Visual Culture Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Visual Culture explores the ways in which visual images shape and reflect social values, identities, and power structures in contemporary and historical contexts. This course examines a wide range of visual media including art, photography, film, digital platforms, and advertising and analyzes how meaning is constructed and communicated through visual representation. Students will engage with theoretical frameworks drawn from art history, cultural studies, and media theory to critically assess the impact of visual culture on daily life and global society. Through lectures, discussions, and case studies, the course encourages students to become more perceptive and analytical viewers of the world around them.
Recommended Textbook
Film A Critical Introduction 3rd Edition by Maria
T. Pramaggiore
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15 Chapters
711 Verified Questions
711 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) Alternative modes of filmmaking and spectatorship,including independent art cinema,experimental films and documentaries,have only come into existence in the last 10-20 years of film history.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Maxim Gorky referred to the world that film transported the viewer to as the "kingdom of ________."
A) dreams
B) thought
C) art
D) shadows
E) imagination
Answer: D
Q3) Discuss why Maxim Gorky called the cinema a "kingdom of shadows."
Answer: Because audiences immerse themselves in the lives of fictional characters and story worlds that are created by the artistic combination of color,light and sound.
Q4) In general,what do the study notes accompanying end of chapter essays emphasize?
Answer: Strategies for writing about film
Page 3
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Chapter 2: An Approach to Film Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does <i>Pan's Labyrinth</i> draw a parallel between the Captain and the Pale Man?
Answer: both hoard food and sit at the end of banquet tables
Q2) In the film <i>Notorious</i>,Alfred Hitchcock uses a ________ motif to suggest the change and development of a "party girl" character.
A) dress
B) dancing
C) drinking
D) musical
Answer: C
Q3) An allusion to another film or work of art is called ________________________.
A) cribbing
B) artistic quotation
C) an intertextual reference
D) plagiarism
Answer: C
Q4) Documentary films abandon stories in favor of capturing real world events.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Writing About Film
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following details is an example of how Bill Jr.from <i>Steamboat Bill Jr</i>.embodies modern values?
A) He drives a fancy car.
B) His father owns the county's new riverboat.
C) He wears a carnation when he meets his father at the train station.
D) His stocky build stands in sharp contrast to his father's diminutive stature.
Answer: C
Q2) The ________ relies heavily on evaluative statements.
A) scene analysis
B) research paper
C) popular review
D) film analysis
Answer: C
Q3) A crucial first step in writing a film analysis essay is crafting a strong ________.
A) thesis
B) title
C) opinion
D) plot summary
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Narrative Form
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Q1) The standard pattern that shapes narrative films is the ________ structure
A) three-act
B) five-act
C) eight-act
D) one-act
Q2) Audiences learn late in <i>The 400 Blows</i>,that Antoine's mother had wanted to have an abortion,a detail in the backstory that helps explain why the boy has difficulty getting along with her.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A(n)occurs when the audience temporarily shares the visual per?spective of a character or a group of characters.
A) establishment shot
B) point-of-view shot
C) close-up shot
D) medium shot
Q4) A narrative is an account of a string of events connected by the logic of cause and effect.
A)True
B)False
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Mise en Scène
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Q1) ________ is when an actress is repeatedly cast in a kind of role she has played before.
Q2) ________ light,from a large light source that is diffused before it strikes the subject,minimizes unwanted facial details such as wrinkles.
A) Available
B) Hard
C) Soft
D) Low key
Q3) Identify two advantages of shooting on a set instead of shooting on location.
Q4) French Poetic Realism put great emphasis on the movement of the camera.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Identify two characteristics of German Expressionism's visual style as evident in <i>The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari.</i>
Q6) The places in which a film's action unfolds are known as the ________.
Q7) In silent films,subtlety of expression and movement was the primary style actors used to convey the story to the audience.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Cinematography
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Sample Questions
Q1) Guillermo del Toro uses a different ________ to distinguish between each milieu in <i>Pan's Labyrinth.</i>
A) color palette
B) lens
C) camera angle
D) camera movement
Q2) One of the advantages of video technology is that videotape can store more information than film,thus producing a denser image.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A series of drawings that lay out a film sequentially is called a(n)________.
Q4) A <i>two shot</i> is a standard technique for filming conversations by alternating back and forth between close-up shots of the two characters talking to one another. A)True
B)False
Q5) ________ change the quality of light entering the lens by absorbing certain wavelengths.
Q6) ________ refers to the size of film,measured horizontally across the stock.
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Chapter 7: Editing
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Sample Questions
Q1) The average shot length in contemporary films is shorter than the average shot length in older films.
A)True
B)False
Q2) <i>The Godfather</i> demonstrates the sharp contrast between Hollywood's editing aesthetic in the 1970s and Soviet Montage.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The development of digital video and computer technology has only recently made the concept of a feature-length,one-shot film possible.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The standard shot pattern that directors use to film conversations between two characters is ________.
A) shot/reverse shot
B) dialogue shot
C) cross-cut shot
D) back-and-forth shot
Q5) Briefly explain the historical significance of <i>The Gay Shoe Clerk.</i>
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Chapter 8: Sound
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Sample Questions
Q1) The title for <i>No Country for Old Men</i> is an intertextual reference to
A) <i>The Birth of a Nation</i>
B) <i>Taxi Driver</i>
C) a poem by W.B. Yeats
D) a famous speech by President Ronald Reagan
Q2) ________ is the way an actor says a line,including pauses,intonation and emotion.
Q3) A sound's ________ refers to its frequency,or its position on a musical scale.
Q4) The soundtrack in <i>No Country for Old Men</i> suggests that the violent drug wars of the 1980s are simply part of a long tradition of violence in the American West.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Sounds that are not part of the story world (those which characters cannot hear)are called ________.
A) non-diegetic
B) sound effects
C) conceptual
D) ADR
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Chapter 9: Alternatives to Narrative Fiction
Film:Documentary and Avant-garde Films
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Q1) Films made with the sole intent of persuading viewers of the rightness of a single view are referred to as _______________.
Q2) In general,documentaries capture an unmediated (or unbiased)reality.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Documentaries that attempt to present events without any evidence of the director's perspective or judgments are called ________.
A) observational documentaries
B) direct cinema
C) <i>cinema verite</i>
D) all of these
Q4) The increasing popularity of documentary film is evident in the growing number of Academy Award categories developed to honor different aspects of documentary film production in recent years.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the difference between an abstract film and a surreal film? Use examples drawn from class screenings and/or the textbook to illustrate your answer.
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Chapter 10: Film and Ideology
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Q1) A society structured by the ideologies of male supremacy is called a ________.
A) patriarchy
B) matriarchy
C) oligarchy
D) monarchy
Q2) Contemporary film scholarship reveals that gay and lesbian characters ________.
A) make appearances throughout the history of cinema B) often function as plot devices that affirm heterosexual coupling C) are frequently meant to provoke humor or pity
D) all of these
Q3) A self-reflexive film ________.
A) constantly reminds viewers that they are watching a film B) allow viewers to be caught up in the world of the narrative C) enforce only the ideologies that dominate society at large D) all of these
Q4) Both <i>Million Dollar Baby</i> and Avatar feature disabled central characters. Why do some critics argue they reflect different ideologies of disability?
Q5) During the 1950s and 1960s,what political movement had a significant impact on Hollywood's depiction of African Americans?
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Chapter 11: Social Context and Film Style:National,
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Q1) <i>Bicycle Thieves</i> depicts the story of ________.
A) a poor man and his son
B) a group of fashionable Italian rebels
C) rival bicycle manufacturers
D) the rise of Mussolini
Q2) New York City was the center of commercial filmmaking until the 1950s.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Hollywood studios would rely on the Production Code to justify cutting out content that might be controversial overseas.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following films was not one of the five major studios during the studio era?
A) MGM
B) Paramount
C) Warner Brothers
D) Disney
Page 13
Q5) Explain the concept of "compartmentalization," and discuss how this manufacturing concept shaped Hollywood.
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Chapter 12: Film Stardom As a Cultural Phenomenon
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Q1) How do recent studies question the economic logic of spending so much money to secure performances from big stars?
Q2) Explain how Bette Davis's career demonstrates how the star phenomenon depends on collapsing an actor's private life into her performances.
Q3) A <i>star persona</i> consists of ________.
A) the catalog of an actor's roles
B) biographical information
C) studio efforts to advertise an actor's films
D) all of the above
Q4) For audiences of all ages, James Dean has become synonymous with _________________.
A) rock and roll's first foray into the movies
B) conservative values
C) teenage puppy love
D) modern angst and youthful rebellion
Q5) Hollywood is the only film industry that relies on stars as an integral part of its profits.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Genre
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Q1) What role do the conventions of a genre play in its relationship with its audience? Why might a filmmaker choose to stick to those conventions? Why might that filmmaker choose to go against those conventions? How might this effect audience response?
Q2) The origin of the term "genre" can be traced back to ________.
A) ancient Greek Philosophy
B) post-war French film criticism
C) 19th century American literary theory
D) Shakespeare
Q3) <i>Paranoid conspiracy </i>films are generally set ________.
A) in creepy, remote locations
B) in suburban America
C) in crowded urban centers
D) in Washington D.C.
Q4) In addition to sharing similar narrative characteristics,films from the same genre often exhibit the same visual and sound techniques.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain the difference between the backstage musical and the integrated musical.
Q6) How did Alfred Hitchcock upset audience expectations in North By Northwest?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Film Authorship
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Q1) What American film critic is chiefly responsible for popularizing <i>auteur</i> theory in the United States?
A) Pauline Kael
B) John Simon
C) Wes Anderson
D) Andrew Sarris
Q2) What two directors have had a profound influence on Kathryn Bigelow's work,including her film <i>The Hurt Locker</i>?
Q3) Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum states that Universal Studios agreed to the idea of restoring Welle's <i>Touch of Evil</i> to ________.
A) emphasize the collaboration with his cinematographer
B) show Welle's artistic vision
C) "get more value out of an old chestnut" for financial gain
D) none of the above
Q4) Despite being an animated film,<i>Fantastic Mr</i>.Fox has much in common with Wes Anderson's earlier live action comedies like <i>The Royal Tenenbaums.</i>
A)True
B)False
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Cinema As Industry: Economics and Technology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe (in 1-2 sentences)one reason why the blockbuster mentality made Hollywood movies more infantile by the 1980s.
Q2) Hollywood studios make more money at the box office overseas than in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The dramatic contrast between the press coverage of the independent film <i>Paranormal Activity </i>and the coverage of the epic blockbuster <i>Avatar</i> demonstrates how popular writing about mainstream film tends to focus on budget and profits,whereas writing about independent film focuses more on aesthetic issues.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explore why some critics compare Mumblecore with the French New Wave,even though Mumblecore is closely associated with cutting edge digital technology whereas the New Wave featured filmmakers who loved celluloid.
Q5) Define "vertical integration" and "block booking." Explain their importance in the development of the Hollywood studio system.
Page 17
Q6) Explain how Hollywood's production of ideas has been "creatively centralized."
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