This document provides information on genres, production elements, camera techniques, editing transitions, lighting styles, and sound elements used in filmmaking. It defines genres like action, drama, horror, and science fiction. It describes camera shots, angles, and movements. It explains editing transitions such as cuts, fades, and wipes. It outlines lighting techniques including three-point lighting and high/low key lighting. It defines diegetic and non-diegetic sound as well as other sound elements.

1. Year 9 Media Studies CAT 2
Revision

2. Genre
 Action
 Drama
 Horror
 Science fiction
 The Western
 There are many other genres.

3. Action
 Quick, forward motion
 High key lighting – everything lit up evenly
 Action shooting & angles
 Use of multiple quick camera angles
 Quick, faced paced thematic editing, often matched to
a thumping soundtrack

4. Drama
 Use of lighting to emphasise the characters’ emotions, such
as silhouette lighting (a type of low key lighting)
 Shots should add to the feelings and moods of the
characters by:
 Use of low and high camera angles (low for powerful
subject, high for weak subjects);
 Use of lots of close-ups to emphasise the characters’
emotions
 In the editing process, the filmmakers will draw out the
length of a scene beyond its real length so that the
audience can contemplate the characters’ feelings.

5. Horror
 Use of shadows to hide the villain, by lighting specific areas within the
frame, rather than the whole frame.
 Shaky shots, crooked angles and lots of fast cuts to create an atmosphere of
suspense.
 Lead room – the filmmakers frame the subject with space in front of their head so
that we expect the baddie to come out them from in front – but then the baddie
emerges from behind, surprising the audience.
 The element of surprise is created by not showing the antagonist – only showing
fragments or flashes of them, to further create an atmosphere of fear
 Thematic editing – quick cutting to the beat of a soundtrack to carry the story
along
 Audio is very important to create the tense atmosphere.

6.  You will be allowed to take in an A4 double
sided, handwritten cheat sheet. You can use this
PowerPoint to help you prepare it.

7. What is genre?
 Fictional films are usually categorized according to their
setting, theme topic and mood. The setting is the
environment where the story and action takes place. The
theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the
film revolves around. The mood is the emotional tone of
the film. An additional way of categorizing film genres is
by the target audience.
 http://quizlet.com/15837257/lighting-sound-and-editing-
flash-cards/

8. Production elements
 Camera – the range of camera shots, angles and
movements we’ve studied throughout the year
 Sound – refers to dialogue, the film’s soundtrack or
score, sound effects. Can be divided into diagetic and
non-diagetic sounds.
 Lighting – three point lighting; high key and low key
lighting; expressionistic, naturalistic and high contrast
lighting.
 Editing – the various transitions which are employed to
manipulate time and space within the filmic world.

9. Camera Shots
 Extreme Long Shot: An establishing shot taken from far
away
 Long Shot: A life size image that shows a full shot and the
background
 Medium Shot: A shot from the knees or waist up; used
for dialogue scenes
 Close-Up: Shows little background and shows either a
face or a detail. This allows us to see a character's
expression or a small detail up close
 Extreme Close-Up: A shot that magnifies beyond what the
eye would experience in reality

10. Camera Angles
 Bird's-Eye View: A scene shot from overhead at an extreme
angle
 High Angle: A shot elevated above the action
 Eye Level: A shot positioned in a natural position as though a
human were seeing the scene
 Low Angle: A shot in which the background is the sky or
ceiling; the figure on the screen dominates the image.
 Oblique/Canted Angle: A tilted shot, usually with a
handheld camera

11. Camera Movements
 Pan: Camera moves horizontally (left-right/right-left) on a
fixed axis.
 Tilt: Camera moves vertically (up-down/down-up) on a
fixed axis.
 Tracking: Camera physically moves, following the
subject.
 Zoom: The camera lens changes quickly from a long shot
to a close-up, or from a close-up to a long shot

12. Editing transitions
 Fade in/fade out: Shot fades in from black or white, or out to
black or white. This one often signals the beginning and end
of a scene or the passing of time.
 Cross-dissolve: The next shot overlays the previous shot.
Provides a seamless transition between shots.
 Cut: The most basic and common transition. Shot simply
‘cuts’ from one shot to the next.
 Wipe: Next shot enters from one side of the frame and the
previous shot exits from the other side of the frame. George
Lucas used lots of them in the original Star Wars movies.

13. Lighting
 Three point lighting - a common lighting technique that uses three
lighting instruments for each person or object photographed: a key
light, a fill light, and a back light
 High key lighting - illumination that creates comparatively little contrast
between the light and dark areas of the shot. Shadows are fairly
transparent and brightened by fill light.
 Low key lighting - illumination that creates strong contrast between light
and dark areas of the shot, with deep shadows and little fill light
 Expressionistic lighting - using very dramatic, artificial lighting patterns to
express character psychology-usually in a studio
 Naturalistic lighting - derive from a natural source or setting like the sun, or
a candle in the room.
 High contrast lighting - style of lighting emphasizing harsh shafts and
dramatic streaks of lights and darks. Often used in thrillers or melodramas

14. Elements of sound
 Diegeticsound - sound that is logically heard during a
scene, including dialogue, music and sound effects
corresponding to what we see on screen.
 Non diegeticsound - sounds/music that characters can't hear;
sounds that don't actually occur in the world of the film. Is not
seen, heard, imagined, or thought by a character. Example:
music
 Dialogue - the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
 Film score - music written and composed specifically for a film
scene; usually done after shooting and editing has been
completed.
 Sound effects - audio effects other than music or speech that are
enhanced or artificially created and added in post-production

15. Editing
 Cut - The most common type of transition in which one scene ends
and a new one immediately begins.
 Fade in/out - starts from black screen then gradually appears, or
starts with screen and gradually dissolves
 cross dissolve - this transition involves a gradual change from the first
clip to the second. The first clip changes from 100% opacity to 0%
opacity while the second clip simultaneously changes from 0% to
100% over the same time period. If one of the clips is a slug, this
transition has the effect of creating a fade in / out.
 Wipe - an optical effect in which one shot appears to "wipe" the
preceding one from the screen.
 Jump cut -an elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a
single shot. Either the figures seem to change instantly against a
constant background, or the background changes instantly while the
figures remain constant.