Useful Vocabulary for Film Studies
From David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1993):
Story:
In a narrative film, all the events that we see and hear, plus all those that
we infer or assume to have occurred, arranged in their presumed causal relations,
chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial locations. Opposed to
plot, which is the film's actual presentation of certain events in the narrative.
Plot:
In a narrative film, all the events that are directly presented to us, including
their causal relations, chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial
locations. Opposed to story which is the viewer's imaginary construction of
all events in the narrative.
Narration:
The process through which the plot conveys or withholds story information. The
narration can be more or less restricted to character knowledge and more or
less deep in presenting characters' mental perceptions and thoughts.
Diegesis:
In a narrative film, the world of the film's story. The diegesis includes events
that are presumed to have occurred and actions and spaces not shown onscreen.
For a schematic definition click here.
Nondiegetic insert:
A shot or a series of shots cut into a sequence, showing objects represented
as being outside the space of the narrative.
Diegetic sound:
Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a
source within the film's world.
Nondiegetic sound:
Sound, such as mood music or narrator's commentary, represented as coming from
a source outside the space of the narrative.
From The All-Movie Guide Film Glossary
(Konigsberg, Ira. The Complete Film Dictionary. New York: Meridian,
1987.):
1. "Incarnations of the Story"
Diegesis:
The narrative elements of a film that are shown or immediately inferred from
the content of a film. Though implication is not the primary focus, diegesis
is a methodological analysis for discerning the exact nature of the film including
all of the action and dialogue.
["Diegetic" -- refers to things which exist within the "world"
of the film's narrative. Non-diegetic or extra-diegetic elements of a film do
not "exist" or "take place" in the same plane of reality
that the character's inhabit. For example, presumably the characters within
an action film do not "hear" the rousing theme music that accompanies
their exploits. that music is extra-diegetic, but still part of the film. ]
More on Diegesis:
Diegesis: Greek thinkers, such as Plato and Aristotle, paired this term with
mimesis to distinguish two methods
of presentation. Diegesis described a speech in a play or any other artistic
form in which the creator of the work
does not ignore or disguise her own presence and addresses the reader or viewer
or audience directly. Mimesis,
on the other hand, describes a presentation in which the creator’s presence
is ignored or disguised and the audience
or viewer or reader is addressed by someone other than the artist. Thus, a diegetic
narrative is one in which the
writer speaks directly to her reader or audience, telling a story herself. In
contrast, a mimetic narrative is one in
which the artist attempts to create the illusion of being invisible or transparent
and characters speak only for
themselves.
Both terms have a long history of use in which their meanings have varied and
come to carry extra meanings. In
particular, mimesis has come to be associated with the creation of reality and
with the practice of following the
rules of established forms or genres. (As such mimetic art has sometimes been
contrasted with expressive art,
to suggest that the latter, freed from literal reality, could express the free
range of the artist’s fantasies and dreams.)
Mimesis has been associated in the history of English-language art with the
concept of imitation.
The shifts in the meaning of mimesis are also reflected in the changes the term
diegesis has undergone,
particularly when used by narrative theorists. At the beginning of the century,
diegesis and mimesis were
associated with "telling"and "showing." For such proponents
of realism and modernism as Henry James and the
critic Percy Lubbock, diegesis was connected to the practice of a writer’s
presenting events indirectly (telling) by
summarizing action and describing in general a character’s thoughts and
emotions. In contrast, a more desirable
and more artful approach for these critics was showing (mimesis), in which a
writer dramatized action and the
reader was forced to surmise a character’s interior thoughts and emotions
from his external actions and speech.
Later narratologists, such as Gérard Genette, have used the term diegesis
as the basis of an elaborate theory of
narrative structure. For these theorists, diegesis was made to mean roughly
"story," or the primary narrative of a
work of fiction. They could then speak of aspects of the work in terms of its
diegetic level. For example, these
narratologists defined the extradiegetic level of a work as the events, characters,
and narrator that are not part of
the main narrative. Genette created a number of other terms based on this use
of diegesis.
If you use these terms, either limit them to a specific kind of criticism, or
to the theory of a particular critic, or
connect diegesis to the level of the text in which the writer speaks directly
to the reader and mimesis to the level
of the text in which dramatization, or direct speech and action of the characters,
takes place. For related topics, see
Bedford Glossary, implied author, narrator, and point of view.
Narrative:
A term denoting a story in any form of human expression where no single individual
is telling the story.
Narrative Film:
Narrative films can include a large corpus of fiction and nonfiction films including
documentaries and dramas though the genre is predominantly fictitious. Narrative
films primarily concentrate on story lines and can include character development
but the drama and usual fiction are emphasized.
Plot:
The events in an individual narrative and how they are arranged. Arguably the
plot and the story are not the same.
{Narrative includes everything that is supposed to have happened in the "story";
plot is more concretely the scenes that are presented in the film, in the precise
order in which they are
presented.
Story:
The specific unfolding of a sequence of events in a film. It includes character
involvement, settings, and an order that superimposed in an arbitrary manner
by the screen writer or by a parallel historical sequence through which the
themes are developed. The story is general whereas the plot is specific and
includes both internal and external relations to the work.
2. "Basic Elements of a Film"
Frame:
Frames in essence are still images that are collected in quick succession, developed,
and projected giving the illusion of motion. Each individual, or still, image
on motion picture film is referred to as a frame.
Shot:
In the process of photographing a scene a shot refers to one constant take by
the camera. It is most often filmed at one time with a solo camera.
Sequence:
Segments of a film narrative that are edited together and unified by a common
setting, time, event or story-line.
Sound Track:
That portion of the sound film medium to which are recorded the dialogue, music,
narration and sound effects. The sound head and film gate on a film projector
are physically separated from one another. This gap is covered during the recording
of a sound-film by keeping the soundtrack recording a few frames head of the
photographic image. The sound passes over the projector head at the same time
the photographic image passes before the projector's light aperture/lens (the
film gate).
3. "Basic Manipulations, and Assemblings of the Basic Elements"
Cutting (a.k.a. Editing):
The process of changing from one shot to another accomplished through the camera
or by the splicing of shots together by the cutter (editor). This is also referred
to as editing, the preferred term, and includes the decisions, controls, sensibilities,
vision and integrative capabilities of the individual editing (cutting) artist.
Invisible Cutting:
Editing procedures that are so well-formed that the viewer is not aware that
a splice has taken place. This is particularly important in action sequences
because the audience is psychologically intent on the moving images that a cut
in the film -- an unobstrusive cut -- is not noticed. This can easily be contrasted
with Eisenstein's technique of quick cuts and jump cuts from one scene to the
next without transition so as to unnerve the audience and evoke emotional responses
in them.
[From the Complete Film Dictionary:
Shot/Reverse Shot Technique: A technique of cutting developed by the Hollywood
studios in which the camera switches between two conversants or interacting
individuals. ... See invisible cutting.]
Montage:
In the production and editing of film this term has come to refer to a seemingly
unrelated series of frames combined so that one scene quickly dissolves into
the next, shifting categories, effects and settings in such a manner as to convey
a quick passage of time or an abstract unity through thematic devices such as
meter, rhythm, tonality, and intellectuality (viz Eisenstein). Continuity, if
it exists, is not captured in a frame by frame juxtaposition but rather through
an abstraction. (Also see "mise-en-scene".)
Synchronization:
Correctly aligning the photographic and audio portions of a film so that the
image and sound is heard and seen simultaneously.
Framing:
Properly surrounding the subject of a shot by the edges of the actual boundaries
of the film. All that is seen in the viewfinder of a camera does not always
translate directly into the proper centering of the subject. Framing is a technical
nuance learned in the process of photography.
[Involves camera angle, distance, and arrangement of objects and people in front
of the camera (the "mise-en-scene". Important in framing is the way
that the edges of the screen make a sharp distinction between what is seen and what is not seen, what is included and
what is excluded, in a particular frame.]
4. "Basic Elements of the Camera Setup"
Camera Angle:
This term refers to the point of view held by the focal point of the camera
when it is positioned for shooting. Included in the angle is the perspective
given by the camera to the depth of focus, height and width of the particular
object and action being photographed. The angle also refers to whether the shot
is taken from behind, in front, from the side or from the top or bottom of the
particular view. Terms appropriated for these various angles include eye-level
angle, high-angle, low-angle, sideview angle and the "Dutch" angle.
Distance:
Distance refers to the amount of relational space between the audience and the
character on the screen. Though the characters are two-dimensional and the audience
is distinctly separate from the screen by dead space (virtual reality in the
theatre has not yet been developed) the camera's perspective, in effect, attempts
to provide the amount of space desired subject to the director's discretion.
This space often results in the interaction and psychological connection between the characters and the audience. The connection
is achieved through the dynamics and varying degrees between long shots, medium
shots and close-ups.
Establishing Shot (a.k.a. "Master Shot")
At the beginning of a film, episode or scene within a film, a wide-angle or
"full-shot" is photographed for the purpose of identifying the location
or setting. Thus the audience has established, or been given the opportunity
to surmise an orientation. It also helps to establish the distinctions between
the general locale and the specific details -- from subsequent shots -- within
the general context.
[The Establishing shot is a wide-angle shot and/or a long shot.]
Perspective:
Spatial relationships. In film (painting, photography, theatrical performances,
et cetera) perspective refers to the accurate depiction of three-dimensional
space on a two-dimensional surface. (In experimental forms of film, of course,
the accurate depiction is redefined.) Height and breadth come naturally to the
surface but the added dimension of depth must be constructed through cameras,
lenses, sets, and designs during composition. (See "anamorphic lens"
and "composition").
5. "Basic Camera Movements"
Camera Movement:
Conventional uses of the camera to obtain camera angles and various perspectives
while filming include panning, tilting, tracking or zooming of the camera. These
camera ploys are also known as camera movement and rarely does the camera remain
static. When a movement does occur, however, the camera comes to a rest providing
a smooth transition to the scene. Movements are coordinated with the action
in a scene so that the camera does not go in the opposite direction of the action
(i.e. action left-to-right.) Of course, many alternative and experimental methods
are used in the film industry and camera movement is no exception.
Dolly:
Cameras and other equipment, such as microphones and lights, are often carried
around the set on movable platforms. These are dollys and are independently
moved by the dolly grip so that the technician, be s/he cameraman, audio or
lighting technician, can keep their concerns focused. Dollys are often run on
tracks for special dolly pans, chinese dollys, or for mere structurally smoothness.
Most of the time, dollys are used for camera work and can include booms for
the cameras which allows for the lowering, raising and pivoting of the camera.
All of these shots can be achieved simultaneously with an horizontal movement of the camera upon the
dolly track.
Dolly Shot:
A camera perspective, on a moving or stationary subject, obtained while the
camera is in motion on either a dolly or a camera truck. When the camera is
so mounted and moves toward a closer proximity of the subject it is called "dolly-in";
likewise, when the camera is so mounted and moves away from the subject it is
referred to as "dolly-out".
{From the Complete Film Dictionary: Tracking Shot: ... So called because it
is sometimes photographed from a dolly that moves on tracks, also refers particularly
to a shot in which the camera follows the movement of a subject.}
Crane:
A large camera dolly that can raise the camera as much as twenty feet above
the ground. The crane has the capacity to move forward and backward and is usually
operated by electronic controls. Motions are generally silent and the crane
allows shots to be made over a wide ranging area providing great access to cover
shots.
Pan:
From the Greek "pan" meaning "all" this movement of the
camera is achieved by moving the camera while turning it on an horizontal access.
At least four functions are served by this technique including an all encompasing
view of the scene, a device for leading the audience to a particular person
or place, following a person or vehicle across a distant scene, or giving the
audience the visual images and perspective as seen by a character when turning
her/his head.
{A turn of the camera up or down on the vertical axis is called a "tilt."}
[From the Complete Film Dictionary:
Zoom Shot: A shot taken with a zoom lens in which the focal length of the
lens changes from wide angle to long focus or the reverse so that the camera
seems to move in to (i.e., "zoom in" to) or away from (i.e., "zoom
out" from) the subject while the camera actually remains stationary.]