Question: Which term refers to an object that is critical to the characters in a film but may be insignificant to the viewing audience?
Answer Choices:
prop
icon
MacGuffin
film noir
Answer: MacGuffin
Question: Which of the following editing techniques helps keep screen direction constant?
Answer Choices:
Matching on action
The 180-degree rule
The Kuleshov effect
The shot/reverse shot pattern
Answer: The 180-degree rule
Question: If you were the director of a film and wanted to achieve a documentary look and feel, what camera technique might you use?
Answer Choices:
handheld camera
Steadicam
drone footage
medium close-up
Answer: handheld camera
Question: Which element of a scene does the cinematographer most often control?
Answer Choices:
Staging
Duration
Focus
Props
Answer: Focus
Question: Which female auteur is best known for staking out traditionally male territory in her films?
Answer Choices:
Nicole Holofcener
Sofia Coppola
Kathryn Bigelow
Nora Ephron
Answer: Kathryn Bigelow
Question: What is the job of a film’s editor?
Answer Choices:
Putting his or her vision into words.
Choosing and arranging what will actually be in the scene.
Composing various images in the camera.
Choosing shots, their order, and their duration on screen.
Answer: Choosing shots, their order, and their duration on screen.
Question: Beyond setting up shots and other technical work, what is perhaps a director’s most important job?
Answer Choices:
financing the film
distributing the film
coaxing good performances from actors
promoting the film during public appearances
Answer: coaxing good performances from actors
Question: Which of the following is the best way to describe a director’s style?
Answer Choices:
His or her favorite mise en scène, cinematography, editing, and sound techniques
The habitual way he or she deals with the actors on the set
Typical way he or she deals with producers and other studio executives
His or her preferred subject matter and genre he/she likes to work
Answer: His or her favorite mise en scène, cinematography, editing, and sound techniques
Question: Actors frequently identify which of the following as the most desirable quality in a director?
Answer Choices:
that the director controls them
that the director makes them feel safe
that the director defers to their wishes
that the director imposes strict discipline
Answer: that the director makes them feel safe
Question: In Schindler’s List, why does Steven Spielberg use a girl’s red jacket as the only instance of color in an otherwise black and white film?
Answer Choices:
As a symbol of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.
To draw analogies to Little Red Riding Hood.
To foreshadow the girl’s death.
To clearly track Oskar Schindler’s recognition of the atrocities witnessed and signify his moral change.
Answer: To clearly track Oskar Schindler’s recognition of the atrocities witnessed and signify his moral change.
Question: Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park ushered in the use of CGI, which is an acronym for what?
Answer Choices:
computer-graphic imagery
camera-generated imagery
complex-genetics interface
computer-generated imagery
Answer: computer-generated imagery
Question: Which of the following is NOT one of the three basic reasons to use dialogue in movies?
Answer Choices:
To further the development of the plot.
To enhance characterization.
To repeat in words what is already obvious in the action.
To establish information the audience needs to know.
Answer: To repeat in words what is already obvious in the action.
Question: From what country did the auteur theory first emerge?
Answer Choices:
Germany
France
United States
Japan
Answer: France
Question: Why do silent films often seem to move faster than modern sound films?
Answer Choices:
Because filmmakers wanted to squeeze more action into less film.
Because they generally feature quicker cutting than modern films.
Because the rates of shooting and projection were not standardized.
Because audiences expected films to be a lot shorter in those days.
Answer: Because the rates of shooting and projection were not standardized.
Question: Which of the following is the “outer circle,” or minimal requirement, of Andrew Sarris’s model of the auteur theory?
Answer Choices:
Interior meaning.
Distinguishable personality.
Technical competence.
Popularity with audiences.
Answer: Technical competence.