Deck 10: Documentary, experimental, and animated films

Question 1

A "direct-cinema" documentary is one

A) in which the director stages the action.
B) that records real events as they happen.
C) consisting mainly of interviews.
D) made up entirely of archival footage.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is the best example of an associational film?

A) Ballet mécanique
B) Dimensions of Dialogue
C) An Inconvenient Truth
D) Koyaanisqatsi

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT one of the four attributes of rhetorical form in a documentary film?

A) It addresses the viewer openly.
B) The subject of the film is usually a matter of opinion, not scientific truth.
C) The subject of the film is usually presented as a controversial issue.
D) It appeals to our emotions, rather than relying purely on factual evidence.
E) It attempts to persuade the viewer to make a choice.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In addition to narrative documentaries, documentaries may take non-narrative forms, including

A) portrait and categorical.
B) rhetorical and categorical.
C) rhetorical and visionary.
D) portrait and visionary.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a type of documentary film?

A) the compilation, created by assembling images from archival sources
B) the interview or talking-heads documentary
C) direct-cinema documentary, a recording of events as they happen
D) staged documentary, which consists completely of re-creations of events

Question 6

Whereas most documentaries present talking heads in ______, Les Blank's Gap-Toothed Women makes extensive use of ______.

A) extreme close-ups; medium shots or medium close-ups
B) extreme long shots; extreme close-ups
C) medium shots or medium close-ups; extreme close-ups
D) extreme close-ups; long shots

Question 7

Associational form works most like

A) painting.
B) music.
C) storytelling.
D) poetry.

Question 8

Which of the following types of argument is NOT typical of rhetorical form?

A) arguments from effect, involving the linkage between events and their outcome
B) arguments from source, involving sources of information that are considered reliable
C) subject-centered arguments, which focuses on the subject of the film
D) viewer-centered arguments, which usually tap into the viewer's emotions

Question 9

A Movie by Bruce Conner is a(n)

A) example of a compilation documentary film.
B) compilation that exemplifies associational form.
C) example of a direct-cinema documentary film.
D) experimental film that exemplifies abstract form.

Question 10

Ballet mécanique is an example of a(n) ______ film.

A) rhetorical documentary
B) associational experimental
C) abstract experimental
D) categorical documentary

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a type of documentary film?

A) nature documentary, involving animals or other subjects in nature
B) portrait documentary, which focuses on a person
C) visionary documentary, which presents an idea or proposal
D) synthetic documentary, a combination of documentary types

Question 12

One place where the average viewer is likely to be exposed to avant-garde cinema (or at least its influence) is in

A) commercials.
B) music videos.
C) YouTube videos.
D) student films.

Question 13

A film is a documentary if it

A) is labeled as such.
B) records events as they occur.
C) contains no staged re-creations.
D) consists only of verifiable truths.

Question 14

The greatest challenge involved in using categorical form in a documentary is the

A) difficulty involved in properly assigning categories and finding examples of those.
B) fact that it tends to develop in complex ways and thus risks confusing the viewer.
C) difficulty involved in properly relating the categories to the viewer's experience.
D) fact that it tends to develop in fairly simple ways and thus risks boring the viewer.

Question 15

Railroad Turnbridge, Scorpio Rising, and Ballet mécanique are all examples of

A) experimental film.
B) rhetorical form.
C) direct cinema.
D) found footage.

Question 16

Mockumentaries can best be defined as films that

A) imitate the conventions of documentaries but do not pretend to be factual.
B) take very real, serious topics and present them in a comical light.
C) imitate the conventions of documentaries and present themselves as factual.
D) deliberately avoid the conventions of the documentary.

Question 17

A significant example of rhetorical documentary form is

A) Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi
B) Pare Lorentz's The River
C) Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising
D) Les Blank's Gap-Toothed Women

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic principles typically employed in making an associational film?

A) Be sure to tell a clearly understandable story.
B) Build the film around distinct groups of images.
C) Create variations between parts of the film.
D) Repeat motifs to reinforce associations.

Question 19

In addition to narrative form, experimental or avant-garde films may use ______ or ______ form.

A) rhetorical; associational
B) abstract; categorical
C) rhetorical; categorical
D) abstract; associational

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that Pare Lorentz builds viewers' trust in The River?

A) the narrator's rich voice, which makes him sound trustworthy
B) extensive use of facts and dates
C) celebrity endorsements and voiceovers
D) a list of government agencies that sponsored the film

Question 21

In full animation,

A) figures are rendered in fine detail, with tiny, nonrepetitive movements.
B) a large "cast" of finely drawn figures is involved.
C) various areas of the screen are animated at different times.
D) movement takes place on all areas of the screen at all times.

Question 22

When a documentary filmmaker wants to make an argument or convince people of something, he or she employs categorical form.

Question 23

A subject-centered approach in rhetorical filmmaking typically relies on emotion to support the film's argument.

Question 24

Dimensions of Dialogue, by Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, can best be described as

A) light-hearted and whimsical.
B) surreal and disturbing.
C) lyrical and poetic.
D) hilarious and satirical.

Question 25

Directed by Chuck M.Jones in 1953, ______, with its experimental feel, is considered one of the masterpieces of American animation.

A) The Scarlet Pumpernickel
B) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
C) Duck Amuck
D) Fantasia

Question 26

Olympia, Helvetica, and Gap-Toothed Women are examples of documentaries that use categorical form.

Question 27

The introductory portion of an abstract film usually gives us strong cues as to what we can expect to see developed later in that film.

Question 28

In animation, cels are

A) segments of animation film stock.
B) clear rectangular sheets of celluloid.
C) sections within the script.
D) areas of the screen on which images are drawn.

Question 29

Cinéma-vérité or "cinema-truth" is another term for direct-cinema documentary.

Question 30

Cheaper animated productions, including some television, use ______ animation, in which only small sections of the image move from frame to frame.

A) full
B) cel
C) drawn
D) limited

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT one of the three closely related categories of three-dimensional object animation?

A) claymation
B) model animation
C) pixilation
D) illustrative animation

Question 32

Bruce Conner's compilation A Movie is a vivid example of abstract form.

Question 33

Experimental films are also known as avant-garde films.

Question 34

"3D" computer animation is so named because it

A) gives a stereoscopic impression of depth when viewed through special glasses.
B) makes two-dimensional drawings look three-dimensional.
C) is made to be shown on special 3D movie screens.
D) involves drawing, detail, and description.

Question 35

In The River, Pare Lorentz explores a number of viewpoints on his subject, leaving the audience to form their own conclusions.

Question 36

By definition, an abstract experimental film does not involve any recognizable objects.

Question 37

Animated films are distinguished from live-action ones by the kinds of work done at the ______ stage.

A) development
B) pre-production
C) production
D) post-production

Question 38

Fact-based films such as Apollo 13, Schindler's List, and Malcolm X are considered documentaries because they deal with real events.

Question 39

Although documentaries often record events as they are occurring, sometimes events in a documentary may be staged.

Question 40

Ballet mécanique can be divided into segments either by tracing its arguments or tracing its narrative shifts.

Question 41

Animated documentaries are usually instructional films.

Question 42

Describe how animation differs from live-action filming.What are some of the common types of animation? Give examples of each.How did the technique used to make Duck Amuck differ from that used to make Fuji?

Question 43

Briefly define the characteristics of categorical, rhetorical, abstract, and associational formal systems, giving specific examples from Film Art, from lectures, and from films shown for the course.

Question 44

How may we distinguish a documentary using categorical form from one using rhetorical form? Draw specific examples from Film Art, from lectures, or from films shown for the course.

Question 45

How may we distinguish an experimental film using abstract form from one using associational form? Draw specific examples from Film Art, from lectures, or from films shown for the course.

Question 46

A camera is necessary to the creation of animated films.

Question 47

Some non-narrative films draw on aspects of narrative form to organize sections or parts.Choose one non-narrative film that draws on narrative principles.What sort of non-narrative principles organize the overall film? How does it draw on narrative principles of organization? What purposes are fulfilled by the narrative portions of the film? Point to specific sequences that support your claims.

Question 48

Koyaanisqatsi uses almost no recognizable human speech.

Question 49

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the first film that mixed animation with live action.