Film Theory Test
Preparation
Course Introduction
Film Theory examines the critical frameworks, methodologies, and philosophies used to analyze and interpret cinema. Students explore foundational and contemporary theories, including formalism, realism, psychoanalysis, feminism, auteur theory, structuralism, post-structuralism, and cultural studies. Through theoretical readings, film screenings, and class discussions, the course investigates how films create meaning, address audiences, and engage with social, historical, and technological contexts. The aim is to develop the analytical tools necessary for understanding the aesthetic, political, and ideological dimensions of film as both art and cultural artifact.
Recommended Textbook
Film Art An Introduction 10th Edition by David Bordwell
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11 Chapters
525 Verified Questions
525 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/537
Page 2
Chapter 1: Film as art: creativity, technology, and business
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55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/181548
Sample Questions
Q1) A film's musical track is typically composed during the preproduction phase.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Modern publicity methods mean that "word of mouth" seldom affects a film's success.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The "aspect ratio" of a film refers to
A) the profits of a film in proportion to its costs.
B) the percentage of shots that are made on location.
C) the relationship of the width to the height of its images.
D) the proportion of the total amount of footage shot to the amount used in the final cut.
Answer: C
Q4) Discuss how the choices made by a director, such as in Mann's Collateral, help to shape the style of a film.
Answer: Answers will vary
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3
Chapter 2: The significance of film form
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45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10013
Sample Questions
Q1) Genres are unaffected by conventions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Emotions experienced by spectators result from spectators' perceptions of
A) how other spectators interpret the film.
B) the film's use of conventions.
C) formal patterns in the film.
D) how closely the film's events resemble those of real life.
Answer: C
Q3) Events that involve characters and that form a story in a film constitute the film's A) narrative elements.
B) stylistic elements.
C) plot structure.
D) content.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Narrative form
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/181550
Sample Questions
Q1) Characters are the most common source of causes in a narrative.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The ending of Citizen Kane is notable for
A) leaving the central mystery of the story partially open.
B) thoroughly resolving an unusually large number of plot lines.
C) suddenly introducing a newsreel that summarizes and clarifies the narrative causality.
D) daringly presenting unmotivated causes that finally allow Thompson to achieve his goal.
Answer: A
Q3) Citizen Kane creates a narrative parallel between Kane's political campaign and A) his attempt to promote Bernstein despite Thatcher's objections.
B) the montage sequence of Kane's first marriage deteriorating.
C) his attempt to make Leland into a famous drama critic.
D) his attempt to foster Susan's operatic career.
Answer: D
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5
Chapter 4: The shot: mise-en-scene
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56 Verified Questions
56 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10015
Sample Questions
Q1) German Expressionist films, such as The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari, are characterized by realistic mise-en-scene and subtle, psychologically based acting.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a motif in the mise-en-scene in Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality?
A) a sampler embroidered "Love Thy Neighbor"
B) a fish-on-a-line motif
C) a gun rack
D) a dog-on-a-leash motif
Q3) The system of lighting widely used in classical Hollywood filmmaking is known as A) three-point lighting.
B) five-point lighting.
C) cast-shadow lighting.
D) omnidirectional lighting.
Q4) "Fill" light is used to create deep shadows.
A)True
B)False
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6
Chapter 5: The shot: cinematography
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54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/181551
Sample Questions
Q1) "Reframing" refers to
A) taking one lens off the camera and putting on another with a different focal length.
B) moving the camera forward after the master shot has been filmed, in order to get closer views.
C) making short pans or tilts to keep the composition balanced.
D) inserting hard mattes into the camera to achieve widescreen aspect ratios.
Q2) Which of the following statements is NOT true concerning Peter Jackson's use of computer-generated imagery in The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
A) It was used to create portions of the mise-en-scene.
B) It was used to create characters with individual artificial intelligence.
C) It was used to create digital stunt doubles for actors.
D) It allowed the use of computerized storyboards instead of the less advanced animatics usually used for special effects.
Q3) "Perspective" refers to a set of spatial relations around a particular viewing point.
A)True
B)False
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Page 7
Chapter 6: The relation of shot to shot: editing
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51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10017
Sample Questions
Q1) The opening scene of The Maltese Falcon contains examples of what type of editing?
A) crosscutting
B) montage sequence
C) rhythmic cutting
D) shot/reverse shot
Q2) Most contemporary films indicate the passage of time through fades and dissolves instead of direct cuts.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a significant alternative to the techniques of the continuity system?
A) 360-degree space
B) nondiegetic inserts
C) jump cuts
D) cheat cuts
Q4) An establishing shot is a close view that reveals a significant detail in the scene.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Sound in the cinema
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10018
Sample Questions
Q1) In The Prestige, sound distinguishes Alfred and Robert's backgrounds and personalities through
A) sound cues such as pounding metal or soft piano keys.
B) orchestral soundtrack "themes" specific to each character.
C) accents that suggest different backgrounds.
D) different volume levels for each of their voices.
Q2) The example from Chris Marker's Letter from Siberia used in Film Art demonstrates
A) the use of different images to accompany the same sound.
B) the use of very precise, rhythmic synchronization.
C) the use of different sounds to accompany the same images.
D) the use of multiple-track sound.
Q3) Sound perspective gives a sense of spatial distance and location.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Film sound can include any mixture of noise, music, and speech.
A)True
B)False
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9
Chapter 8: Summary: style as a formal system
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Shadow of a Doubt, which of the following is done by the development and stylistic presentation of the story?
A) They make the audience identify with the murderer.
B) They put the audience close to Little Charlie.
C) They keep the audience confused as to the true motives of Uncle Charlie.
D) They take us chronologically through the defining moments of Little Charlie's adolescent life.
Q2) Welles makes the important newsreel sequence distinctive by using a number of techniques that do not appear anywhere else in Citizen Kane.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the relation (if any), both visually and graphically, of the beginning and ending of Citizen Kane?
Q4) What are some of the things that should be looked for when determining the organizational structure of a film?
Q5) What does it mean for style to function perceptually? What are some aspects of this quality? Give an example from Citizen Kane.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Film genres
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10020
Sample Questions
Q1) Social processes can be reflected in genre innovations.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a reason for the recent popularity of the crime thriller with filmmakers?
A) It has become an international trend.
B) It allows for elaborate special effects.
C) It is relatively inexpensive to produce.
D) It offers showy roles to actors.
Q3) Filmmakers avoid mixing the conventions of more than one genre.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Film Art suggests that the Western deals with "the conflict between civilized order and the lawless frontier." Drawing on readings and screenings, suggest what conventions and iconography of the Western are associated with that conflict.
Q5) Genres are unable to respond quickly to broad social trends.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Documentary, experimental, and animated films
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49 Verified Questions
49 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/181546
Sample Questions
Q1) The greatest challenge involved in using categorical form in a documentary is the A) difficulty involved in properly assigning categories and finding examples of those.
B) fact that it tends to develop in complex ways and thus risks confusing the viewer.
C) difficulty involved in properly relating the categories to the viewer's experience.
D) fact that it tends to develop in fairly simple ways and thus risks boring the viewer.
Q2) Dimensions of Dialogue, by Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, can best be described as
A) light-hearted and whimsical.
B) surreal and disturbing.
C) lyrical and poetic.
D) hilarious and satirical.
Q3) Describe how animation differs from live-action filming.What are some of the common types of animation? Give examples of each.How did the technique used to make Duck Amuck differ from that used to make Fuji?
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Chapter 12: Historical changes in film art: conventions and choices, tradition and trends
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51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/10022
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following traits is NOT typical of French New Wave films?
A) casual humor and references to other films
B) many tracking, panning, and handheld camera movements
C) shooting in real buildings using available light
D) frequent criticism of the French government
Q2) By the late 1910s the Hollywood studio system had come into existence.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Picture Show (1972), and a number of works directed by John Cassavetes have in common the fact that they were
A) major box-office successes that rejuvenated a flagging business.
B) anti-blockbusters, featuring ordinary people with ordinary lives.
C) made in an attempt to protest American foreign policy.
D) all shot by cinematographer László Kovács.
Q4) In modern times, the types of films that most resemble the earliest films are
A) music videos.
B) amateur videos on YouTube.
C) videos shot on cell phones.
D) TV commercials.
Page 13
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