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Table of Contents
4. P E A R S O N C U S T O M L I B R A R Y
I
Glossary
1
1Stephen Prince
1. Film Structure
13
13Stephen Prince
2. Cinematography
57
57Stephen Prince
3. Production Design
95
95Stephen Prince
4. Acting
121
121Stephen Prince
5. Editing: Making the Cut
5. 149
149Stephen Prince
6. Principles of Sound Design
187
187Stephen Prince
7. The Nature of Narrative in Film
229
229Stephen Prince
8. Visual Effects
287
287Stephen Prince
9. Modes of Screen Reality
325
325Stephen Prince
381
381Index
II
6. G L O S S A R Y
3D digital matte A matte painting that has been camera
mapped onto a 3D geometrical model in computer space.
The digital matte can then be moved or rotated to
simulate the perspective of a moving camera. See also
camera mapping .
Additive Color Mixing A system used for creating color
on television where red, blue, and green lights are mixed
together to create all other hues.
ADR Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is a post-
production practice in which actors re-record lines of dia-
logue or add new ones not present at the point of filming.
Computer software enables proper synching of these lines
with the performer’s lip movements as recorded on film.
Aerial Image Printing Method of producing dimensional
effects using matte paintings in an optical printer. An image
(such as a matte painting) is projected to a focal plane in space
(rather than onto a surface) where it can be photographed by
the process camera in the optical printer. That footage can be
combined with live action footage and other optical elements.
Aerial Perspective A visual depth cue in which the effects
of the atmosphere make very distant objects appear bluish
and hazy.
Alpha Channel In a digital image, this channel of informa-
tion specifies a pixel’s degree of transparency. The alpha
channel is often used for generating male and female mattes.
7. Ambient Sound The background sound characteristic of an
environment or location. For a film such as The Last of the
Mohicans , set in a forest, ambient sounds include the rustle
of branches and the cries of distant birds.
Anamorphic Method of producing a widescreen (2.35:1)
image by squeezing the picture information horizontally and
stretching it vertically. This method is used for both theatri-
cal films and for DVD home video formatted for 16 × 9 (wi-
descreen) monitors or projection systems. Unsqueezing the
picture information during projection or viewing produces
the widescreen image.
Ancillary Market All of the nontheatrical markets from
which a film distributor derives revenue. These include home
video, cable television, and foreign markets.
Angle of View The amount of area recorded by a given
lens. Telephoto lenses have a much smaller angle of view
than wide-angle lenses.
Animation 2D Traditional form of animation in cinema
which involves photographing flat artwork, typically a com-
bination of characters and background. Camera movement
and three dimensional depth perspective is fairly limited.
Animatronic Model A motorized, moveable miniature
model, often used for creature effects.
Animation 3D Animation of miniature models or puppets
or animation inside three-dimensional computer space.
Antinarrative A narrative style that tends, paradoxically,
toward eliminating narrative by employing lots of digres-
sion, avoiding a clear hierarchy of narrative events, and by
suppressing the causal connections among events.
Art Director Working under the production designer, the
art director supervises the translation and sketches into sets.
Art Film Films made by overseas directors in the 1950s
and 1960s that explored weighty and timeless themes and
8. took film style in new, unexplored directions.
Aspect Ratio The dimensions of the film frame or screen
image. Aspect ratio is typically expressed in units of width
to height.
Attributional Errors Mistakes of interpretation that arise
when a critic erroneously decides that some effect in a film
has a meaning expressly intended by its creators or incor-
rectly assigns the creative responsibility for an effect to the
wrong member of the production crew. Uncovering these er-
rors typically requires documentation of a film’s production
history.
Auteur A director whose work is characterized by a dis-
tinctive audiovisual design and recurring set of thematic
issues. Auteurism is a model of film theory and criticism that
searches for film authors or auteurs.
Auteurist Film Theory (Auteur Theory) A model of film
the-
ory that studies the work of a film auteur (or author). Directors
are generally considered to be the prime auteurs in cinema.
Auteurist theory studies the films of a cinema auteur as works
of personal expression.
Back Light The light source illuminating the space between
performers and the rear wall of a set. Along with key and
fill lights, back light is one of the three principal sources of
illumination in a scene.
Beta Movement A perceptual illusion in which the hu-
man eye responds to apparent movement as if it were real.
Because of this illusion, viewers think they see moving fig-
ures on a film or television screen when, in fact, there is no
true movement.
Binocular Disparity Each eye has a different angle of view
on the world, and this difference or disparity provides a
source of information about depth, distance and spatial lay-
10. married (composited) with live action photography to stun-
ning effect, as the exciting interaction of real actors and CGI
dinosaurs in The Lost World demonstrates.
Condensation A concept in psychoanalytic film theory that
denotes the concentration of meaning found in images that
are highly charged with emotional or dramatic significance.
This concentration is symptomatic of repressed content that
find expression in a condensed, indirect manner.
Continuity Editing As its name implies, continuity editing
maximizes principles of continuity from shot to shot so that
the action seems to flow smoothly across shot and scene
transitions. Continuity editing facilitates narrative compre-
hension by the viewer.
Contrast The differences of light intensity across a scene.
A
high-contrast scene features brightly illuminated and deeply
shadowed areas.
Convention A familiar, customary way of representing
char-
acters, story situations, or images. Conventions result from
agreements between filmmakers and viewers to accept certain
representations as valid.
Convergence Movement of the eyes toward each other that
occurs when viewing near objects. Stereoscopic cinema uses
convergence information to elicit 3D effects.
Costume Designer Individual who designs costuming worn
by actors.
Costumes The clothing worn by performers in a film.
Costumes help establish locale and period as well as a given
11. film’s color design.
Counter-Matte A counter-matte masks the frame in an in-
verse manner to a matte. Used in combination with a matte,
the matte/counter-matte system provides a means of creating
composite images. See also Traveling Matte.
Coverage The shots an editor uses to bridge continuity
problems in the editing of a scene. By cutting to coverage,
rather than relying on the master shot, an editor can finesse
many problems of scene construction and can improve an
actor’s performance.
Blockbuster A hugely profitable film usually featuring a
fantasy theme and a narrative heavily dependent on special
effects.
Boom Shot A type of moving camera shot in which the
camera moves up or down through space. Also known as a
crane shot , it takes its name from the apparatus—a boom or
crane—on which the camera is mounted.
Camera Mapping Method of projecting a 2D matte paint-
ing onto a 3D geometrical model in computer space. Once
the image is projected onto the model, it can be treated as a
3D object and moved or rotated to simulate the perspective
of a moving camera.
“Camera Pen” The term used by Alexandre Astruc to
designate the use of cinema as a medium of personal expres-
sion. The concept was a major influence on French New
Wave directors and their conviction that cinema was a direc-
tor’s medium (see Auteur).
Camera Position The distance between the camera and the
subject it is photographing. Camera positions are usually
12. classified as variations of three basic setups: the long shot,
the medium shot, and the close-up.
Canted Angle A camera angle in which the camera leans
toward screen right or screen left, producing an imbalanced,
off-center look to the image. Filmmakers often use canted
angles to capture a character’s subjective feelings of stress or
disorientation.
Cells Transparent sheets of cellulose on which an ani-
mator draws and paints. A completed scene may be com-
posed of numerous cells photographed one behind the
other.
Cinematic Self-Reflexivity A basic mode of screen reality
in
which the filmmaker establishes a self-referential audiovisual
design. A self-reflexive film calls attention to its own
artificially
constructed nature.
Cinematography The planning and execution of light and
color design, camera position, and angle by the cinematogra-
pher in collaboration with the director.
Cinephilia Love for cinema. This designates a deep passion
for the medium of cinema, not merely a fondness for this or
that individual film.
Classic Hollywood Narrative Type of narrative prevalent
in Hollywood films of the 1930s to 1950s and still popular
today. The plot features a clear, main line of action (with
subordinate subplots), marked by a main character’s pur-
suit of a goal, in which the story events are chained in tight
causal relationships. The conclusion cleanly resolves all
major story issues.
13. Close-Up One of the basic camera positions. The cam-
era is set up in close proximity to an actor’s face or other
significant dramatic object that fills the frame. Close-ups
tend to isolate objects or faces from their immediate sur-
roundings.
2
Glossary
Digital Backlot Practice of simulating locations using digi-
tal tools as an alternative to location shooting.
Digital Composite A composited shot produced digitally,
rather than using an optical printer, by adding, substracting
or otherwise transforming pixels.
Digital Effects The computer-designed components of a
shot that may be composited with live action elements.
Digital Grading Method of digitally altering image ele-
ments, such as color balance and saturation, contrast,
gamma, and filtration. O Brother, Where Art Thou? was the
first feature, shot on film, to be entirely digitized and then
color-corrected in this fashion. Also called digital timing.
Digital Intermediate The version of a film on digital video
that is subjected to digital grading or the computer correc-
tion of color, contrast, and other image qualities. After these
corrections are made, the footage on digital video is then
scanned back onto film.
Digital Rendering The process during which a synthetic
14. digital image is created from the files and data that an artist
has assembled.
Digital Video An increasingly accepted alternative to cel-
luloid film, this format captures picture information as an
electronic signal in binary code. Images captured on digital
video look different than those captured on film, but, once
in binary format, images can be stored and manipulated by
computer programs for editing and special effects work.
Direct Cinema A documentary style that emerged in the
1960s and sought to minimize all appearances that the film-
maker was shaping or manipulating the materials of the
film.
Direct Sound Sound that is captured and recorded directly
on location. Direct sound also designates an absence of re-
flected components in the final recording.
Director The member of the production crew who works
closely with the cinematographer, editor, production de-
signer, and sound designer to determine a film’s organizing,
creative structure. The director is generally the key member
of the production team controlling and synthesizing the
contributions of other team members. On budgetary issues,
however, the director is answerable to the producer who has
the highest administrative authority on a production.
Displacement A concept in psychoanalytic film theory
whereby repressed ideas, emotions or impulses find a sub-
stitute outlet in disguised form as they are projected onto
nonthreatening aspects of a scene or situation.
Dissolve A type of visual transition between shots or
scenes, created by the editor. Unlike the cut, the dis-
solve is a gradual screen transition with distinct optical
15. characteristics. The editor overlaps the end of one shot
with the beginning of the next shot to produce a brief
superimposition.
Diversification A corporate structure in which a company
conducts business operations across a range of associated
markets and product categories.
Crane Shot See Boom Shot.
Criticism The activity of searching for meaning in an art-
work. The critic seeks to develop an original interpretation
by uncovering novel meanings inside
a film.
Cross-Cutting A method of editing used to establish si-
multaneous, ongoing lines of action in a film narrative. By
rapidly cutting back and forth between two or more lines of
action, the editor establishes that they are happening simul-
taneously. By decreasing the length of the shots, editors can
accelerate the pace of the editing and imply an approaching
climax.
Cue Sheet A breakdown of a scene’s action, listing and
timing all sections requiring musical cues.
Cut A type of visual transition created in editing in which
one shot is instantaneously replaced on screen by another.
Because the change is instantaneous, the cut itself is invis-
ible. The viewer sees only the change from one shot to the
next.
Deduction The method by which the critic works, using
the general goals of the critical model to guide the search for
supporting evidence.
16. Deep-Focus Cinematography A style of cinematography
that establishes great depth of field within shots. Gregg
Toland’s cinematography for Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane is
a classic example of deep-focus composition.
Depth of Field The area of distance or separation between
sharply focused foreground and background objects. Depth
of field is determined by the focal length of a lens. Wide-
angle lenses produce deep focus or great depth of field,
whereas telephoto lenses have a shallow depth of field.
Depth Score The way that stereoscopic (3D) space is cho-
reographed on screen in order to express a film’s underlying
themes and story issues.
Description A stage in creating criticism wherein the critic
fully describes those relevant features of narrative or audiovi-
sual design on which the critical interpretation will be based.
Design Concept The underlying creative concept that orga-
nizes the way in which sets and costumes are built, dressed,
and photographed on a given production.
Deviant Plot Structure A narrative whose design and orga-
nization fails to conform with viewers’ expectations regard-
ing what is proper or permissible.
Dialogue One of the three basic types of film sound, it in-
cludes speech delivered by characters in a scene and voice-over
narration accompanying a scene or film.
Diegetic Sound Sound that can be heard by characters in a
scene and by film viewer. See also nondiegetic sound .
Digital Animation Animation inside three- dimensional
com-
17. puter space, aided by software to produce many photographic-
like effects. Digitally created lighting effects, for example, can
be very elaborate, and when used with texture mapping of
skin and other surfaces, these can create remarkable illusions
of depth.
3
Glossary
Extras Incidental characters in a film, often part of the
background of a shot or scene.
Eyeline Match The matching of eyelines between two or
more characters who are engaged in conversation or are
looking at each other in a scene, in order to establish rela-
tions of proximity and continuity. The directions in which
the performers look from shot to shot are complementary.
That is, if performer A looks screen right in the first shot,
performer B will look screen left in the next shot.
Fade A visual transition between shots or scenes created by
the editor. Unlike the cut, the fade creates a gradual transi-
tion with distinct visual characteristics. A fade is visible on
screen as a brief interval with no picture. The editor fades
one shot to black and then, after a pause, fades in the next
shot. Editors often use fades to indicate a substantial change
of time or place in the narrative.
Fall-Off The area in a shot where light falls off into
shadow. Fast fall-off occurs in a high-contrast image where
the rate of change between the illuminated and shadowed
areas is very quick.
18. Fantasy A basic mode of screen reality in which settings
and subjects, characters, and narrative time are far removed
from the conditions of the viewer’s ordinary life. Fantasy
characters may have super powers or advanced technology
that lends them extraordinary abilities.
Feature Film A film typically running between 90 and 120
minutes.
Female Matte In a matte/counter-matte system, the female
matte (also known as a cover matte) is an opaque frame in
which the foreground figure is transparent. The opaque area
of the female matte blocks light during printing.
Feminist Film Theory A model of film theory that ex-
amines the images of women in film and issues of gender
representation.
Fetishizing Techniques As emphasized in psychoanalytic
film theory, these are elements of style that concentrate the
viewer’s attention for extended periods upon erotic imagery
or material in a way that displaces other components of a
scene or shot.
Fill Light A light placed opposite the key light and used to
soften the shadows it casts. Along with key and back lights,
fill light is one of the three principal sources of illumination
in a scene.
Film Noir A cycle of crime and detective films popular in
the U.S. cinema of the 1940s. Low-key lighting was a major
stylistic attribute of this cycle.
Film Stock Camera negative identified by manufacturer and
number. Stocks vary in terms of their sensitivity to light, color
reproduction, amount of grain, contrast, and resolution.
19. Film Theory A philosophical or aesthetic model that
seeks to explain the fundamental characteristics of the me-
dium of cinema and how it expresses meaning.
Final Cut The finished edit of a film. The form in which a
film is released to and seen by audiences.
Documentary A type of film dealing with a person, situa-
tion, or state of affairs that exists independently of the film.
Documentaries can include a poetic, stylized audiovisual
design, but they typically exclude the use of overt fictional
elements.
Documentary Realism A subcategory of the realist mode of
screen reality. The documentary realist filmmaker employs
the camera as a recording instrument to capture events or
situations that are transpiring independently of the filmmaker.
Documentary realism is also a stylistic construction in that the
filmmaker’s audiovisual design imposes an artistic organiza-
tion on the event that has unfolded before the camera.
Dolly A type of movable platform on which the camera is
placed to execute a tracking shot. Tracking shots are some-
times called dollies or dolly shots.
Editing The work of joining together shots to assemble
the finished film. Editors select the best shots from the large
amount of footage the director and cinematographer have
provided and assemble these in the proper narrative order.
Editor The member of the production crew who, in con-
sultation with the director, designs the order and arrange-
ment of shots as they will appear in the finished film and
splices them together to create the final cut.
20. Effects (Sound) One of the three basic types of film sound.
Effects are all of the nonspoken, nonmusical sounds in a
film (e.g., footsteps, breaking glass, etc.).
Emulsion The light-sensitive surface of the film. Light
sensitivity varies among film stocks. Fast films feature emul-
sions that are very light sensitive, requiring minimal light for
a good exposure. Slow films feature emulsions that are less
light sensitive, requiring more light on the scene or set for
proper exposure.
ENR Named for Ernesto N. Rico, this method of film
processing retains a portion of the silver in film emulsion,
which is normally removed during developing. This has the
effect of making shadows blacker, de-saturating color, and
highlighting the texture and edges of surfaces.
Errors of Continuity Disruptions in the appropriate flow
of action or in the proper relation of camera perspectives
from shot to shot. These errors may include the failure to
match action across shots or to maintain consistent screen
direction.
Establishing Shot A type of long shot used to establish the
setting or location of a scene. In classical continuity editing,
establishing shots occur at the beginning of a scene and help
contextualize subsequent close-ups and other partial views
of the action.
Explicit Causality The tight chaining of narrative events
into a strong causal sequence in which prior events directly
and clearly cause subsequent events. Characteristic of
Hollywood filmmaking.
Expressionism A basic mode of screen reality in which
film-
21. makers use explicit audiovisual distortions to express extreme
or aberrant emotions or perceptions.
4
Glossary
Gray Scale A scale used for black-and-white
cinematography
that measures color intensity or brightness. Black-and-white
film and the black-and-white video camera can differentiate
colors only if they vary in degrees of brightness. The gray scale
tells filmmakers which colors will separate naturally in black
and white.
Greenscreening Filming of live actors against a blank and
colored (green) screen for subsequent compositing with digi-
tal elements.
Gross The total box office revenue generated by a film be-
fore expenses are deducted.
Hand-Held Camera A camera that is physically held by the
operator rather than being mounted on a tripod, dolly, or
other platform. It permits more freedom of movement and is
especially suited for scenes where the action is spontaneous
and unpredictable.
Hard Light Light that is not scattered or diffused by filters
or reflecting screens. Hard light can establish high contrast.
Hard-Matted Method of producing letterboxed video
transfers of widescreen films. The widescreen ratio is pre-
served for viewing on a 4:3 monitor by masking that part of
22. the video signal that displays on the top and bottom of the
monitor’s screen and displaying the widescreen image in the
unmatted area.
High-Angle A camera angle usually above the eye level of
performers in a scene.
High-Definition Video Compared with standard video,
which has 480 scan lines of picture information, hi-def
video has up to 1080 scan lines. The Sony/CineAlta HD24P
format, which George Lucas used to shoot the latest install-
ments of his Star Wars series, runs at 24 frames per second,
like film, and carries a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.
High-Key Lighting A lighting design that minimizes con-
trast and fall-off by creating a bright, even level of illumina-
tion throughout a scene.
Historical Realism A subcategory of the realist mode of
screen reality. Historical realist films aim to recreate in close
detail the manners, mores, settings, and costumes of a dis-
tant historical period.
Homage A reference in a film to another film or film-
maker. The climatic gun battle on the train station steps in
Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987) is an homage to
Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin (1925), which
features the famous massacre on the Odessa steps.
Hue One of the basic attributes of color. Hue designates
the color itself. Red, blue, and green are primary hues. They
are not mixtures of any other color.
Identification A stage in creating criticism wherein the
critic selectively identifies those aspects of the film that are
relevant for the critical argument being developed. The
23. identification of selective film elements enables the critic to
simplify and reduce the wealth of material in the film.
Ideological Film Theory A model of film theory that exam-
ines the representation of social and political issues in film.
Flashing A technique used to de-saturate color and con-
trast from a shot and to create a misty, slightly hazy effect.
Film stock is flashed by exposing it to a small amount of
light prior to developing.
Flicker Fusion Along with persistence of vision and beta
movement, this is one of the perceptual foundations on
which the illusion of cinema rests. The human eye cannot
distinguish the individual still frames of a motion picture
because of the speed at which they are projected. Flicker fu-
sion designates the viewer’s inability to perceive the pulsing
flashes of light emitted by the projector. These flashes and
the still pictures they illuminate blend together to produce
an illusion of movement.
Focal length The distance between the optical center of the
lens and the film inside the camera. Lenses of different fo-
cal lengths will “see” the action in front of the camera very
differently. See Wide-Angle , Telephoto , Normal , and Zoom
Lenses .
Foley The creation of sound effects …
Serco-na
Remote agreement
3/18/20Overview
Project Background and Description
This project was introduce because of the need to work from
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employees to work from home we need to have an agreement in
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Project Scope
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