reflectance value - Answers An object's reflectance value is its inherent ability to reflect light.
Yellow objects, for example, naturally reflect more light than do black objects.
Hi-Contrast vs. Low-Contrast - Answers Hi-contrast: Images that contain bright white highlights,
stark black areas, and a narrow range of grays in between
Low-Contrast: an image that possesses a narrow range of tones (all middle grays, or all high
tones, or all low tones)
(Bright objects are more dynamic than dark ones. More intense)
What are three ways of controlling the tonal value of an image? - Answers 1. Amount of light
falling on a picture
2. Manipulating exposure (the amount of light let into the camera)
3. Reflectance Value
How does an overexposure affect tone? an underexposure? - Answers Overexposure will push
all the image's tonal values towards the high end of the gray scale. The result will be a "brighter"
image with a reduced tonal range.
Underexposure will push all the image's tonal values towards the low end of the gray scale.The
result will be a darker image, again with a reduced tonal range.
What does an eye typically first seek out in an image? and second? and third? - Answers 1st:
Faces (or round shapes)
2nd: Bright areas
3rd: Whatever is in focus
4th: Foreground
5th: Converging lines
Describe the tonal relation of the shots in the clip from Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad. -
Answers he scene below, from Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad, is certainly not as radical
as Kubelka's short, but it uses contrast of tone from shot to shot to increase the dynamism
associated with one of its flashbacks. Watch it with tone in mind (clip 17 01)
, What are some ways a filmmaker might create an image that might be considered an example
of coincidence of tone? non-coincidence of tone? - Answers First, "coincidence of tone" occurs
when the tonal organization of the shot helps reveal the subject. Usually, the subject is revealed
because he or she or it is one of the brightest things in the frame or is near the brightest thing in
the frame.
Second term: "Non-coincidence of tone" occurs when the tonal organization of the shot does
not help reveal the subject. Non-coincidence of tone is used in horror films and shows like X-
Files, etc. The subject is "lurking in the shadows" or pops out of "nowhere". That "nowhere" is
created through tonal organization. If he's wearing dark clothes and is not standing in the light,
we are unlikely to find him quickly.
Describe how the makers of Auto Focus use tone to structure their film. - Answers The
filmmakers have manipulated tone to chart the psychological path of Auto Focus' protagonist.
The film is structured by tone - a high tone suburban oblivion, the middle-to-low tone TV grind,
and Bob's extremely low tone collapse.
Describe how the design of Bob's agent's office changes over the course of Auto Focus. -
Answers Three times Bob goes to speak to his agent:
1st - Note the saturated high tone yellow drapes, the white and light gray and pale blue papers
covering the agent's desk, the saturated and medium tone blue couch, the tan carpet, etc. Not
quite as high tone as the shots in Bob's home, but in the same ballpark.
2nd - Bob now wears more "drab" (in other words, desaturated and somewhat lower tone)
clothes. Like the shots from the set of Hogan's Heroes, these images exhibit a tonal range
generally lower on the gray scale than the shots, including shots of the same office, from the
first third of the film. Not only that, but the furnishings have changed. The high tone yellow
drapes have been replaced with some middle tone reds ones. And the bright blue couch from
the first scene is now a dark brown one!
3rd - These shots are even more dark and more devoid of color than the ones from the middle
of the film. There is a lot of black, but, as you can see, there are also strong whites. These, then,
are relatively hi-contrast images, or, to use the language of the text, images which exhibit
contrast of tone within the shot. This scene's tonal organization sets it apart from the other
scenes in the agent's office. And its tonal design reflects the overall tonal design of the film.
Tone has, again, helped to structure the film.
Describe how the makers of Mishima visually structure their film. What part does tone play in
that structuring? - Answers The "present tense" of Mishima's life is given in relatively low-
contrast high tone images with lots of desaturated color and handheld camera.