1. Suspense and Thrills in Movies
Language Arts 8

2. Suspense in Movies

3. Film Vocabulary Framing
The image that is seen on-screen until it is replaced by another image through some type of editing technique; how the object will be positioned within the shot, or how much of the movie screen the object will occupy.
Long shot
Close shot
Medium shot

4. Film Vocabulary
Focus
A change of the field in focus taking the viewer from one object to another that was previously out of focus
Soft focus (making an object slightly unclear for effect)
Rack focus (changing the focus of the lens during a shot)
Deep focus (when the background, foreground, and middle ground are all in focus)

5. Film Vocabulary Camera Angle
Where the camera will be placed in relation to the subject
Low angle (looking up at the characters)
High angle (looking down on the characters)
Eye level
Dutch angle (camera is set at an angle so the images are slightly unlevel)

6. Film Vocabulary
Sound
The dialogue, music, sound effects, as well as pitch, timbre, direction, location on screen, etc. of the sounds included in the film
Diagetic sound (sound whose source is visible on the screen)
Nondiagetic sound (sound whose source is not visible on the screen)
Internal diagetic sound (sound within a character’s mind)

7. Film Vocabulary Camera Movement
How and where the camera will move while recording a shot
Pan (camera stays in a fixed position but moves side to side horizontally)
Tilt (camera stays in a fixed position but moves up and down vertically)
Zoom (camera shot appears to move closer/farther from a fixed object)
Tracking/Dolly Shot (camera moves along side an object in motion)

8. Film Vocabulary Lighting
The role that light plays in creating a particular effect desired by a director
Low-key lighting (not a lot of light; indicates negative emotion)
High-key lighting (lot of light; indicates positive emotion)
Neutral lighting (natural lighting, as seen in real life)
Bottom/side lighting (dark background with light appearing from the bottom or side; creates mysterious, fearful, or suspenseful mood)
Front lighting (lot of light coming from the front, creates no shadows; upbeat/calm mood)

9. Film Vocabulary Editing
The methods by which a director chooses to move from one shot to another
Fade (images slowly disappear into a black screen)
Dissolve (images gradually dissolve from one to another in a shot)
Crosscut (camera cuts away from one scene to another; creates suspense)
Flashback/flashforward (scene cuts to a character’s memory from the past, or forward to a premonition)
Eye-line match (the camera becomes the characters “eyes” so we can see what they are looking at)
Editing rhythm and duration (how long a camera holds a shot, and how/when it changes the shot)