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FIRST EXAM STUDY GUIDE

The study guide consists of three parts:

1. Take-Home Essays: Directions, Scenes, and Examples
2. List of Terms
3. Sample Exam with Answers

Take-Home Essays: Directions, Scenes, and Examples

(2 @ 25 pts. each) DUE 6 p.m., Monday, October 8

Directions: Write short essays of about 400-500 words each in response to (1) and (2) below. Single-spaced in 12-point font with one-inch margins, each essay must fit on one side of an 8-1/2x11 sheet of paper. Put only your TECH ID (not your name) in the upper right-hand corner of each sheet, along with other information identifying the essay.

Emphasize your knowledge of specific dramatic and cinematic concepts by CAPITALIZING or boldfacing terms introduced in Boggs chs. 1-6. Your task is to demonstrate your powers of observation and interpretation as well as your understanding of film techniques. Since you have only limited space in which to do so, do not use lazy, imprecise, or inefficient language; instead, use an economical structure, concise sentences, and precise naming. Choose carefully, so that the resulting essays adequately demonstrate the depth and breadth of your cinematic knowledge.

1. Analyze any one of the following scenes in essay form. Reconsider your initial observations, review the scene under discussion, and address the same general information and cinematic techniques you would in a "clip test." Click here to review a sample essay on a scene from Citizen Kane, or here to review one on a scene from Schindler's List. Click on the links below to review the scenes.

• from On the Waterfront: Terry's ultimate victory
• from Sherlock, Jr.: Buster’s dream-self enters the film
• from The Piano: Ada Goes Under
• from The Seventh Seal: The "End Game"
• from Modern Times: The Tramp Sings

2. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast one of the following—types of irony; symbolism and allegory; dramatic structure; characterization; or cinematography and point-of-view—in any two of the films we have studied to date. (You must choose films you did not address in #1 above.)

List of Terms

Here's a list of terms you should know; expect to be able to name and recognize examples from the films and scenes shown in class. (The fact that a term appears on this list does not mean it will appear on the exam; conversely, the exam may well include questions on concepts or statements from Boggs not contained on this list.)   Especially important terms are highlighted in bold.

Thematic Analysis

• theme (types and categories)
• motifs
• universality
• continuous motion

Fictional/Dramatic Elements

• unified plots
• linear (chronological, traditional, expository) narrative structure
• exposition, complication, climax, denouement
• in medias res, flashbacks, nonlinear structure
• conflict (external, internal)
• characterization (through appearance, dialogue, external action, internal action, reactions of others, caricature, name typing, leitmotif)
• types of characters (foils, stock characters, stereotypes, static/developing, round/flat)
• symbol (and methods of creating symbolic meanings)
• allegory
• metaphor (intrinsic/extrinsic)
• types of irony (dramatic, situational, character, setting, tone, cosmic)

Visual Design

• color palette
• color vs. black-and-white
• screen formats (standard, widescreen, panavision, cinemascope)
• film stock (rough-grain, smooth-grain)
• setting (and its effects)
• period piece
• studio/location shooting
• lighting (high-key, low-key)

Cinematography

• points of view (objective, subjective, indirect-subjective, director's interpretive)
• shot, scene
• camera distance (close-up, medium shot, long shot)
• motion (fixed-frame, panning, tilting, zooming, steadicam, skycam)
• dead screen/live screen
• rack focus, deep focus
• angle: low, high, bird's-eye
• lenses: telephoto, wide-angle, normal, fish-eye
• slow motion/fast motion
• freeze frame, thawed frame, still image

Editing and Effects

• shot/scene/sequence
• takes, dailies, rushes
• transitions: cut, wipe, flip frame, dissolve, fade, form cut
• establishing shot, flash cut, parallel cut, jump cut, montage
• inside/out, outside/in editing

Sample Exam with Answers

Part II of the exam will be given at 6 p.m. Monday, October 8. Bring a Scantron form 882-ES and #2 pencils. This part of the exam will consist of 50 multiple choice questions drawn from lectures, Boggs chs. 1-6, required reserve reading, and the first six films: On the Waterfront, Sherlock, Jr., The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Piano, The Seventh Seal, and Modern Times. Expect some particular attention to the scenes named above. Some questions will come "straight from the readings" (e.g. example #1 below), but most will ask that you apply cinematic terms and concepts from the Boggs text to the films we have screened in class (e.g. examples #2 and #3 below).

1. Boggs tells us that an important criterion in evaluating the theme is UNIVERSALITY; according to Boggs, a universal THEME is one that

1. is lasting and meaningful to people of all ages and all places.
2. is concerned with happenings in outer space.
3. reflects the conflicts associated with a contemporary social issue.
4. typically dramatizes a character’s struggle for human dignity against tremendous odds

2. Boggs would call The Piano an ALLEGORY because 

1. it was made in the 20th century but takes place in 19th-century New Zealand.
2. it makes use of traditional expository narrative structure.
3. its setting, characters, and objects all have symbolic meanings.
4. its denouement is ironic.

3. The fact that The Seventh Seal is a twentieth-century film with action taking place in a fourteenth-century setting makes it, according to Boggs’ definition,

1. an ART-HOUSE film.
2. an AUTEUR piece.
3. an EXISTENTIALIST film.
4. a PERIOD piece.

4. According to Boggs’ categorization, the typical structure of an EXPOSITORY FILM proceeds in this order:

1. complication, exposition, climax, denouement.
2. exposition, complication, denouement, climax.
3. exposition, complication, climax, denouement.
4. complication, denouement, exposition, climax.

5. According to Boggs, the director’s INTERPRETIVE POINT OF VIEW makes us consciously aware that

1. this single viewpoint will be used throughout the film.
2. we are looking at a three-dimensional image.
3. s/he wants us to view the action in some unusual way.
4. s/he has won a struggle with the cinematographer and controls the look of the film.

6. Which of the following films uses SLOW MOTION to intensify emotional quality?

1. On the Waterfront.
2. The Piano.
3. The Seventh Seal.
4. Modern Times.

7. According to Boggs, the BASIC UNIT OF FILM – the strip of film produced by a single continuous run of the camera – with which the editor works is called the

1. sequence.
2. scene.
3. splice.
4. shot.

8. Boggs offers a distinction between rough-grain and fine-grain film stock. Which of these films uses ROUGH-GRAIN film stock to achieve a seamy, gritty, documentary-style texture?

1. On the Waterfront.
2. The Purple Rose of Cairo
3. The Piano.
4. The Seventh Seal.

9. What is the correct chronological order of these four films' production? 

1. Sherlock, Jr.; Modern Times; The Purple Rose of Cairo; On the Waterfront.
2. Modern Times; Sherlock, Jr.; On the Waterfront; The Purple Rose of Cairo.
3. Sherlock, Jr.; Modern Times; On the Waterfront; The Purple Rose of Cairo.
4. Modern Times; Sherlock, Jr.; The Purple Rose of Cairo; On the Waterfront.

10. The DENOUEMENT of The Seventh Seal shows

1. Mia preparing strawberries and milk for friends and family.
2. the Knight losing his chess game with Death.
3. Jof’s vision of his friends dancing in a line with Death.
4. flagellants whipping themselves in the name of their god.

 

Click here to review the correct reponses.

Exam answers and grades will be posted on the "exams and grades" page of the course web Monday, October 15.