76 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding MediaNegative – In photography, a camera commonly produces a negative of the recorded
image from which prints can be made. In fi lmmaking, the process of printing
from the original negative is complex and can include many steps of making
positives and negatives to produce the prints that will be seen in theaters.
Non-linear editing – In contemporary fi lmmaking, motion picture editing
systems in which the footage has been shot in or transferred to a digital format
and is edited using a program designed for random access to footage and
unlimited cutting, pasting, and arranging of shots, combining characteristics
of traditional fi lm editing and computerized word processing.
Phenakistoscope – Optical toy invented by Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau,
consisting of a fl at disc with images along its edge. Above each image is a small
hole. Th e viewer stands in front of a mirror, spins the device, and looks through
the holes to see the images performing a simple movement, such as juggling.
Photography – Th e capturing and transferring of light to a preserved state.
Pinhole camera – A box with a hole in one side which acts as a lens to focus
the entering light and display its inverted image on the box’s back surface,
like with a camera obscura.
Praxinoscope – Motion picture device invented by Frenchman Emile Reynaud
in 1877, in which moving images are seen through rotating mirrors.
Reversal – A type of photographic fi lm that does not produce a negative: the
fi lm running through the camera is a positive, and it is thus typically the
only copy of the fi lm that will exist. It has been used generally for amateur
fi lmmaking (such as Super-8 fi lms) and 16-millimeter student fi lms.
Reverse shot – A shot that is taken at the opposite angle from the shot
immediately previous to it. Th e reverse-angle shot is commonly used in
dialogue sequences, to depict movement of characters from one distinct
space to another, and to accentuate perspectives of characters in action
sequences.
Short-range apparent motion – Th e phenomenon through which a viewer
perceives real motion when observing a series of rapidly projected still
images that are changing in small increments. Although each individual
motion picture frame is a separate image and nothing is actually moving on
the screen, the visual system of the eyes and brain allows viewers to perceive
an image that is continuous and moving.
Shutter – A mechanism that opens and closes to allow light to pass through
the lens into the camera and onto the recording surface (such as celluloid
fi lm). In motion pictures, the shutter typically opens and closes twenty-four
times per second.
Splicer – A device used for cutting and attaching individual pieces of fi lm. Th ere
are diff erent models of splicer, including the cement adhesive splicer (such as
the hot splicer) and tape splicer. With the Rivas model tape splicer, perforated
transparent tape is placed across the edit to adhere the two pieces of fi lm.Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).