Q&A Hero

Q: Alfred Hitchcocks term MacGuffin refers to a. a character type repeatedly used throughout his films. b. a type of viewer who can be easily manipulated through specific storytelling strategies. c. an object, document, or secret that at first appears to the characters to be vitally important but that turns out to be of no real importance to the overall narrative. d. the overall narrative. e. the first turning point of a film.

Q: Why is the stolen $40,000 in Psycho considered a MacGuffin? a. because it is of vital importance throughout the entire movie b. because eventually it is of no real importance in the movie c. because it is of vital importance to some but not all of the characters d. because it is of vital importance to some but not all of the viewers e. because in 1960 it was considered a lot of money

Q: In what ways is the latest wave of Star Wars films multiethnic?

Q: Usually, each of the systems that becomes the complex synthesis of a movie is a. largely haphazard and accidentally arranged. b. highly organized and deliberately assembled. c. strangely careless and shoddily produced. d. awkwardly thought-out and hastily conceived. e. perfectly streamlined and unsusceptible to error.

Q: One system of film, mise-en-scne, involves a. dialogue, music, ambience, and effects tracks. b. cuts, montage, dissolves, and fade-in/fade-outs. c. actors, actresses, characters, and narrators. d. lighting, setting, props, costumes, and makeup. e. camera movements and coordination.

Q: Content is defined as________, and form is defined as ________. a. the subject of an artwork; the means by which that subject is expressed and experienced b. the means by which a subject is expressed and experienced; the subject of an artwork c. the artwork itself; the subjects left out of an artwork d. the subjects left out of an artwork; the artwork itself e. the creator of an artwork; the artists creation

Q: Which of the following would be considered a films use of form? a. a highly complex psychological dramas intertwining storylines b. a characters background story in a witty comedy c. the use of dramatic lighting to convey a madmans tortured psyche in a slasher film d. the sound track of a movie sold as an individual recording album e. the directors publicity notes accompanying the release of his or her latest film

Q: In the abortion clinic scene from Juno, the content is ________, while the form is ________. a. the character Juno; Ellen Page, the actress who plays Juno b. Juno in the waiting room; the entire film of Juno c. Juno in the waiting room; decor, patterns, implied proximity, point of view, moving camera, and sound d. director Jason Reitman; Juno in the waiting room e. decor, patterns, implied proximity, point of view, moving camera, and sound; Juno in the waiting room

Q: The formal differences and similarities among various works of art lead to questions about how a. a single artist approaches a multitude of subjects. b. all artists approach a multitude of subjects in the same way. c. all artists should be critiqued according to fixed criteria. d. form and content have little or nothing to do with one another. e. the respective forms shape our emotional and intellectual responses to the subject matter.

Q: Which of the following demonstrates how various forms shape our emotional and intellectual responses to subject matter? a. The same realist technique is applied to several different cinematic narratives. b. The same director uses various styles throughout his or her career. c. Different cinematic stories are filmed using the same company of actors. d. Different scenes are shown to an audience by projector, television, and computer. e. Different directors each employ their own, different styles to depict the same story and characters.

Q: Discuss some of the ways in which viewer expectations are generated by movies.

Q: Explain how expectations specific to a particular performer like Michael Cera inform the way viewers perceive his role in Juno.

Q: Explain some of the several meanings contained in the opening two shots of Juno, especially in regard to how the film conveys basic storytelling information as well as how it evokes the main characters state of mind.

Q: Explain how certain camera movements, shot selections, and elements of sound design allow viewers to understand what the main character is thinking in the abortion clinic sequence in Juno.

Q: How might an alternative analysis place Juno within the context of director Jason Reitmans career?

Q: How might one construct an argument that Juno advocates a pro-life message?

Q: What genre do the Star Wars films belong to?

Q: In what ways did George Lucas engineer the Star Wars series for universal appeal?

Q: For what reasons is it important to study and analyze movies as more than mere entertainment?

Q: Explain some reasons why popular cinema came to be dominated by movies devoted to telling fictional stories. What are the specific qualities of the cinematic medium and our cultural traditions that brought about such an emphasis on narrative?

Q: Define and explain three characteristics of the cinematic medium that set it apart from all other two-dimensional visual art forms.

Q: What is cinematic invisibility? What are some of the techniques that allow it to function so proficiently, and how do these work?

Q: What is cultural invisibility, and what are some of the ways in which filmmakers exploit it for their movies?

Q: Using Juno as an example, explain the difference between explicit and implicit meaning.

Q: Why would an analysis of the way Juno uses editing techniques similar to those among other contemporary movies be considered a valid one? a. because it automatically implies that Juno is a derivative work of art b. because it approaches the movie in strictly formal terms c. because it combines formal and comparative analyses d. because it separates the films editing from all other aspects of its aesthetic e. because it divorces the film from its cultural context

Q: An analysis of the decidedly different characters, settings, and stories among an array of contemporary dramatic comedies dealing with pregnancy might reveal a. the reason why certain genres can never successfully depict a certain subject. b. current ideas about women and motherhood. c. the answer to a troubling social problem. d. the most efficacious way to make such a film within the Hollywood system. e. which film audiences will respond to most.

Q: Besides the Star Wars films, which other film series features significant figurative or literal character growth? a. Lord of the Rings d. Harry Potter b. Pirates of the Caribbean e. Superman c. The Hunger Games

Q: The narrative origins of Luke Skywalker and Rey can be found in the fundamental story structure called the ________ by mythologist Joseph Campbell. a. heros journey d. sympathetic quest b. multimyth e. Hollywood formula c. villains sacrifice

Q: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is structured like a plot from what Hollywood genre? a. thriller d. melodrama b. Western e. film noir c. war film

Q: What device functions as a talisman, which is central to the films application of the universal story structure known as the monomyth, in every Star Wars trilogy? a. R2-D2 d. the Millennium Falcon b. Chewbacca e. the lightsaber c. X-wing fighters

Q: The latest wave of Star Wars films is decidedly forward looking in what significant way? a. casting d. marketing b. special effects e. editing c. sound design

Q: General Leia Organas statement to the swashbuckling pilot Poe, Not every problem can be solved by jumping in an X-wing and blowing stuff up, is a reference to what gendered dynamic in The Last Jedi? a. the failure of new Star Wars women to understand the power of self-examination b. the inability of Star Wars men to learn from their mistakes c. the courage of Star Wars men charging into conflict without considering the inevitable consequences d. the weakness of Star Wars women in running away from their problems e. the incapacity of Star Wars women to face their own emotions

Q: According to Box Office Mojo, who made up 43 percent of the audience for the opening weekend of The Last Jedi? a. fans d. twenty-somethings b. teenagers e. men. c. women

Q: The waiting room scene in Juno depends significantly on ________ to function effectively. a. shock value b. the dispensation of all mainstream film conventions c. complicated and disorienting point-of-view shots d. an antipathy toward abortion e. editing patterns

Q: The Bechdel test is an evaluative tool for ________ in the Star Wars trilogies. a. entertainment d. naturalism b. expressionism e. feminism c. genre

Q: A cultural analysis of the blue-collar occupations of Junos parents and the white-collar professionals who want to adopt her baby would explore the movies treatment of a. race. d. sexuality. b. class. e. gender. c. ethnicity.

Q: Alternative approaches to film analysis (approaches other than formal analysis) look at movies more as ________ than as traditional works of art. a. mysterious phenomena d. meaningless entertainment b. digital exercises e. stylistic experiments c. cultural artifacts

Q: Alternative approaches to film analysis search beneath a movies form and content in order to expose a. the movie as ultimately without value. b. the filmmakers as ideologically corrupt. c. moviegoers as manipulated dupes of the movies political agenda. d. implicit and hidden meanings that inform our understanding of cinemas function within popular culture. e. the entire entertainment industry as unsuspectingly subject to outside influences.

Q: Which of the following approaches might explore the historical, cultural, or imaginary origins of the highly stylized slang spouted in Juno? a. feminist d. societal b. linguistic e. cultural c. directorial

Q: Which of the following would be considered a comparative analysis of Junos attitude toward illegitimate pregnancy? a. an analysis of the movie as well as others made by the same director b. an analysis of the movie as well as others throughout film history that also deal with pregnancy c. an analysis of the movies successful adherence to a three-act screenplay structure d. an analysis of the creative and ideological contributions of the movies screenwriter, Diablo Cody e. an analysis of the movies budget compared to blockbuster films

Q: Which of the following would NOT be illuminated by a comparative analysis of a movie? a. how certain movies represent a particular eras cultural attitudes b. how the relative gender of different films creators affects their representation of cultural attitudes c. the differences between American and European cinematic sensibilities d. the differences between genres using the same topical premise e. the repeated use of a color palette in a specific movie

Q: In the scene from Juno in which the main character applies lipstick before visiting Mark, the implications of this action are a. explicit. b. implicit. c. unimportant to the overall narrative. d. intended to be the most significant detail in the film. e. accidental.

Q: Because movies are rich in plot detail, a good analysis must begin by a. disregarding such detail. b. sorting through the details and extracting the most important among them. c. immediately mining for implicit meaning. d. comparing the details to those of other movies. e. taking into account the breadth and diversity of what has been explicitly presented.

Q: Which of the following does NOT provide an example of how movies relate to viewer expectations? a. A movie unsuccessfully exploits a standard structure. b. A movie masterfully surprises or misleads its audience. c. A movie goes over budget and thus fails to make a profit at the box office. d. A movie deliberately confounds its audiences presumption of continuity and narrative. e. A movie adheres to a winning formula in which a protagonist pursues a goal by confronting obstacles.

Q: Audience expectations specific to a particular performer can inform an analysis of a. how we approach a character type in one of his or her films. b. how the performers artistic choices are random and never thematically linked. c. the personal motives governing the performers investment in particular projects. d. the editing strategies employed in the film. e. what a particular performer or filmmaker intends for each shot of a movie.

Q: Which of the following would NOT be an appropriate element to comparatively analyze across a directors body of work? a. production design d. recurring themes b. lighting e. critical reception c. special effects

Q: Formal analysis is the analytical approach primarily concerned with a. the socioeconomic factors influencing the content of a movie. b. the means by which a subject is expressed. c. the industry dynamics that determine the circumstances of a movies production. d. the overall trajectory of a filmmakers body of work. e. the history and evolution of a specific film style, genre, or movement.

Q: Movie meaning is expressed through form in which of the following ways? a. mood, tone, budget d. location, tone, marketing b. tone, location, significance e. budget, marketing, mood c. location, significance, budget

Q: Before attempting any interpretation of the formal elements used to communicate intended meaning to the spectator, the analyst should carefully consider a. the popularity of the movie. b. the marketing campaign of the movie. c. the critical reception of the movie. d. the narrative intent of the moment, scene, or sequence in the movie. e. the previous work of the filmmaker(s) who made the movie.

Q: The simple awareness that Junos opening shot is the first image of the movie informs the analyst of the moments a. evocation of setting and time. b. relative unimportance to the rest of the narrative events. c. function as the credit sequence. d. low budget. e. resonance in the context of the directors other work.

Q: Juno adheres to cultural invisibility by a. championing a protagonist who rejects convention yet ultimately upholds the traditional institutions she seemingly scorns. b. chastising a protagonist who rejects convention yet ultimately upholds the traditional institutions she seemingly scorns. c. championing a protagonist who accepts convention yet ultimately rejects the traditional institutions she seemingly scorns. d. chastising a protagonist who accepts convention yet ultimately rejects the traditional institutions she seemingly scorns. e. failing to resolve its protagonists attitude toward convention and traditional institutions.

Q: Even as Juno seems to call into question some of contemporary Americas attitudes about family, it also a. refuses to take itself seriously by employing low-brow humor. b. calls into question some of contemporary Americas attitudes about politics. c. appeals to an arguably more fundamental American value of robust individualism. d. represents a wide diversity of kinds of family. e. suggests the individual should have less significance within the family.

Q: Implicit meaning is best defined as ________, while explicit meaning is best defined as ________. a. meaning available on the surface of the movie; a deep-level association, connection, or inference b. a deep-level association, connection, or inference; meaning available on the surface of the movie c. meaning unavailable on the surface of the movie; a deep-level association, connection, or inference d. meaning available on the surface of the movie; a superficial-level association, connection, or inference e. meaning unconnected to the movie; meaning connected to the movie

Q: One way of thinking about implicit meaning is understanding it as a movies a. overall message or a point. d. impact on audiences. b. central character. e. financial success or failure. c. genre.

Q: In order to possess validity, the interpretation of a movie needs to be a. agreed upon by everybody. b. completely original. c. a fantastical reordering of basic story information. d. grounded in the explicitly presented details of the surface story. e. completely unrelated to the surface story.

Q: Just as explicit and implicit meanings need not pertain to the movie as a whole, not all implicit meaning is a. relevant. b. valid. c. interesting. d. tied to broad messages or themes. e. tied to small-scale messages or themes.

Q: The invisibility of meaning in movies is largely due to a. their rapidly and constantly changing images not giving the viewer time to contemplate them. b. their lack of substantive content. c. their difficulty and challenging styles and messages. d. their conflation of real-life action with fictionalized action. e. their inability to move the viewer emotionally or intellectually.

Q: What does a fade-out/fade-in usually convey when used in a narrative film? a. the films beginning d. a flashback b. the films end e. a passage of time in between scenes c. a dream sequence

Q: Techniques such as fade-outs/fade-ins and low-angle shots communicate meaning by a. contriving a film grammar bearing no similarities to how people perceive reality. b. only working in concordance with preceding and succeeding shots. c. solely addressing themselves to seasoned film experts and scholars. d. drawing on the way in which we automatically interpret visual information in our real lives. e. constantly confusing and disorienting the viewing audience.

Q: What does a low-angle shot usually convey when used in a narrative film? a. the weakness or subjugated position of a character b. the dominance or empowered position of a character c. the neutrality of a character d. the centrality of a character within the story e. the natural beauty of a character

Q: In order to exploit cinemas capacity for transporting audiences into the world of the story, the commercial filmmaking process stresses a. a rough, disruptive style. b. foregrounding and calling attention to transitions between shots and scenes. c. the maximization of any distractions that might remind viewers they are watching a movie. d. elements having nothing to do with the major concerns of the narrative. e. a polished continuity of lighting, performance, costume, makeup, and movement.

Q: One of the most common editing techniques designed to hide the instantaneous and potentially jarring shift from one camera viewpoint to another is a. montage. d. the high-angle shot. b. cutting on action. e. the low-angle shot. c. direct address.

Q: How have motion pictures been recently liberated from the imposed impermanence that helped foster cinematic invisibility? a. by decreasing in cultural importance b. by directly addressing political issues c. by being available on and through DVD, DVR, and streaming video d. by increasingly being produced with digital technology e. by being meticulously archived and catalogued

Q: In order to entertain and not provoke its customers, the film industry usually favors stories and themes that a. upset and question their most fundamental desires and beliefs. b. bear a superficial relation to their most fundamental desires and beliefs. c. actively avoid addressing their most fundamental desires and beliefs. d. tap into and reinforce their most fundamental desires and beliefs. e. compare their most fundamental desires and beliefs to those of others.

Q: In regard to viewers shared belief systems, how can movies deemed controversial or provocative be popular with audiences? a. by tricking them with a misleading advertising campaign b. by triggering emotional responses from viewers that reinforce yearnings that lie deep within c. by arousing viewers curiosity to see something shocking d. by addressing taboos in a graphic and explicit manner e. by starring famous actors and actresses, as controversial movies without such star power inevitably fail

Q: Why is cultural invisibility not always a calculated decision on the part of filmmakers? a. because they dont know any better b. because they arent skilled enough in crafting movies c. because they misjudge the reactions of their audience d. because they often have to make movies according to monetary rather than aesthetic concerns e. because they are products of the same society inhabited by their intended audience

Q: One of the unique properties of movies that distinguishes it from any other visual medium is its capacity to a. view action from the same angle and relative size. b. prevent the viewer from witnessing events from multiple vantage points. c. confine the viewer to a single wide-angle view of the action. d. see every character at once and continuously. e. isolate details and juxtapose images within and between shots.

Q: As opposed to the theater, how is cinema capable of conveying an objects physical properties as well as its narrative significance and emotional meaning? a. Conveying an objects physical properties is impossible. b. only by employing contrived gimmicks that call attention to themselves c. only by employing awkward shots that take the viewer out of the story d. via many practical options e. via limited practical options

Q: In the collaborative art of moviemaking, whose role is basically that of the coordinating lead artist? a. producer d. set designer b. actor e. director c. cinematographer

Q: Beyond breaking down a movie to identify the tools and techniques that comprise it, film analysis is also primarily concerned with a. the movies box office gross. b. the function and potential effect of its combined tools and techniques. c. how the movie can be neatly categorized in terms of genre or style. d. how marketable or profitable the movie might have been had it used different tools and techniques. e. how the movie compares to a given work of literature or painting.

Q: Why are movies worthy of serious study, as opposed to being merely an outlet for escape or entertainment? a. Seriously studying movies allows people to better make movies on their own. b. Seriously studying movies allows people to break the habit of constantly watching them. c. Seriously studying movies allows people to understand how movies shape the way we view the world. d. Seriously studying movies allows people to access the plot synopses of movies they now no longer have to pay to watch. e. Seriously studying movies allows people to also understand literature, art, and other cultural areas.

Q: Because most movies seek to engage viewers emotions and transport them inside the world that is presented on-screen, the visual vocabulary of film is designed to a. play on the same instincts that we use to navigate and interpret the visual and aural information of our real life. b. work against those same instincts that we use to navigate and interpret the visual and aural information of our real life. c. refer to something else, far outside our usual understanding of real life. d. alienate or distance viewers from what they are watching. e. cause disorientation and confusion in viewers.

Q: As opposed to film or cinema, the term movies is applied to a. motion pictures considered by critics and scholars to be serious and challenging. b. groups of films considered to be works of art. c. the physical spaces where people congregate to watch motion pictures. d. motion pictures made during the silent era of filmmaking. e. motion pictures that entertain the masses at the multiplex.

Q: Almost all ubiquitous commercial, feature-length movies share the same basic and important element of a. genre. d. sound. b. narrative. e. format. c. myth.

Q: Which type of film strives for objective observed reality? a. walk-through d. Bollywood film b. documentary film e. fictional narrative film c. experimental film

Q: The manner in which movies from various countries and societies present their narratives is often profoundly affected by a. funding sources. d. propaganda purposes. b. media coverage. e. Hollywood mimicry. c. cultural tradition.

Q: Movies can diverge from the model of most North American and Western European films by a. providing dramatic resolution. b. directly addressing the audience. c. being produced and marketed by a large commercial studio. d. arranging subject matter in a cause-and-effect sequence of events. e. running two hours long and being initially screened in a movie theater.

Q: Which of the following is a characteristic of independent films nowadays? a. They are always unprofitable. b. They only screen at film festivals. c. They have crews as small as a single filmmaker. d. They are only shot digitally. e. They are less affordable to make.

Q: The essential quality that separates movies from all other two-dimensional pictorial art forms is a. storytelling. d. the arrangement of visual elements. b. movement. e. the interaction of light and shadow. c. mechanical technology.

Q: Unlike photography and painting, films are constructed from individual a. laborers. d. shots. b. performances. e. lighting setups. c. stories.