Prince - Movies and Meaning: Pearson New International Edition

Movies and Meaning Prince Sixth Edition

Movies and Meaning

ISBN 978-1-29204-129-2

An Introduction to Film

Stephen Prince

Sixth Edition

9 781292 041292

Pearson New International Edition

Movies and Meaning

An Introduction to Film

Stephen Prince

Sixth Edition

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ISBN 10: 1-292-04129-3

ISBN 13: 978-1-292-04129-2

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ISBN 10: 1-292-04129-3

ISBN 13: 978-1-292-04129-2

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Printed in the United States of America

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P E A R S O N

C U S T O M

L I B R A R Y

Table of Contents

Glossary

Stephen Prince

1. Film Structure

Stephen Prince

2. Cinematography

Stephen Prince

3. Production Design

Stephen Prince

4. Acting

Stephen Prince

5. Editing: Making the Cut

Stephen Prince

6. Principles of Sound Design

Stephen Prince

7. The Nature of Narrative in Film

Stephen Prince

8. Visual Effects

Stephen Prince

9. Modes of Screen Reality

Stephen Prince

Index

I

II

G L O S S A R Y

3D digital matte A matte painting that has been camera

Animation 3D Animation of miniature models or puppets

mapped onto a 3D geometrical model in computer space.

or animation inside three-dimensional computer space.

The digital matte can then be moved or rotated to

Antinarrative A narrative style that tends, paradoxically,

simulate the perspective of a moving camera. See also

toward eliminating narrative by employing lots of digres

camera mapping .

sion, avoiding a clear hierarchy of narrative events, and by

Additive Color Mixing A system used for creating color

suppressing the causal connections among events.

on television where red, blue, and green lights are mixed

Art Director Working under the production designer, the

together to create all other hues.

art director supervises the translation and sketches into sets.

ADRAutomated dialogue replacement (ADR) is a post

Art Film Films made by overseas directors in the 1950s

production practice in which actors re-record lines of dia

and 1960s that explored weighty and timeless themes and

logue or add new ones not present at the point of filming.

took film style in new, unexplored directions.

Computer software enables proper synching of these lines

Aspect Ratio The dimensions of the film frame or screen

with the performers lip movements as recorded on film.

image. Aspect ratio is typically expressed in units of width

Aerial Image Printing Method of producing dimensional

to height.

effects using matte paintings in an optical printer. An image

Attributional Errors Mistakes of interpretation that arise

(such as a matte painting) is projected to a focal plane in space

when a critic erroneously decides that some effect in a film

(rather than onto a surface) where it can be photographed by

has a meaning expressly intended by its creators or incor

the process camera in the optical printer. That footage can be

rectly assigns the creative responsibility for an effect to the

combined with live action footage and other optical elements.

wrong member of the production crew. Uncovering these er

Aerial Perspective A visual depth cue in which the effects

rors typically requires documentation of a films production

of the atmosphere make very distant objects appear bluish

history.

and hazy.

Auteur A director whose work is characterized by a dis

Alpha Channel In a digital image, this channel of informa

tinctive audiovisual design and recurring set of thematic

tion specifies a pixels degree of transparency. The alpha

issues. Auteurism is a model of film theory and criticism that

channel is often used for generating male and female mattes.

searches for film authors or auteurs.

Ambient Sound The background sound characteristic of an

Auteurist Film Theory (Auteur Theory) A model of film the

environment or location. For a film such as The Last of the

ory that studies the work of a film auteur (or author). Directors

Mohicans , set in a forest, ambient sounds include the rustle

are generally considered to be the prime auteurs in cinema.

of branches and the cries of distant birds.

Auteurist theory studies the films of a cinema auteur as works

Anamorphic Method of producing a widescreen (2.35:1)

of personal expression.

image by squeezing the picture information horizontally and

Back Light The light source illuminating the space between

stretching it vertically. This method is used for both theatri

performers and the rear wall of a set. Along with key and

cal films and for DVD home video formatted for 16 9 (wi

fill lights, back light is one of the three principal sources of

descreen) monitors or projection systems. Unsqueezing the

illumination in a scene.

picture information during projection or viewing produces

Beta Movement A perceptual illusion in which the hu

the widescreen image.

man eye responds to apparent movement as if it were real.

Ancillary Market All of the nontheatrical markets from

Because of this illusion, viewers think they see moving fig

which a film distributor derives revenue. These include home

ures on a film or television screen when, in fact, there is no

video, cable television, and foreign markets.

true movement.

Angle of View The amount of area recorded by a given

Binocular Disparity Each eye has a different angle of view

lens. Telephoto lenses have a much smaller angle of view

on the world, and this difference or disparity provides a

than wide-angle lenses.

source of information about depth, distance and spatial lay

Animation 2D Traditional form of animation in cinema

out. Stereoscopic cinema incorporates binocular disparity to

which involves photographing flat artwork, typically a com

create an impression of 3D.

bination of characters and background. Camera movement

Blaxploitation The cycle of films that emerged in

and three dimensional depth perspective is fairly limited.

the early 1970s aimed at African-American audiences.

Animatronic Model