Q&A Hero

Q: The 180-degree editing of The Maltese Falcon is typical of traditional form and of no interest, and thus would not be considered a salient technique used by the filmmaker.

Q: A filmmaker's creative choices can be constrained by technology, stylistic norms, or taste.

Q: Welles uses the shock cut to convey the passage of time during the "breakfast table" sequence between Kane and his first wife.

Q: Tati's stylistic choices in Mon Oncle produce a thematic and narrative contrast of charming neighbors to modern homes that runs throughout the film.

Q: If a character begins to leave the frame in a scene, the viewer expects the camera to remain stationary.

Q: Independent films have less opportunity to make extreme stylistic choices.

Q: In Citizen Kane, each narrator's version is presented as objective and omniscient narration.

Q: What are some of the things that should be looked for when determining the organizational structure of a film?

Q: The ending of Citizen Kane A. does not reference the beginning of the film, which is a move away from traditional organizational form. B. provides firm resolution to the mystery of Kane's character. C. echoes the beginning of the film explicitly. D. provides no real insights into Kane's character.

Q: A salient characteristic of Citizen Kane's style is the use of A. crosscutting. B. nondiegetic inserts. C. nonactors. D. dolly and crane shots.

Q: In 1941 the most startling transitional device used in films was the shock cut. B. the swish pan. C. the sound bridge. D. superimposition.

Q: Which of the following does NOT belong to this list of films and their salient techniques? A. Grand Illusion: the long take B. Citizen Kane: shooting in depth C. October: mobile camera D. Mon Oncle: comic sound manipulations

Q: In Citizen Kane, Welles makes the narrator, Thompson, almost unidentifiable through the use of low-key lighting and staging choices.

Q: Sound perspective gives a sense of spatial distance and location.

Q: Nondiegetic sound is the same as synchronous sound.

Q: An example of blending in The Exorcist is a single piercing scream repeated over and over again.

Q: Describe what off-screen sound is and two major ways it can be used. Illustrate your answer with specific examples from Film Art, the lectures, or any film seen for this class.

Q: How does on-screen and off-screen sound work with optical point-of-view cutting to illuminate character perspective in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown?

Q: What are salient stylistic techniques? Techniques that can be noted and named B. A confusing choice a filmmaker made C. The important techniques the film most relies on to create its style D. Costume choices

Q: What can limit the stylistic choices of a filmmaker? A. Fashion trends B. Viewers' tastes C. Technology D. All of the answer choices are correct.

Q: Our Hospitality creates its gags by A. isolating each element in a single shot and then linking the two elements by editing. putting two elements in the same shot and letting us observe comic juxtaposition. C. isolating each element in a single shot and then allowing the progression of shots to create comic structure. D. following heavily physical actions by the characters with scenes of extreme stillness to create comic juxtaposition of opposite levels of movement.

Q: 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 Young Charlie's point of view. C. They keep the audience confused as to the true motives of Uncle Charlie. D. They take us chronologically through the defining moments of Young Charlie's adolescent life.

Q: In the dinner scene in Shadow of a Doubt in which Uncle Charlie praises small-town living, what purpose does the dialogue serve? A. Informational, mostly to orient the audience as to the current events in the town to which Young Charlie has moved B. To strengthen the audience's and Young Charlie's suspicions that the uncle is a murderer C. To strengthen the audience's suspicions that the uncle is a murderer while keeping Young Charlie in the dark D. To confuse the audience as to the true motives of the principal characters, especially Young Charlie

Q: The nature of the lighting, setting, and music give the opening scene of Citizen Kane a feel most associated with A. documentary films. B. thrillers. C. romance films. D. mystery movies.

Q: Diegetic sound is defined as any sound that is realistic.

Q: Off-screen sound can provide a sense of how a scene will develop.

Q: The use of subjective sound can parallel that of optical point-of-view.

Q: A category of film that typically uses sonic flashbacks intercut with diegetic synchronous sound is A. animation. trial films. C. Westerns. D. romantic comedies.

Q: A dialogue overlap is when a line of dialogue continues across a cut.

Q: To aid in synchronization, the soundtracks of animated films are recorded after all the images are completed.

Q: The final battle scene of Seven Samurai uses a dense mix of sound effects without music.

Q: Foley sound effects are the most common kind of nondiegetic sound.

Q: The rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo, volume, and instrumentation of the music can all strongly affect a viewer's emotional reactions.

Q: Fidelity refers to the quality of recording.

Q: Volume, pitch, and timbre all contribute to the sonic texture of a film.

Q: Diegetic sound must come from an on-screen source.

Q: The loudness of sound in film can be measured precisely but is subjective for the listener.

Q: Film sound can include any mixture of noise, music, and speech.

Q: In musicals, the soundtrack is made before the image track.

Q: The "Wilhelm" scream comes from a Foley sound library and has been used in only one full-length film, Psycho.

Q: In Citizen Kane, a sound motif is A. the whirl of the wind outside Xanadu. B. the click of tap-dancing heels. C. the inability of Kane's wife, Susan, to sing pitches accurately. D. All the answers are correct.

Q: Rhythm involves what aspects? A. Beat or pulse B. Tempo or pace C. Accents with patterns of stronger and weaker beats D. All of the answers are correct.

Q: A sound bridge is categorized as A. simultaneous sound. B. nondiegetic sound. diegetic sound. D. lacking fidelity.

Q: How are speech, music, and sound effects captured? A. By recording dubbed dialogue B. By recording music C. By recording Foley sound effects D. All of the answers are correct.

Q: In Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans, during the final combat scene, A. traditional Magua tribal drumbeats punctuate the flying arrows. B. the orchestral music is slow, deep, and foreboding to accentuate Magua fighters sneaking up on Chingachgook. C. Scottish dance music synchronizes with visual rhythms. D. there is no sound, only silence.

Q: A dry recording is a recording made in a nonreflective space so that it's "clean" and can be manipulated electronically later to yield the desired effects. B. of music as heard through a sheet to fuse the timbre. C. heavily digitally manipulated sound effects. D. of dialogue by two different characters to emphasize conflict.

Q: Ambient sounds are the sounds that A. are added to the mix in post. B. are added to dialogue scenes to make them more crisp. the natural sounds in the background of a scene when it's recorded. D. are mistakes made by the musicians while recording the soundtrack.

Q: In a modern film, how many separate tracks may be layered into the mix at any given moment? A. One B. A dozen or more C. Hundreds D. At least five

Q: The pitch, or frequency, of a sound affects the A. perceived color of the sound. B. perceived loudness of the sound. C. perceived texture of the sound. D. perceived highness or lowness of the sound.

Q: Film sound can include any mixture of speech, music, and noise. B. pitch, image, and loudness. C. volume, text, and dialogue.

Q: The angels in Wings of Desire violate the rule that one character cannot A. hear the off-screen dialogue of another. hear another's internal thoughts. C. hear both on-screen and off-screen sound simultaneously. D. speak while simultaneously listening.

Q: In the scene when Virginia is on the beach in The Snake Pit, the crossing of internal and external diegetic sound borders accomplishes what narrative goal? A. It gives the viewer a better sense of the spatial dimensions of the mise-en-scene. B. It gives the viewer access to the larger political context of the story. C. It confuses the viewer in order to then reveal Virginia's mental state. D. It provides the viewer with an intimate understanding of the protagonist's sexuality.

Q: When the king puts on headphones in The King's Speech, what kind of sound do we hear? A. Off-screen restricted sound On-screen restricted sound C. Off-screen voiceover D. On-screen voiceover

Q: How would you describe Casablanca's soundtrack compared to film soundtracks of today? A. Empty B. Linear C. Full D. Noisy

Q: Sound that represents a character's thoughts without the character speaking aloud is called A. mental sound. internal diegetic sound. C. cognitive sound. D. off-screen sound.

Q: To create suspense, horror and mystery films often use A. digitally recorded sound. B. sonic flashbacks. C. voiceover commentary. D. sound from an unseen source.

Q: The prologue of Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons contains a rare example of characters seeming to hear a nondiegetic narrator. B. contains a rare example of a nondiegetic on-screen narrator. C. consists of a lengthy soliloquy using internal diegetic sound. D. includes a scene where violins are used to simulate a woman's screams.

Q: Jackie Brown repeats the same scene three times, using ______ in each version. A. three very similar nondiegetic soundtracks restricted narration and varying sound tracks C. identical sonic flashbacks D. varying internal diegetic sound and voiceover narration

Q: Which of the following does NOT affect sound perspective in a theater space? A. Timbre B. Volume C. Multichannel recording D. Synchronization

Q: A sound bridge is A. a lightweight frame for quickly moving a microphone above the action while filming on location. B. overlapping the sound of one scene into the next. C. boosting the volume of the music to make it more prominent than the voices or sound effects. D. transferring a sound from one channel to another in multichannel recording.

Q: A POV shot is optically identical to an eyeline match.

Q: POV editing in Rear Window violates the 180-degree rule.

Q: The "intensified continuity" that characterizes contemporary filmmaking is well adapted for viewing on small screens such as those found on laptop computers and smartphones.

Q: A match on action is so powerful that it can create spatial and temporal continuity across the cut.

Q: Discuss how the number of shots in a film has evolved since 1930 and how this has affected the continuity editing system.

Q: Sounds perform many functions in film including A. prodding the audience to form expectations. B. giving new value to silence. C. steering the viewer's attention within an image. D. All the answers are correct.

Q: Which of the following is NOT one of the three major perceptual properties of film sound? A. Volume B. Pitch C. Timbre D. Texture

Q: The term dialogue overlap means A. mixing sounds so that two or more characters speak at the same time. B. creating realism by having one actor start to speak just before another finishes a line. continuing a line of dialogue over cuts during shot/reverse shot. D. a type of sound bridge that links one scene with the next.

Q: The term Mickey Mousing refers to A. the use of fast, cheerful music to accompany comic action. B. the post-dubbing of sound effects created in a special studio. tightly matching movement to music on the screen. D. redubbing objectionable language in preparing a film for television broadcast.

Q: In film sound, "fidelity" refers to A. the sound that comes from within the diegetic space of the story. B. the dialogue actually spoken by the actors during shooting. C. sound that seems appropriate to its source in the film. D. lip synchronization that has been done correctly.

Q: 6. Which of the following statements about diegetic sound is NOT true? A. It can come from an off-screen source within the world of the film. B. It can come from a time later or earlier than the events occurring on the screen. C. It can come from a source inside or outside the world of the film. D. It can be manipulated to lack fidelity to its source in the film.

Q: The scene of the cavalry rescue in John Ford's Stagecoach A. demonstrates how sound can call our attention to events happening offscreen, such as when the bugle call signaled the pending rescue. B. shows that manipulation of a sound's fidelity can be used to create a striking transition, such as when the gunshots were manipulated to sound like horse hooves. C. greatly exaggerates the volume of the rifle shots to convey the characters' subjective reactions. D. is an unusual case of a major action sequence being played with no music at all.

Q: Graphic qualities are rarely considered in traditional continuity editing.

Q: Elliptical editing expands story time.

Q: A shot can be as short as a single frame.

Q: Film editing may be thought of as the coordination or connection of one shot with the next.

Q: In order to create a smooth flow of narrative information, Hollywood films use detailed graphic matches for almost all cuts.

Q: In editing, rhythm depends on the patterning of shot lengths.

Q: An establishing shot is a close view that reveals a significant detail in the scene.

Q: Most films made since 1995 indicate the passage of time through fades and dissolves instead of direct cuts.