Key Concepts for Chapter 2

There will be a very brief Reading Reward (quiz) on TUESDAY, 4/10 [NEW DATE] on some of the key concepts from Chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. The best way to prepare is to thoroughly read Chapter 2, completing the fill-in-the-blank handout (on Google Classroom) as you go, and focusing on the following terms and concepts:

• Mise en scène
• Aspect ratio
• The dominant
• Open form vs. closed form
• Proxemic patterns
• Classical composition

Good luck!

Test on Wednesday, 3/7

The test will focus on Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the key terms and concepts from chapter 1 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic aspects, etc. Look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

 Along with the general plot and character developments of Jaws, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Jaws: The conventions of classical cinema; thriller as genre; metonymy; the "Jaws Shot"; triadic composition as motif; long take; visual foreshadowing; DVD special features; continuity errors; cameo; Quint's monologue on the USS Indianapolis. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• Key Terms and the Effects They Create: framing (shot types), camera angles, lighting (high/low key, neutral); visual rhetoric (the definition of RotMI); deep focus; shallow/soft focus; rack/selective focus; eye-line match; diegetic, non-diegetic, and internal diegetic sound; authorial and subjective points of view--and EVERYTHING FROM CHAPTER ONE of our textbook! 

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school on Tuesday, 3/6 in room 452 at 2:35 p.m.

UPDATE: Approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay (on classical cinema) / 20% short answers

Good luck!