Looking at Movies Chapter 1: Looking at Movies – Study Guide, Review
Questions, and Answers
implicit meaning - ✔✔An association, connection, or inference that a viewer makes based on
the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of
explicit meaning, implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word meaning.
explicit meaning - ✔✔Everything that a movie presents on its surface.
motif/theme - ✔✔A recurring visual, sound or narrative element that imparts meaning or
significance.
dolly in - ✔✔Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the subject appear
larger and more significant. Such gradual intensification is commonly used at moments of a
character's realization and/or decision, or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the
character's realization.
duration - ✔✔A quantity of time. In any movie we can identify 3 different kind of duration:
story duration, plot duration and screen duration.
point of view - ✔✔The position from which the film presents the actions of the story; not only
the relation of the narrator(s) to the story, but also the camera's act of seeing and hearing.The 2
fundamental types of cinematic POV's are omniscient and restricted.
shot - ✔✔1. In an edited film, an unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of
the camera that lasts until it is replaced by another shot by means of a cut or other transition.
2. During the pre-production and production process: a specific arrangement of elements to be
captured in a particular composition from a pre-determined camera position.
Questions, and Answers
implicit meaning - ✔✔An association, connection, or inference that a viewer makes based on
the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of
explicit meaning, implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word meaning.
explicit meaning - ✔✔Everything that a movie presents on its surface.
motif/theme - ✔✔A recurring visual, sound or narrative element that imparts meaning or
significance.
dolly in - ✔✔Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the subject appear
larger and more significant. Such gradual intensification is commonly used at moments of a
character's realization and/or decision, or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the
character's realization.
duration - ✔✔A quantity of time. In any movie we can identify 3 different kind of duration:
story duration, plot duration and screen duration.
point of view - ✔✔The position from which the film presents the actions of the story; not only
the relation of the narrator(s) to the story, but also the camera's act of seeing and hearing.The 2
fundamental types of cinematic POV's are omniscient and restricted.
shot - ✔✔1. In an edited film, an unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of
the camera that lasts until it is replaced by another shot by means of a cut or other transition.
2. During the pre-production and production process: a specific arrangement of elements to be
captured in a particular composition from a pre-determined camera position.
