Q&A Hero

Q: Non-character narrators are common in documentaries.

Q: A classical narrative usually involves a blocking element, or an opposition that creates conflict for the protagonist.

Q: At what point in a film does most of the exposition usually take place? A. Just before the climax B. During the resolution C. Near the beginning D. Immediately following the climax

Q: A complex character typically A. possesses a variety of traits. B. faces multiple conflicts. C. has difficulty making decisions. D. overcomes obstacles.

Q: What is the term for how often a story event is presented in a plot? A. Parallelism B. Repetition C. Frequency D. Exposition

Q: Narrative form can be used in documentary films.

Q: The opening scene of North by Northwest contains no nondiegetic elements.

Q: Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep is an example of objective, highly restricted narration.

Q: In a narrative film, plot duration is always equal to story duration.

Q: A point-of-view shot is an example of perceptual subjectivity in narration.

Q: Plots based on searches might be considered examples of goal-oriented plots.

Q: Films such as Run, Lola, Run by Tom Tykwer and Peter Howitt's Sliding Door distort story time by providing alternative futures to the viewer.

Q: Classical filmmakers prefer that the end of a film A. set up the possibility for a sequel. bring closure. C. leave some degree of mystery. D. pose a question to spectators.

Q: The agent who tells the story in a film is called the A. protagonist. B. commentator. C. antagonist. D. narrator.

Q: The process of narration involves A. presenting story information in a clear chronological order. B. providing information that spectators would not otherwise have. distributing story information to achieve specific effects. D. interpreting events and actions for spectators.

Q: In a film, the high point of the action that increases tension for the spectator is called the A. climax. B. resolution. C. closing. D. conflict.

Q: "Setup" refers to A. preparation for shooting. the first quarter of a film's plot. C. the buildup just before the climax. D. a plot twist.

Q: Action that takes place before the plot begins is called the A. exposition. B. setup. C. opening. D. backstory.

Q: Ambiguity in Citizen Kane arises in part from A. the reporter Thompson's concealment of what he learns about Kane's childhood. B. the refusal of Susan to cooperate with Thompson. C. the lack of clarity of some of the characters' motivations. D. the crucial lies told by the characters to Thompson.

Q: Film Art argues that the search for the meaning of "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane is more than a gimmick because A. Thompson's discovery of "Rosebud" is what permits the narrative to achieve complete closure. B. the "Rosebud" motif creates parallelisms among all the flashbacks. the search provides a cause that motivates an investigation into character traits. D. "Rosebud" provides vital motivation about why Kane's mother sent him to live with Thatcher.

Q: 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.

Q: 16. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the narration in Citizen Kane? A. The multiple flashbacks narrated by different characters yield restricted, generally objective information about Kane. B. For much of the film, the information presented by the narration is largely limited in range to the reporter Thompson's knowledge. C. At the beginning and ending of the film, the narration moves outside the range of knowledge of any of the characters. D. The flashbacks are used both to reveal and to conceal story information.

Q: What is the term for a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space? Narrative B. Plot C. Causality D. Parallelism

Q: In a narrative, the sum total of all events in chronological order is the A. plot. B. range. story. D. outcome.

Q: A "point-of-view shot" is taken from A. the filmmaker's optical standpoint. a character's optical standpoint. C. a remote location. D. a point above the action.

Q: Which of the following is NOT an example of a way in which mental subjectivity might be portrayed in a film? A. An internal voice that reports a character's thoughts B. Images of a character's memories C. The use of slow motion to suggest hallucination D. Dialogue spoken between characters

Q: "Restricted" narration is commonly used in mystery films. B. documentaries. C. classical films. D. biographical films.

Q: 6. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the narration of George Miller's The Road Warrior? A. The narration is mainly restricted to the hero, Max's, range of knowledge. B. The narration provides shots from Max's optical point of view, as well as mental subjectivity. C. The mysterious narrator's voice from the opening scene turns out to be that of Max as an old man. D. The narration withholds information to create a surprise ending.

Q: The chains of actions that make up the narratives of classical Hollywood films typically depend on psychological causes. B. social causes. C. natural causes. D. restricted causes.

Q: Which of the following genres does NOT provide conventions used in Citizen Kane? A. The musical B. The detective story C. The newspaper story D. The Western

Q: In Citizen Kane, the event that causes the reporter Thompson to write a story on Kane is Kane's A. second divorce. B. inheritance of a mine. death. D. first divorce.

Q: Film Art's segmentation of Citizen Kane shows that the film's narrative is built around A. a brief story duration. a series of lengthy flashbacks. C. the reporter Thompson's interviews with Kane. D. Kane's series of successful political campaigns.

Q: The newsreel sequence in Citizen Kane A. provides the only presentation of the events in Kane's life in perfect chronological order. B. presents a brief version of narrative events in roughly the same order as the film does. C. summarizes events spectators have already seen in flashback and provides a crucial clue to the narrative's resolution. D. finally gives the spectator an explanation of Kane's mysterious final word, "Rosebud."

Q: 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.

Q: Referential meaning is meaning that is openly asserted in a film.

Q: How can film form create new emotional reactions in the audience instead of simply triggering practiced ones? Give an example of how the Wizard of Oz uses form to override spectators' everyday emotional responses.

Q: What can we discover about a film's "architecture" from analyzing its plot segmentation?

Q: In a narrative film, an element is nondiegetic if it A. does not contribute to the cause-effect flow of the events. B. is off-screen rather than on-screen. C. is not part of the world of the depicted narrative. D. is not directly presented in the plot but can be inferred.

Q: As defined by Film Art, a film's "plot" is A. everything visually and audibly present in the film. B. the most important action made by the protagonist. C. the events as viewers mentally reconstruct them. D. a brief summary of the film's action.

Q: The opening scene of Pulp Fiction is an example of A. expansion of temporal duration. B. a manipulation of temporal order. C. an imbedded narrative. D. unrestricted narration.

Q: Christopher Nolan created a unique manipulation of time in his film Memento by structuring the story in which of the following ways? A. In three alternate cause-and-effect situations B. In reverse chronological order C. In random order D. Through five separate character perspectives

Q: "Depth" of narration refers to A. how quickly story information is provided to the audience. B. how many lines of action the plot weaves together. C. how much information is presented by a nondiegetic narrator. D. how much the spectator learns about the characters' psychological states.

Q: Filmmakers generally strive to create artworks that invite a single interpretationthe one that the filmmaker intends.

Q: In film evaluation, moral criteria are used to judge certain aspects of a film outside of their film context.

Q: A unified film may still leave some questions unanswered or contain some unintegrated elements.

Q: Prior experience has little effect on spectators' expectations as they view a film.

Q: Each major character in The Wizard of Oz fulfills a single significant function.

Q: Comedy often depends on creating surprise or cheating spectators' expectations.

Q: Variation is a fundamental principle of film form.

Q: The Wizard of Oz has a large-scale ABA form.

Q: Genres are unaffected by conventions.

Q: Emotions represented in a film are usually experienced by the audience as well.

Q: Social ideology is a set of values characteristic of a whole society.

Q: Curiosity is a feeling of expectation that results when patterns of artistic cues cause spectators to think about events that came before a certain point in the film.

Q: Personal taste and evaluative judgment are virtually the same.

Q: Which of the following is NOT a type of meaning that spectators might consider in a film? A. Referential meaning B. Declared meaning C. Explicit meaning D. Implicit meaning

Q: Which of the following conventions, common in current films, would have been considered unusual in the 1940s and 1950s? A. A slow pace of events B. Singing and dancing C. Flashbacks to earlier events D. The portrayal of activities that do not occur in everyday life

Q: Which of the following works is NOT structured around a journey? A. The Wizard of Oz B. Collateral C. The Lord of the Rings D. The Odyssey

Q: Which of the following criterion for evaluating a film involves an assessment of how emotionally engaging the film is? A. Moral judgment B. Realistic sets C. Intensity of effect D. Originality

Q: A film is said to be complex if A. spectators have difficulty following the story line. B. it involves numerous characters. C. it invites spectators to think more deeply about their own real-life situations. D. it creates multiple relations among many different formal film elements.

Q: A film's "development" is based on repetition as well as progression. B. the film's ending. C. motifs. D. themes.

Q: A film that is cohesive in its overall form has A. intensity. unity. C. organization. D. development.

Q: 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.

Q: Implicit meanings are sometimes called A. concrete elements. B. themes. C. interpretations. D. subtexts.

Q: Similarities between two or more distinct elements of a film are called A. repetitions. B. consistencies. C. shared traits. D. parallels.

Q: Symptomatic meanings result from A. the characteristics of a particular society at a particular time. B. spectators' ability to relate to characters in the film. C. problems that the characters in a film try to overcome. D. flaws exhibited by the characters in a film. True / False Questions

Q: Which of the following is NOT a stylistic element of a film? A. The way the camera moves B. The use of music C. The pattern of narrative events D. The arrangement of color in a frame

Q: "Meaning" refers to what a film says or suggests.

Q: A written outline that details the major and minor parts of a film, marking the parts by numbers and letters, is a A. script. segmentation. C. form plan. D. blueprint.

Q: A delay in the fulfillment of an established expectation creates A. frustration. suspense. C. confusion. D. surprise.

Q: Comparing the beginning with the ending of a film helps spectators to understand the film's overall pattern. B. parallel elements in the film. C. motifs in the film. D. the film's overall message.

Q: Which of the following describes a stylistic pattern used in The Wizard of Oz? A. A tornado leads to Dorothy's journey to Oz. B. The characters in Oz resemble characters in Dorothy's life in Kansas. C. Dorothy's adventures in Oz result from her desire to return to Kansas. D. Colors are used to identify landmarks and locations within the story.

Q: One convention of narrative form is that the conclusion of a film resolves characters' problems. B. characters sing and dance in the film. C. the film features thrilling scenes, such as spectacular car chases. D. background information about characters is introduced late in the film.

Q: What is DIY filmmaking, and how has the introduction of consumer and prosumer digital cameras and affordable computing affected the making of these types of films?

Q: What is the term for the relationships among the parts of a film? A. Pattern Form C. Structure D. Plot

Q: Events involving characters that form a film's story is/are the A. narrative elements. B. stylistic elements. C. cinematic structure. D. content.

Q: Surprise generally results from A. an expectation that is fulfilled late in a film. B. a predictable pattern in the film's form. C. the buildup of suspense. D. an expectation that turns out to be incorrect.

Q: Elements such as traditions, dominant styles, or popular forms that are common to several different types of art are called A. traits. B. genres. conventions. D. formulas.

Q: A film's musical track is typically composed during the preproduction phase.

Q: In the judgment of a film's quality, a "criterion" is A. an expectation experienced by spectators before the film begins. B. a standard that can be applied to many different films. C. a critique of the overall artistic value of the film. D. an objective evaluation by an experienced film critic.