Film Terms and Concepts Midterm Review

The midterm will cover chapters 1-7, 14, class lecture, and
films we have watched or discussed in class. It will consist of
multiple choice, matching, and true and false questions.
Important information and terms you might want to study for
the exam… just knowing the definition will not get you far.
Make sure you understand the whole concept so you do not miss
a question for memorizing a term. It might be worded in a
different way than you studied for.
-Directors of the films we have watched and famous directors
we’ve discussed in class
-Films we have watched or discussed in class
-The different ways how to write about films
-auteur -avant-garde film
-closure -composition
-voice-over -parallels
-cut -turning points
-camera tracks -intertextual references
-compilation films -plot summary
-establishing shot -re-establishing shot
-long shot -pans
-reverse shot -backstory
-narrative form -narrative sequencing
-fade-outs/fade-ins -protagonist
-antagonist -Hollywood “rules” of
narrative (ch. 4)
-point-of-view shot -CGI
-cameos -character actors
-morphing -lenses
-Lighting: hard, soft, available, high-key, low-key -scene
-shot -storyboard
-long takes -out-takes
-time-lapse photography -frozen time moment

-high-/low-angle shots -extreme close-up
-close-up -tracking shot
-pan -swish pan
-crane -ariel shot
-steadicam -wide-angle shot
-depth of field -filters
-tinting -toning
-exposures -rear projection
-matte shot/paintings -double exposure
-dissolve -blue screen
-graphic match -wipe
-parallel editing -cutaways
-180-degree rule -match on action
-montage -Cahiers du Cinema (ch 14)
Film TermsThe “Auteur” Directors· Terry Gilliam
· First known for the bizarre animation sequences in “Monty
Python’s Flying Circus” (1969), using cutout pictures and
photographs.· If you’re searching for weird films, then look no
further than Terry Gilliam films
· Often begins and ends his films with the same shot
· Heavy use of wide angle lensesHis breakthrough picture, Time
Bandits, 1974
· Finding that his bedroom contains a hole in time, a boy
ventures through it and emerges in different historical periods,
teaming up with a band of diminutive time-traveling outlaws on
the lookout for loot.The Zero Theorem (2013)
· A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human
existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the
Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love
interest to distract him.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

· unfinished film project directed and co-written by Gilliam -
began shooting 2000, Jean Rochefort as Quixote and Depp as
Toby Grisoni
· never finished thanks to bad luck - weather, health issues, and
insurance problems
· in 2010, Gilliam finally announced that the funding had
collapsed.
· In January 2014, Gilliam said filming has begun again.
Tideland (2005)
· Schizofantasy about a heroin addict, his emotionally troubled
daughter, a dilapidated farmhouse, and some very weird
neighbors - Jeff Bridges stars
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
· It’s hard to beat for sheer spectacle, whether the eighteenth-
century hero is surfing the sky on a cannonball or matching wits
with the King of the Moon.
Jabberwocky (1977)
· The title comes from Lewis Carroll, the characters have names
like Griselda Fishfinger and King Bruno the Questionable, and
the style is Monty Python gone medieval. Michael Palin, one of
the best Python performers, is at the top of his game.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
· Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits are terrific - Heath
Ledger’s death during production forced Gilliam to reinvent his
character as a protean figure who morphs into Johnny Depp,
Jude Law, and Colin Farrell - Creative, but ultimately more
frantic than fulfilling.
The Fisher King (1991)

· Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges - When it isn't bogged down
in romantic subplots, this pitch-dark comedy has great energy
and visual imagination
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
· In a future society driven underground by a deadly epidemic, a
convict travels to the bygone year of 1996, looking for a bizarre
animal-rights group that may have that may have unleashed the
illness. Bruce Willis is excellent as the film’s hero, and Brad
Pitt is downright unhinged as the activist.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
· Codirected by Gilliam and Terry Jones — Terry G. focused on
visuals while Terry J. supervised the acting.
· the film doesn’t quite equal Life of Brian, directed by Jones
five years later, but both films are excellent and deservedly
revered.
Time Bandits (1981)
· Finding that his bedroom contains a hole in time, a boy
ventures through it and emerges in different historical periods,
teaming up with a band of diminutive time-traveling outlaws on
the lookout for loot.
· a unique, intelligent, freewheeling, and terrific film, complete
with a switcheroo ending that few children’s films would dare
to present.
Brazil (1985)
· A savagely satirical sci-fi noir that uses a miniscule computer
glitch to launch a juggernaut of uproarious calamity. Brazil is
the tale of a mild-mannered bureaucrat who dares to buck the
system in a future society where conformity reigns.

· film’s history as strange as its plot: worried that the
stunningly dark ending would alienate U.S. audiences,
Universal shelved it ‘til unauthorized screenings and a major
critics’ award forced them to release a somewhat altered edition
to American theaters.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
· Hunter S. Thompson’s notorious book bounced around
Hollywood for ages. The resulting film captures the energy and
essence of Thompson’s deadpan pseudobiography and drug-
soaked view of America during Watergate and Vietnam years.
· Gilliam has never made a darker, crazier, more passionate
movie.
· Hunter Thompson with Depp and Del Toro
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
· Awards: nominated Cannes Film Festival Official Selection,
Palme d’Or; awarded Golden Aries, Russian Guild of Film
Critics, Johnny Depp, foreign actor.
The Brothers Grimm
· Matt Damon and Heath Ledger - eponymous fairy-tale
collectors, portrayed as con artists whose phony demon-slaying
racket turns perilous when they enter a forest that’s actually
haunted.
· Award: Venice Film Festival Official SelectionWhat to look
for when watching films?
· Cinematography
· EDITING

Note: 2001, A Space Odyssey example
· Acting quality
About Lenses
WIDE ANGLE
· Broad view
· Smaller image
· Good for close shooting
· Deep depth of field
· Increase object speed towards camera
· Minimizes camera shake
· Wide Shot (WS)
· Wide Angle and Deep Frame
TELEPHOTO
· Narrow view
· Larger image
· Good for close shooting
· Shallow depth of field
· Decrease object speed to camera
· Maximizes camera shake
· “long” shot (LS)

Examples:Telephoto – Empire of the SunTelephoto – Close
EncountersDepth of Field – Catch-22Depth of Field – Citizen
KaneSubjective Camera – The GraduateOther Terms
· Shot. A single run of the camera or resulting piece of film.
· Scene. A dramatic unit composed of a single or several
shots—usually a continuous time period, in same setting, and
involves same characters.
· Sequence. A dramatic unit composed of several scenes, all
linked by emotional and narrative momentum. Types of Shots
· Establishing shot. Opening shot or sequence, frequently an
exterior 'General View' as an Extreme Long Shot (XLS, ELS).
Used to set the scene. Establishing Shot, “Woodstock”
· Extreme Long Shot (XLS, ELS): shot taken from a sufficient
distance; even further away that a LS· Long Shot (LS): shot
taken from a sufficient distance to show a landscape, a building,
or a large crowd· Wide Shot (WS)· Medium Shot (MS): shot
between a long shot and a close-up that shows people from the
waist up Example: Close-up – Lord of the Rings
· Close-up Example: Close-up – Lord of the Rings
·
· Extreme Close-up (ECU, XCU): shot of a small object or part
of a face that fills the · Cut-Aways · Inserts
· Reverse Angle Shot. a camera angle composed of a shot
photographed from the opposite side of a subject to provide a

different perspective; in dialogue, a shot of the second
participant is commonly composed as an over-the-shoulder shot;
sometimes known as an 180 degree angle shot or change in
perspective; the alternating pattern between two characters'
points of view is known as shot/reverse shot motion (or reverse
action). · Over the Shoulder Shot. Over the Shoulder Shot –
The GraduateOver the Shoulder Shot – North by Northwest
Camera Movement
· Pan: camera moves horizontally on a fixed base.· (Examples:
the call to roundup in Red River (1948); in John Ford's
Stagecoach (1939) a panning shot reveals the presence of
Indians just as the stagecoach seems to be heading to safety.
· Tilt: camera points up or down from a fixed base
· Tracking (Dolly) Shot: camera moves through space on a
wheeled truck (or dolly), but stays in the same plane
Examples: the first eight minutes of Robert Altman's The Player
(1992) was filmed with a sustained dolly shot, similar to the
this opening of Touch of Evil (1958).
Other well know tracking shots:· Club intro of Scorsese’s
Goodfellas (1990).· Tracking down to her ring of Hitchcock’s
Notorious (1945).· The pool part scene of Anderson’s Boogie
Nights (1998).· tracking shot that ends the film in Truffaut’s
400 Blows.
· Opening shot tracks backward from a close-up of Alexander de
Large in Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.· uninterrupted 20-
some minute tracking shot virtuoso filmmaking in Snake
Eyes.Camera Angle
· High-angle shot. a shot in which the subject is filmed from
above and camera points down on action, often to make the

subject small, weak and vulnerable; contrast to low-angle
shot.Low Angle – Blues BrothersHigh Angle – Lord of the
Rings· point-of-view
(POV). the perspective from which the film story is told; also
refers to a shot that depicts the outlook or position of a
character; also see omniscient and subjective point of view, and
POV shot example: Being John Malkovich
Lighting
· the main or primary light on a subject, often angled and off-
center (or from above) that selectively illuminates various
prominent features of the image; high-key lighting (with
everything evenly and brightly lit, with a minimum of shadows)
is termed realistic (and often used in musicals and comedies),
while low-key lighting (with less illumination, more shadows,
and many grayish, dark areas) is termed expressionistic (and
often used in film noir); three-point lighting uses: (1) a fill (or
filler) light - an auxiliary light to soften shadows and areas not
covered by the key light, (2) a back light behind to add depth to
a subject, and (3) a bright key light;
Low Key – Mulholland Drive
“Hable con ella Talktoher”Low Key – CasablancaLow Light –
Wyatt Earp
· Silhouette – Seventh Seal and Manhattan
· Boom: camera moves up or down through space
· Zoom: not a camera movement, but a shift in the focal length
of the camera lens to give the impression that the camera is
getting closer to or farther from an objectExample: Zoom Out –
The GraduateFilm TechniquesCamera Work and Editing

D. W. Griffith
Started at Biograph and was not all that different from other
filmmakers.However, one of hisstrengths was the actors Griffith
chose, like Mary Pickford, Dorothy Gish and Lionel Barrymore.
D. W. Griffith
· Ultimately he has been recognized throughout the world as the
single most important individual in
the development of film as an art.D. W. Griffith
· As Griffith's experience grew, so did his ambition. · Complex
stories· Larger casts· Larger budgets· one-reelers, straying
occasionally into two reels despite producer opposition· Later
far grander projects. father of film grammar
· D. W. Griffith has been called the father of film grammar.
· Griffith was a key figure in establishing the set of codes that
have become the universal film language. D. W. Griffith
· Griffith's heavy workload - opportunity to experiment
· flashbacks, parallel events and emotions in purely cinematic
terms.
· used domestic props to create angles and shape and deepen the
frame.D. W. Griffith
· developed Bitzer’s tilts, pans, and "tracks" into forms of
expression, even cross-cutting between tracking shots

· used artificial lighting to suggest firelight in and what came to
be called "Rembrandt lighting" as a narrative and
characterization device. Night Watch and Self PortraitD. W.
Griffith
· Graphic techniques, such as the dissolve, fade, iris and mask,
were designated narrative purposes
· split screens and soft focus were sparingly used for additional
impact.D. W. Griffith
· also transformed the art of screen acting, down to rehearsals.
· Aware that the camera could magnify even the slightest
gesture or expressionD. W. Griffith
· He invariably cast to suit particular physical types
· and assembled a company that comprised some of the leading
names of the silent era.Iris shot from Intolerance. Iris in Birth
of a NationBreakers Roar – a closeup without editingBirth of a
Nation (1915)
· Griffith’s portrayal of the Reconstruction era in which
Southern whites were rescued by the Ku Klux Klan from
vengeful carpetbaggers and unruly blacks
· revoked condemnation led by the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)Birth of a Nation
(1915)
· Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of
advanced camera and narrative techniques
· its immense popularity set the stage for the dominance of the
feature length film.Birth of a Nation (1915)

· many scenes filmed from many different and multiple angles
to vary the shot for impact
· the technique of the camera "iris" effect · circular masks to
either reveal and open up a scene, or close down and conceal a
part of an imageBirth of a Nation (1915)
· the use of parallel action and editing
· use of total-screen close-ups to reveal intimate expressions
· use of flashbacks
· seamless editing (masking one cut to the next matching frame)
· the use of vignettes seen in "balloons" or "iris-shots" in one
portion of a darkened screenBirth of a Nation (1915)
· use of lap dissolves to blend or switch from one image to
another
· high-angle shots
· abundant use of panoramic long shots
· battle scenes with hundreds of extras
· cross-cutting between two scenes for excitement and
suspenseBirth of a Nation (1915)
· Director: D.W. Griffith
· Producers: D.W. Griffith & Harry Aitken
· Stars: Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks

· Film Editor: D.W. Griffith, Joseph Henabery, James Smith,
Rose Smith, Raoul Walsh
· Writer: Thomas F. Dixon, Jr. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay
with Frank E. Woods
· Camera: G. W. BitzerIntolerance (1916)
· Studio: Wark Producing Corporation
· Director: D.W. Griffith
· First Assistant Director: Tod Browning, Eric Von Strohelm
· Producers: D.W. Griffith
· Stars: Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Mae Marsh, Bessie Love
· Film Editor: James E. Smith, Rose Smith
· Screenwriter: Tod Browning
· Camera: G. W. BitzerIntolerance (1916)
· Griffith’s next
· surpassed The Birth of a Nation in its scale and sweep in
Intolerance (1916).
· devised a revolutionary new narrative structure while further
perfecting his use of dramatic close-ups, camera movement, and
parallel editing to create what is perhaps the cinema’s foremost
masterpiece and most ambitious film done before the
1920s.Intolerance (1916)

· Griffith decided to expand his narrative to encompass four
stories from different periods of history, illustrating the
persistence of intolerance and inhumanity
· Instead of telling them sequentially, Griffith intercut his
Modern Story
· Modern story, Judean Story portraying Crucifixion of Christ;
French Story and, the Babylonian Story.Intolerance (1916)
· Intolerance enjoyed a sustained success in countries like
Russia and Japan.
· The film ran for ten years in the USSR and became the single
most important influence on the Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s.
Intolerance (1916)
· His final film, The Struggle (1931)
· a grim and obviously heartfelt warning of the perils of
alcoholism, was a crushing commercial disaster
· In the remaining 17 years of his life he made nothing further. ·
avoided by the studios for whom he had almost single-handedly
created the film industry, and he was forgotten by the public.
· many scenes innovatively filmed from many different and
multiple angles
· the technique of the camera "iris" effect (expanding or
contracting circular masks to either reveal and open up a scene,
or close down and conceal a part of an image)
· the use of parallel action and editing in a sequence (Gus'
attempted rape of Flora, and the KKK rescues of Elsie from
Lynch and of Ben's sister Margaret)

· extensive use of color tinting for dramatic or psychological
effect in sequences
· moving, traveling or "panning" camera tracking shots
· the effective use of total-screen close-ups to reveal intimate
expressions
· beautifully crafted, intimate family exchanges
· the use of vignettes seen in "balloons" or "iris-shots" in one
portion of a darkened screen
· the use of fade-outs and cameo-profiles (a medium closeup in
front of a blurry background)
· the use of lap dissolves to blend or switch from one image to
another
· high-angle shots and the abundant use of panoramic long shots
· the dramatization of history in a moving story - an example of
an early spectacle or epic film with historical costuming and
many historical references (e.g., Mathew Brady's Civil War
photographs)
· impressive, splendidly-staged battle scenes with hundreds of
extras (made to appear as thousands)
· extensive cross-cutting between two scenes to create a
montage-effect and generate excitement and suspense (e.g., the
scene of the gathering of the Klan)
· expert story-telling, with the cumulative building of the film
to a dramatic climaxParallel editing at end;

the rescue
· His rhythmic editing style in chase films created a sense of
excitement by intercutting between chaser and the pursued·
employing shorter and shorter shots to add to the suspense as in
Down East.Way Down East (1920)
Shooting down at (Gone with the Wind)Double Exposure - The
Silence of the LambsWoodstock (1970)
· use of Split screenCarrie (1976)
d. Brian De Palma
Iris shots in Straight Shooting (1917); Ford’s his 1st feature
Parallel Editing – The GodfatherEisenstein & montage
· Montage--juxtaposing images by editing--is unique to film
· During the 1920s, pioneering Russian film directors
demonstrated the technical, aesthetic, and ideological potentials
of montage. Eisenstein
· Soviet Russian film director, scholar, and theorist, Sergei
Eisenstein, cites the revolution as catalyst for making him an
artist. Otherwise he would have followed his father into
architecture and engineering except for his interest in joining
the Red Army, where he learned Japanese and elements of
Kabuki theater, which became instrumental in developing his
film style. Eisenstein - “father of montage”
· he pioneered the idea of unleashing a “collision” of shots in
order to play with the audience’s emotions and create metaphors
through the juxtaposition of similar images.Eisenstein - “father
of montage”
· The way he communicated visually was extra key since most
of his films—including Strike (1924), The Battleship Potemkin
(1925), and October (1927)—were silent.Eisenstein - “father of

montage”
· Eisenstein believed that film montage could create ideas or
have an impact beyond the individual images. Two or more
images edited together create a "tertium quid" (third thing) that
makes the whole greater than the sum of its individual parts.A +
B = AB
A + B = C
Eisenstein - “father of montage”
· Eisenstein's greatest demonstration of the power of montage
comes in the "Odessa Steps" sequence of his 1925 film
Battleship Potemkin. several times longer than it
would take in real time:
Eisenstein - “father of montage”
· On the simplest level, montage allows Eisenstein to
manipulate the audience's perception of time by stretching out
the crowd's flight down the steps for seven minutes, several
times longer than it would take in real time:Referenced by
Francis Ford Coppola
· Referencing the Odessa step scene, Neri shoots Barzini at the
top of the steps reference the Odessa step scene.· the Odessa
steps scene - The rapid progression and alternation of images
gives a sensational event even greater visceral
impactmontagefamous sequence involving a runaway baby
carriage shows Eisenstein using montage to arouse both emotion
and ideological consciousness among the film's
viewersconclusion of the Odessa Steps sequence
· At the conclusion of the Odessa Steps sequence, two
sequences of images illustrate the notion of the 'tertium quid' as

well as the ideological potential of montage. the rapid montage
of the three cherubs makes the small angel seem to be throwing
a punch.
three shots of stone lions, shown rapidly in succession, indicate
awakening militancy both montages represent a call to the
people to rise up against oppression
Editing
· Cut: most common type of transition in which one scene ends
and a new one immediately begins
· Fade-out/Fade-in: one scene gradually goes dark and the new
one gradually emerges from the darkness
· Dissolve: a gradual transition in which the end of one scene is
superimposed over the beginning of the a new
oneEditingEditing
· Wipe: an optical effect in which one shot appears to "wipe"
the preceding one from the screen. Special wipes include flip
wipes, iris wipes, star wipes, etc. For example, George Lucas is
famous for the sweeping use of Wipes in his Star Wars films,
which help evoke a kinship to old serialized pulp sci-fi novels
and serials
· Crane: The camera leaves the ground and can travel not only
forward and backward, in and out, but also up and down.
Variations of the crane shot are aerial shotsEditing
· Jump Cut - The classic way of making things vanish is to film
the actor/prop, stop the tape/film (or cut the gap when editing),
remove the actor/prop from the shot and start the tape again.
The camera should be locked off (not moving) otherwise the
background will move between the cuts.· Jean-Luc Godard’s
Breathless

(A Bout de Souffle)
· As the following lines are heard, we see a series of shots of
Seberg in the passenger seat of the stolen convertible Belmondo
is driving through the street of Paris. Discontinuities from one
shot to the next with respect to (a) the position of the actress's
head, (b) the degree of direct sunlight or shade, and (c) the
streets and parked or moving cars seen in the background, make
this one of the best examples in the film of Godard's jump cuts,
seven of which turn up here in rapid succession.Breathless
· Double Exposure - This was one of the first special effects
ever created. All you do is film one shot on your camera,
rewind the film and film your second shot. What you should get
is two separate images mixed together. This can be done on
video, but only in editing or mixing live between two cameras.
The best way to get this effect is for the actor/model to be in
front of a black cloth (i.e., curtain or wall) and to be standing
on one side of the screen so the images do not overlap around
the head of an actor, or a ghost walking through furniture.
· Match on action -- A cut that shifts the framing of an action
within a scene by continuing the movement within the first shot
seamlessly in the second shot.· Importance of shots with camera
movement· Match on Form
· Split Screen.
· Rear Projection.a special effects technique to create
backgrounds, in which actors are filmed in front of a screen on
which a background scene is projected; commonly used in early
films to produce the effect of motion in a vehicle. Also see
process shot, process photography,or back projection.
· Key—similar to superimposition except the foreground image
blocks out the background image (like text over a background)

· · Chroma Key
· Use of a specific color, like blue or green, as a background for
the foreground object
· Later, the specific color is removed and replaced with another
video source.
· Example is a meteorologist standing in front of a weather map
on a TV news program.
· What about ET and the flying bicycles, or Star Wars where
Luke flew his X-wing fighter down the trench of the Death Star
with Twin Ion Engine fighters in close pursuit (The X-wing
fighter, TIE fighters and the trench were all models)? How
about Return of the Jedi where Leia and Luke were flying at 100
mph on their speeder bike through the forest, or Back to the
Future when the DeLorean began flying down a suburban street?
How about in A Beautiful Mind where we see Russell Crowe
sitting at a desk working on his thesis research. The camera
pulls back and we see seasons changing with Crowe still there
in the window. Only Crowe and the window are actually there.
The walls, tree and changing seasons were all done with special
effects and blue screen.
· Blue Screen was originally invented as a film technique to
separate actors and composite them over another background.
Blue was originally chosen because it is the one color that does
not exist in skin tone. Skin tone is made of a combination of red
and green. Almost every film today will use blue screen to
create some effect—driving a car, looking out a window on a
set—and blue screen create the effect to they want in the film.·
Matte.
· the optical process of combining (or compositing) separately-

photographed shots (usually actors in the foreground and the
setting in the background) onto one print through a double
exposure that does not meld two images on top of each other,
but masks off (or makes opaque) part of the frame area for one
exposure and the opposite area for another exposure; it is a
photographic technique whereby artwork from a matte artist -
usually painted on glass - is combined with live action; also
sometimes known as split-screen.Mise-en-scène· Mise-en-
scène.(Contrast montage). 'Realistic' technique whereby
meaning is conveyed through the relationship of things visible
within a single shot (rather than, as with montage, the
relationship between shots). An attempt is preserve space and
time as much as possible; editing or fragmenting of scenes is
minimized. Composition is therefore extremely important and
atmosphere is created by the way in which objects, scenery and
the location are presented cinematically. The way people stand
and move in relation to each other is important. Long shots and
long takes are characteristic. Other characteristics used are light
and dark, pattern, color, camera position and angle, and
movement within the frame. Mise-en-scène is said to express
the inner life of characters by depicting their settings in various
ways. Mise-en-scène
· Montage/montage editing. In its broadest meaning, the process
of cutting up film and editing it into the screened sequence.
However, it may also be used to mean intellectual montage - the
juxtaposition of short shots to represent action or ideas - or
(especially in Hollywood), simply cutting between shots to
condense a series of events. Intellectual montage is used to
consciously convey subjective messages through the
juxtaposition of shots which are related in composition or
movement, through repetition of images, through cutting
rhythm, detail or metaphor. Montage editing, unlike invisible
editing, uses conspicuous techniques which may include: use of
close- ups, relatively frequent cuts, dissolves, superimposition,
fades and jump cuts. Such editing should suggest a particular

meaning.
Film Finances
Films need to take in 2 ½ to 3 times the negative costs just to
break even
Negative costs – production plus some advertising
Difference between director and producer
Exhibitor or theater owner
Property -Story/book being considered in development of a
screenplay/movie; an option – when you have put money down
so you may try to pull together a package to make the movie.
Typically you have an option for one year.
Distributor
Studio
Above the line and below the line costs – the budget
Below line costs are fixed
Above the line budget is for the stars
Deferred payments
Front money people (investors)
Difference between production of TV programs versus movies
Beauty and the Beast
Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (originally
released in France as La Belle et la Bte) stars Josette Day as
Beauty and Jean Marais as the Beast. When a merchant (Marcel
Andr (C)) is told that he must die for picking a rose from the
Beast's garden, his courageous daughter (Day) offers to go back
to the Beast in her father's place. The Beast falls in love with
her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis; she refuses,
having pledged her troth to a handsome prince (also played by
Marais). Eventually, however, she is drawn to the repellent but
strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her

a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a
specific time, he will die of grief. The film features a musical
score by Georges Auric. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Drama, Fantasy, Foreign, Romance, Science Fiction
Rated NR
96 minutes
| Roger Ebert
December 26, 1999 |
Before Disney's 1991 film and long before the Beast started
signing autographs in Orlando, Jean Cocteau filmed "Beauty
and the Beast" in 1946, in France. It is one of the most magical
of all films. Before the days of computer effects and modern
creature makeup, here is a fantasy alive with trick shots and
astonishing effects, giving us a Beast who is lonely like a man
and misunderstood like an animal. Cocteau, a poet and
surrealist, was not making a "children's film" but was adapting a
classic French tale that he felt had a special message after the
suffering of World War II: Anyone who has an unhappy
childhood may grow up to be a Beast.
Those familiar with the 1991 cartoon will recognize some of the
elements of the story, but certainly not the tone. Cocteau uses
haunting images and bold Freudian symbols to suggest that
emotions are at a boil in the subconscious of his characters.
Consider the extraordinary shot where Belle waits at the dining
table in the castle for the Beast's first entrance. He appears
behind her and approaches silently. She senses his presence, and
begins to react in a way that some viewers have described as
fright, although it is clearly orgasmic. Before she has even seen
him, she is aroused to her very depths, and a few seconds later,
as she tells him she cannot marry--a Beast!--she toys with a
knife that is more than a knife.
The Beast's dwelling is one of the strangest ever put on film--
Xanadu crossed with Dali. Its entrance hall is lined with
candelabra held by living human arms that extend from the
walls. The statues are alive, and their eyes follow the progress

of the characters (are they captives of the Beast, imprisoned by
spells?). The gates and doors open themselves. As Belle first
enters the Beast's domain, she seems to run dreamily a few feet
above the floor. Later, her feet do not move at all, but she
glides, as if drawn by a magnetic force. (This effect has been
borrowed by Spike Lee.) She is disturbed to see smoke rising
from the Beast's fingertips--a sign that he has killed. When he
carries her into her bed chamber, she has common clothes on
one side of the door and a queen's costume on the other.
Belle has come to the castle as a hostage. She lives at home
with her father, two unkind sisters and a silly brother, whose
handsome friend wants to marry her. But she cannot marry, for
she must care for Poppa. His business is threatened, and he
learns on a trip to a seaport that he has lost everything. On his
way home, through a forest on a stormy night, he happens upon
the Beast's castle, and is taken prisoner and told he must die.
The Beast offers a deal: He can go home if he will return in
three days, or he can send one of his daughters. The other
sisters of course sniff and make excuses, and their father says
he is old and nearly dead and will return himself. But Belle
slips out and rides the Beast's white horse, which knows the
way to the castle. And the Beast's first words tell her, "You are
in no danger."
Indeed she is not. The Beast has perhaps intuited that a daughter
who would take her father's place has a good heart. He tells her
that every night at 7 he will ask her the same question: "Will
you be my wife?" She shudders and says she will never marry
him, but eventually her heart softens, and she pities him and
sees that he is good. He gives her a magical glove that allows
her to travel instantly between the castle and her home
(emerging whole from the wall), and there is intrigue involving
the key to the garden where his fortune is held. The sisters plot
and scheme, but Belle of course prevails. Her father rises up
from his deathbed, the Beast sinks into a final illness instead,
and when she begs him to rally, his dying words are pathetic:
"If I were a man, perhaps I could. But the poor beasts who want

to prove their love can only grovel on the ground, and die."
Then there is another death, of the faithless family friend who
wanted to marry her, and as his body turns into that of the
Beast, the Beast comes back to life and turns into a prince who
looks uncannily like--the dead friend. And no wonder, because
all three--friend, Beast and prince--are played by Jean Marais.
Odd, how appealing Marais is as the Beast, and how shallow
and superficial he seems as the pompadoured prince. Even Belle
doesn't leap cheerfully into his arms, but looks quizzically at
her new catch and confesses she misses the Beast. So did
Marlene Dietrich, who held Cocteau's hand during the
suspenseful first screening of the film at a Paris studio. As the
prince shimmered into sight and smilingly presented himself as
Belle's new lover, she called to the screen, "Where is my
beautiful Beast?"
Although he made many films, Cocteau (1889-1963) did not
consider himself primarily a filmmaker but a poet; he also
painted, sculpted, wrote novels and plays, and stirred the
currents of the Paris art scene. His first film, the surrealistic
"Blood of a Poet," was made in 1930, the same year as Salvador
Dali and Luis Bunuel's notorious "L'Age d'Or." Both films were
produced by the Viscount de Noailles, who delayed the release
of Cocteau's after the other film inspired riots (Bunuel wrote of
filling his pockets with rocks to throw at the audience if they
charged the screen). Cocteau's film included images that became
famous, as when a mirror turns into a pool of water, and when a
mouth wiped off a painting affixes itself to his hand.
"Blood of a Poet" was an art film made by a poet. "Beauty and
the Beast" was a poetic film made by an artist. He made it at the
urging of Marais, his lover of many years, who was tall and
imposing, with an extraordinary profile and matinee idol looks--
a contrast to the skinny, chain-smoking Cocteau, whose months
of shooting the film were made a misery because of a painful
skin disease that required penicillin every three hours.
Because Cocteau was not sure he had the technical mastery for
such an ambitious production, he recruited the director Rene

Clement ("Purple Noon") as his technical adviser; the gifted
cameraman Henri Alekan to handle the tricky changes between
outdoor realism and indoor fantasy, and the theatrical designer
Christian Berard to design the makeup, sets and costumes (his
ideas were based on the illustrations of Gustav Dore). The
costumes were so elaborate they were said to be "as much as the
actors could stand up in." All of Cocteau's thoughts on this
process are preserved in his journal,Beauty and the Beast: Diary
of a Film,which shows him persevering despite his health. His
entry for Oct. 18, 1945: "Woke up with unbearable pain. As I
can neither sleep nor walk up and down, I calm myself by
picking up this notebook and trying to shout my pain to the
unknown friends who will read these lines."
We exist. His film has made us the friends. Watching it again
tonight, I felt an unusual excitement. Its devices penetrate the
usual conventions of narrative, and appeal at a deeper psychic
level. Cocteau wanted to make a poem, wanted to appeal
through images rather than words, and although the story takes
the form of the familiar fable, its surface seems to be masking
deeper and more disturbing currents. It is not a "children's
film." Is it even suitable for children? Some will be put off by
the black and white photography and the subtitles (brief,
however, and easy to read). Those who get beyond those hurdles
will find a film that may involve them much more deeply than
the Disney cartoon, because it is not just a jolly comic musical
but deals, as all fairy tales do, with what we truly dread and
desire. Brighter and more curious children will be able to enjoy
it very much, I suspect, although if they return as adults they
may be amazed by how much more is there.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-beauty-and-
the-beast-1946
Forty five years before Disney adapted "Beauty and the Beast"
into an animated feature and hit Broadway play, Jean Cocteau
brought to the screen a far more magical and visually stunning

version. Photographed with stark black and white imagery
without mountains of special effects, Cocteau's 1946 Beauty and
the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) showcases his theatrical, ballet,
and artistic talents in his finest creation.
Often more criticized for his drug use and homosexual lifestyle
than for his actual work during his lifetime, Cocteau took on the
fairy tale project at the urging of his lover, Jean Marais, who
plays both Avenant and the Beast in the film. Many draw
psychological interpretations of the film, partially based on
Cocteau’s sexuality or on the fact that Cocteau was beginning to
have skin problems (thus, the filmmaker could represent the
ugly beast in search of love). Additionally, fairy tales are
always ripe for psychosexual interpretations, so critics can have
a Freudian field day with Beauty and the Beast, scrutinizing the
visuals for phallic and vaginal symbols. The story itself is very
faithful to the original fairy tale crafted by Jean-Marie Leprince
de Beaumont.
Cocteau begs the audience to suspend belief, introducing the
film and preparing us for some of its conceits with a title card
that begins:
“Children believe what we tell them, they have complete faith
in us.
They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can bring drama
to a family. They believe that the hands of a human beast will
smoke when he slays a victim, and that this beast will be
ashamed when confronted by a young girl.
They believe a thousand other simple things. . .”
A merchant (Marcel André) lives in a country mansion with his
son Ludovic and his three daughters Felicie, Adelaide and Belle
(Josette Day). Belle (Beauty in English) is the good and pure
daughter who does all the housework, as opposed to the two
self-centered sisters that only desire a life of leisure and
marrying a rich duke. Ludovic's handsome friend Avenant (Jean
Marais) wants to marry Belle, but she refuses to leave her father
(providing lots of ammunition for Freudians).
Business isn’t going well for the merchant, so he undertakes a

desperate trip that promises riches. Returning home in the fog
after great disappointment, he wanders into a magical castle
literally illuminated hand held candelabras and watched over
with living statues and table hands that pour wine for the
guests. As the merchant prepares to leave, he plucks a rose for
Belle, which causes the host Beast (Jean Marais in a mask
incorporating elements of Wolfman and a Werewolf) to angrily
appear to demand his death, unless he can supply one of his
daughters to die in his place.
Of course, the loyal Belle willingly sacrifices herself. At first
fearful, she grows to feel sympathy for the Beast and the story
proceeds with inevitability. The Beast may look "horrible" (his
words), but he has a heart of gold, contrasting directly with the
two untrustworthy sisters and the greedy Avenant, who look fair
enough on the outside but are far more beastly inside.
Cocteau has fashioned a beautiful poetic vision with his Beauty
and the Beast that has now been restored and is preserved on a
well-conceived Criterion DVD, complete with background
information and commentary. Although the perfectionistic
Cocteau wasn’t always satisfied with Henri Alekan's
cinematography, the camerawork is remarkable with its contrast
between the clear and realistic country mansion scenes and the
dreamy castle scenes that immerse us intimately into the fantasy
world of the Beast. Camera choices that Cocteau makes, like
staying longer than expected on the castle steps when the
merchant arrives and creating a larger than life shadow
emanating from the merchant, add to the fantasy. One of the
most memorable scenes effectively uses Day’s ballet experience
to great effect as she glides along a castle corridor enhanced
with billowing curtains—filmed in slow motion as she advances
towards the camera using an invisible pulley on a skateboard
type devise.
Credit production and set designer Christian Bérard with much
of the magic of the film. Effectively using shadow and light
along with creative living candelabras and statues (with their
moving eyes), make the castle appear as vast as Citizen Kane’s

Xanadu and playfully surreal, despite being filmed in a
relatively modest locale. There is very little that Industrial
Light & Magic could do to make this film more fanciful, and
this 1946 is far more memorable than anything created by the
Disney people.
Day personifies the virginal Belle perfectly and Jean Marais
was never better in any role than he is as the Beast, especially
remarkable since he primarily relies on communicating through
his eyes. Marais does a nice job with body language inside the
animal suit even though he had no ballet or dance training.
Further testament to Marais' acting as the Beast is indicated by
the fact that Cocteau once attempted to use another actor in the
Beast outfit when Marais was ill, but junked that footage
because it didn't work.
Above all stands the vision of Cocteau, who deftly combines all
phases of his artistry to create a film masterpiece. Many of the
scenes can stand by themselves as paintings—Cocteau had this
in mind as he bases many of his choices specific artist's works.
Those who want to research the filmmaker's thoughts on his
masterwork can consult Cocteau’s own words in Beauty and the
Beast: Diary of a Film. The Criterion DVD release contains a
few excerpts.
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) by far the best
adaptation of the well-known fairy tale, but unfortunately will
not be watched as much as Disney's full color cartoon version.
Adults who seek this out will be richly rewarded because its
unforgettable imagery makes much deeper impact than more
modern adaptations. Will children enjoy it? If you can train
them to be film connoisseurs that appreciate subtleties and
black and white cinematography, they will thank you in the
future, for this is one of cinema’s great films—one that will be
indelibly inscribed in your memory. That fact, alone, gives
credence to the Freudian interpretations that you will read
concerning Cocteau’s film.
http://oldschoolreviews.com/rev_40/beauty_beast.htm

Magical Misty Tour de force
Author:Gary170459 from Derby, UK
25 December 2004
I first saw this when about 10 years old, it made little
impression on me then, probably because I couldn't hope to
appreciate it or understand it all when so young. Next time I
was 25 and was bowled over by its imagery, and as I've got
older come to appreciate it more and more.
So much for watching it through a child's eyes and accepting the
fantasy at face value! At the beginning Cocteau states "Once
upon a time...", but really for discerning adult cineastes (and/or
poets) to drop their guards and enjoy it for what it was - a
magical filmic fantasy. It's uniformly marvellous in all
departments, direction, photography, acting, music, design, and
Cocteau trotted out all his favourite cinematic tricks - just part
of the sequence between Blood of a Poet in '30 and Testament
of Orphee in '61. The script was suitably steeped in non
sequiteurs and puzzles to add to the heaviness of it all. Er, not
that it matters but what happened to Ludovic?
The wonderful dark brooding smoky atmosphere is the most
important aspect though - there are few films I've seen with
such a powerful cinematic atmosphere, Reinhardt's Midsummer
Night's Dream is one and Dead of Night another etc. But the
romantic melancholic atmosphere here was something ...
incredible. It was only possible with black and white nitrate
film stock to capture such gleaming, glistening and time- and
place-evoking moving images - it hasn't been quite the same
since 1950 with safety film in use.
If you're an adult about to give it your first (let yourself) go, I
envy thee! All in all a lovely inconsequential fantasy, make
what erudite and informative allegorical allusions you will.
From the fairy tale to Cocteau.

Author:dbdumonteil
24 November 2002
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
In France ,the fairy tale "La Belle et la Bête " is a classic by
Madame Leprince de Beaumont.Try to read it if you haven't
because you will realize that although Cocteau adapted the
story,he took it to new limits ,he dramatically expanded the
scope,and most of all,he wiped out an obsolete grating moral.
Mrs De Beaumont's fairy tale insists on virtue ,her story takes
virtue over beauty,wit or anything life can bring.The two bad
gals are strictly punished at the end of the story:they become
statues at the gate of their sister's palace but -supreme
humiliation-,they will keep their mind beneath the stone which
covers them ,and thus be able to watch their sister's happiness.
While keeping the two sisters' characters,Cocteau leaves the
"moral " angle far behind magic,symbolism,surrealism and
psychoanalysis.Jean Marais plays three parts:Avenant,la Belle's
suitor ,the Beast (four hours of make-up and terrible sufferings
during the shooting:Jean Marais was one of the greatest actors
France ever had -proof positive was that the new wave (with the
exception of jacques Demy) clique never used him-,and the
prince.These three entities that finally make one predates Bruno
Bettelheim by thirty years:this is not only because Belle does
not want to leave her father that she does not want to marry
Avenant:she's afraid of the man,he's the real beast.This triple
part is Cocteau's genius.Cocteau dropped out the good fairy who
appears in a Belle's dream and then at the end of Leprince de
Beaumont's story when she punishes the "vilainesses "and
rewards the "good ones" Instead ,we have these sublime lines:
-You resemble someone I knew...
-Does it worry you?

-Yes ....(then a beaming face) No!!!
Two words coexist -like in the literary work-:the mundane
bourgeois house of the merchant;the Bête's mansion,where
everything is possible,where Cocteau uses special effect to
create pure poetry,extraordinary enchantment .The two
characters seem to act as if they are in a ballet. The passage
between the two is first the mysterious forest.Then the Beast
reveals his secrets five magic clues:the rose,the golden key,the
glove,the ring and the mirror -some of them were in the story-
and a horse "le magnifique" as the two worlds intertwines
towards the end:Belle's room in her father 's room,in her room
in the palace,Avenant coming to her rescue while the Beast is
dying,the two characters soon to become one.
This is the best adaptation of a fairy tale for the screen.By
writing the cast and credits on a blackboard,Cocteau winks at
childhood -for a child he writes everything's possible -
besides,it's because the prince did not believe in the fairies -all
that is hidden for our poor rational spirit- that he was sentenced
to his bestial life.Bruno Bettelheim thought children intuitively
actually understood what lied beneath the fairy tales.They do
not cry when the wolf eats the first two little pigs because thy
do know that there is only one pig ,at three stages of its
development.They won't cry when Avenant will be hit by
Goddess Diana's arrow because they do understand in their
subconscious that all in all,Avenant and the Beast are the same
entity:beautiful prince,horrible
beast or simple young man share the same mystery.
Michel Tournier said that when his writing was at the height of
its powers,he could appeal to children as well.Cocteau did the
same for the seventh art.
Once upon our time...

Author:Andy (film-critic) from Bookseller of the Blue Ridge
23 September 2004
This film immediately captured my attention with the written
comments at the beginning of the film. Director Jean Cocteau
begins this story by explaining why he wanted to make this
film. He talks about the passion behind the picture and all the
social unrest at the time. He ends this written dialogue with a
comment that will forever remain in my mind. He says, "...and
now, we begin our story with a phrase that is like a time
machine for children: Once Upon a Time..." This just sent chills
down my spine. Why? Because, although he is addressing
children, I feel that it is really a phrase meant for all of us. It is
used to bring the child out in all of us, to show us that we do
not need to be 4 or 5 to fully understand the themes of this film
... we are meant to just sit back and let the film take us to
another mythological time.
The amazing set design also impressed me about this film.
Again, without the modern conveniences of today's cinema,
Cocteau had to improvise. This was hard for him to do. Not only
were there huge budgetary issues (since it was the end of WWII
and France was about to be demolished), but also he was racing
against an impending war. Fear was deep in the hearts of the
French after WWII, and what a better way to rally your people
then with a story about love found in the darkest of places.
This film also made me very sad. I am sometimes disgusted with
the way that Disney ... for lack of a better word ... Disney-fies
their fairy tales. I think after watching this masterpiece I will
have trouble ever being able to go back to the computer
generated "Song as Old as Time" version that Disney plastered
their trademark to. Never have I been so impressed with black
and white cinematography as I have been with this film. The
actress that plays Belle, Josette Day, steals the camera every
time it is on her. She looks so radiant with the black and white
that to see a colorized version of this film would completely do

it injustice. The power and emotion that comes between Belle
and the Beast feels so true. Cocteau has somehow grabbed the
true feeling of two people that are complete opposites that seem
to find true love in the coldest of places. I would be one of
those reviewers that believes that if this film were released
today, it would still pull the audiences in as it did the first time.
Only proving that it was made well before it's time, it shows so
many of the characteristics of the modern day movie. Even the
special effects seem perfect for this film. Even with budget
being sub-par, we are able to get a true feeling that this Beast is
one of the magical kind.
Oh, this film was superb. I would have to say that it is the best
adaptation of a fairy tale that I have seen today. Definitely my
best 40s film (made in 1946), and possibly the best telling of
Beauty and the Beast EVER!!
Grade: ***** out of *****
Beautiful, poetic, and haunting
Author:Paul Gunther from Los Angeles, California
4 January 2000
Cocteau was a poet. Make no mistake. First and foremost. Not
only in history's mind, but in his own as well. We are truly
blessed that he was a filmmaker as well, and a brilliant one at
that, marvelously weaving together a tapestry that mystically
incorporated both words and sounds with the beautiful visions
that lay captured in his mind.
Cocteau's vision of "Beauty and the Beast" is a visual marvel.
To explain these marvels for you would be to ruin the
experience. And it is an experience. But it is one of the poet:
borne of symbolism and mythology. This is a fairy tale that a
child could appreciate for its romance and beauty, and a parent
for its intelligence and use of symbolism and metaphor. I
recommend this film unreservedly. If you like classics and

consider yourself a serious filmgoer, Cocteau's film is essential
to your education
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038348/reviews

Film Terms and Concepts Midterm Review

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Film Terms and Concepts Midterm Review

Similar to Film Terms and Concepts Midterm Review (20)

More from cherry686017

More from cherry686017 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Film Terms and Concepts Midterm Review