front of the lens of a camera to prevent certain frequencies of light from reaching the film are called a. toners. b. blockers. c. exposures. d. filters. 32. Lev Kuleshov's discovery, termed the "Kuleshov effect," suggests that a. regular graphic matching always enhances the narrative clarity of a scene. b. the spectator's center of attention should be kept in the middle of the screen from one shot to the next. c. even if no establishing shot is shown, spectators will still assume that objects in separate shots are near one another. d. spectators tend not to notice editing if matches on action and shot/reverse shots are consistently used. 33. Crosscutting is an editing technique that a. alternates between simultaneous shots in two separate spaces. b. moves back and forth across the axis of action. c. introduces flashbacks by direct cuts rather than dissolves or fade-outs. d. alternates long-shot views with extreme close-ups. 34. The technique of overlapping editing consists of a. cutting away to action happening elsewhere. b. expanding the scene by showing more than one view of the same action. c. placing a small portion of one strip of film over another in order to make a splice. d. making scene changes so rapidly that the audience cannot see what is happening in the individual shots. 35. Continuity editing is a system for a. rapidly editing on video as the film is being shot. b. creating a regular rhythm for a scene. c. making shots progressively more rapid during a scene. d. keeping the spatial and temporal relations of a scene clear. 36. The axis of action is a. an imaginary vertical line down the center of the screen around which the characters are clustered to preserve a graphic circle. b. an imaginary 180-degree line between the main characters that determines where the camera should be placed to preserve continuity. c. an imaginary 30-degrees line between the main character and the camera that determines where the camera should be placed for close-ups. d. a chalk line marked on the floor to show how far away from the camera the actor should be. 37. The 180-degree system is designed to a. ensure consistent screen direction across cuts. b. create smooth, unnoticeable matches on action across elliptical cuts. c. allow the camera to cut from action in one location to action elsewhere. d. avoid cutting in the middle of a camera movement to a static framing. 38. In the continuity system, a montage sequence usually a. compresses a lengthy series of actions into a few moments. b. generates suspense during a last-minute rescue situation. c. serves as a brief epilogue to the main narrative. d. uses eyeline matching to guarantee clear spatial relations among shots. 39. A match on action a. carries a single movement across two or more shots. b. smoothes the transition across a jump cut. c. provides a way of avoiding the 180-degree rule. d. allows for cheat cuts without violating continuity. 40. A cheat cut involves a. crossing the axis of action by 30 degrees and then matching on action to guide the eye. b. "cutting" the film in the camera so that actual splices are not needed. c. splicing together two shots taken from the same framing but with an ellipsis. d. a slight mismatch in the positions of mise-en-scene elements. 41. Sounds perform many functions in film including a. prodding the audience to form expectations. b. giving new value to silence. c. steering the viewer's attention within an image. d. All the answers are correct. 42. Which of the following is NOT one of the three major perceptual properties of film sound? a. volume b. pitch c. timbre d. texture 43. The term dialogue overlap means a. mixing sounds so that two or more characters speak at the same time. b. creating realism by having one actor start to speak just before another finishes a line. c. continuing a line of dialogue over cuts during shot/reverse shot. d. a type of sound bridge that links one scene with the next. 44. The term Mickey Mousing refers to a. the use of fast, cheerful music to accompany comic action. b. the post-dubbing of sound effects created in a special studio. c. tightly matching movement to music on the screen. d. redubbing objectionable language in preparing a film for television broadcast. 45. In film sound, "fidelity" refers to a. the sound that comes from within the diegetic space of the story. b. the dialogue actually spoken by the actors during shooting. c. sound that seems appropriate to its source in the film. d. lip synchronization that has been done correctly. 46. Sound that represents a character's thoughts without the character speaking aloud is called a. mental sound. b. internal diegetic sound. c. cognitive sound. d. off-screen sound. 47. A sound bridge is a. a lightweight frame for quickly moving a microphone above the action while filming on location. b. overlapping the sound of one scene into the next. c. boosting the volume of the music to make it more prominent than the voices or sound effects. d. transferring a sound from one channel to another in multichannel recording. 48. To create suspense, horror and mystery films often use a. digitally recorded sound. b. sonic flashbacks. c. voiceover commentary. d. sound from an unseen source. 49. How are speech, music, and sound effects captured? a. by recording dubbed dialogue b. by recording music c. by recording Foley sound effects d. All of the answers are correct. 50. Ambient sounds are the sounds that a. b. c. d. are added to the mix in post. are added to dialogue scenes to make them crisper. represent background sounds of a specific location or spatial scene. are mistakes made by the musicians while recording the soundtrack. Grading Summary A 100-90 B 89-80 C 79-70 D 69-60 F <59 -1-5 questions -6-10 questions -11-15 questions -16-20 questions > -21