Deck 5: Mise-En-Scène

Question 1

How did Orson Welles create more immersive sets in Citizen Kane (1941) to lend their settings a more expansive spatial quality?

A) He shot the interiors in black and white.
B) He built only the minimum parts of the rooms needed to accommodate the story action.
C) He built a complete set of four walls for shots captured from high angles.
D) He used actual locations that he had reconstructed on a soundstage.
E) He used a Steadicam to provide moving, close-to-the-floor point-of-view shots.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In film analysis, the term "mise-en-scène" refers to

A) everything the audience sees in every shot.
B) the technique of editing from shot to shot.
C) a method of determining the length of each scene.
D) only those objects and people who appear in the foreground of a shot.
E) everything in the frame except lighting and composition.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Arrival's alien egg-shaped craft, which seems to be made of stone and has interiors that are spare, organic, and enormous, is an example of

A) the largest interior set in existence.
B) subverting established movie expectations.
C) German expressionism.
D) the rule of thirds.
E) high-key lighting.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Sets are often built on a ________, which is a windowless, soundproofed, interior shooting environment.

A) stadium
B) back lot
C) camera booth
D) theater
E) soundstage

Question 5

One of the first and most important collaborators hired by a director is the ________, who helps develop the overall look of a movie.

A) production designer
B) editor
C) makeup artist
D) engineer
E) camera operator

Question 6

The colors and textures of interiors, furniture, draperies, and curtains are aspects of

A) decor.
B) lighting.
C) depth perception.
D) exterior locations.
E) properties.

Question 7

Although much attention was paid to the authenticity of historical costumes during the studio era, hairstyles were often based on

A) the actor's personal style.
B) advertiser demands.
C) polyester wigs.
D) genre formulas.
E) modified contemporary looks.

Question 8

Although facial painting and prosthetics were used for the face of the Joker in The Dark Night (2008), the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two-Face was created by

A) special facial makeup only.
B) a process involving digital makeup.
C) chiaroscuro lighting.
D) prosthetics only.
E) the actor.

Question 9

Which of the following falls under the supervision of a movie's production designer?

A) the choice of lenses, cameras, and film stock
B) the casting of actors
C) the actors' performances
D) the pacing, tempo, and rhythm of the final film
E) the costumes, set construction, and hairstyling

Question 10

During the first twenty years of moviemaking, directors preferred to shoot in/on ________ locations.

A) interior
B) exterior
C) soundstage
D) remote
E) exotic

Question 11

In Edward Scissorhands (1990), the unusual costume and makeup of the title character emphasizes his

A) sexual neediness.
B) conformity.
C) brutality.
D) outsider status.
E) addictive personality.

Question 12

The spatial and temporal ________ of a film is the environment in which the narrative takes place.

A) framing
B) setting
C) boundaries
D) scene
E) genre

Question 13

For the costuming in the 1963 historical epic Cleopatra, the Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox was more concerned with ________ than historical accuracy.

A) glamour
B) character progression
C) expressionism
D) nuance
E) generic conventions

Question 14

Studios of the classical Hollywood period had no qualms about ordering male actors with star potential to undergo cosmetic surgery and change hair color in order to

A) maintain the studio's ideal kind of masculinity.
B) disguise the actor's true identity from the public.
C) conform to the look of their rival studios' roster of stars.
D) subvert the control of the director on the set.
E) prevent them from being stereotyped.

Question 15

When a character in a movie handles an object such as a tennis racket, a glass of beer, or a shovel, it is known as a

A) setting.
B) location.
C) decoration.
D) dressing.
E) prop.

Question 16

Sketches that help guide the cinematographer in coordinating the camera and lighting for a film are known as

A) graphics.
B) commercial art.
C) doodles.
D) storyboards.
E) etchings.

Question 17

________ is the process by which the look of settings, props, lighting, and actors is determined.

A) Casting
B) Costuming
C) Budgeting
D) Design
E) Editing

Question 18

Until the 1960s, why were actors in almost every film, whether period or contemporary, required to wear wigs?

A) Hair styling was too costly.
B) It was feared that the audience would not recognize the star.
C) Wigs reflected light better than real hair.
D) An actor's real hair could be the source of a continuity error.
E) The star's contract prevented it.

Question 19

What did movie studios hope to gain by building soundstages after the first two decades of filmmaking?

A) authenticity
B) natural depth
C) cost savings
D) available light
E) unpredictability

Question 20

What usually determines the selection and design of costumes used in a film?

A) the physical size of the cast
B) authenticity for a story's time period and setting
C) the camera lens of a given shot
D) the native language of the location
E) the type of lighting

Question 21

Which three sources of light make up the three-point lighting system?

A) key light, fill light, and soft light
B) key light, backlight, and hard light
C) fill light, soft light, and backlight
D) hard light, soft light, and backlight
E) key light, fill light, and backlight

Question 22

Filmmakers create ________ by purposely breaking the rule of thirds and denying our expectation of balance.

A) compositional stress
B) headroom
C) lead room
D) eye room
E) eyeline matches

Question 23

Which is the most conventional lighting system in Hollywood filmmaking?

A) Halloween lighting
B) the three-point system
C) colorized filtration
D) lighting from above
E) natural lighting

Question 24

The term for the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects within the space of each shot is

A) staging.
B) blocking.
C) design.
D) composition.
E) symmetry.

Question 25

The main source of illumination used in three-point lighting is the

A) key light.
B) backlight.
C) fill light.
D) diffuse light.
E) spotlight.

Question 26

The combination of lighting, color, the movement of actors, and other visual elements contained by the ________ contribute to the meaning of a shot.

A) plot
B) action
C) screenplay
D) frame
E) context

Question 27

The effective use of ________ is often used to separate a subject from the background and add depth to a shot.

A) natural light
B) realistic light
C) colored shadows
D) backlight
E) low contrast

Question 28

The compositional principle that breaks the frame into three vertical sections and three horizontal sections, resulting in a grid, is

A) three-point lighting.
B) cubic divisional placement.
C) framing theory.
D) deep-focus composition.
E) the rule of thirds.

Question 29

Which of the following generally characterize the quality of hard light?

A) low contrast
B) bright illumination and dark shadows
C) diffusion
D) less distinct shadows
E) flattering illumination

Question 30

________ is a lighting technique that uses deep gradations and subtle variations of lights and darks.

A) High-key
B) Night-for-day
C) Backlighting
D) Chiaroscuro
E) Diffusion

Question 31

During the production of a movie, light is controlled and manipulated by the ________ to achieve expressive effects.

A) editor
B) script supervisor
C) cinematographer
D) production designer
E) producer

Question 32

In The Scarlet Empress (1934), director Josef von Sternberg photographs Marlene Dietrich to accentuate her

A) beauty.
B) strength.
C) plainness.
D) monstrousness.
E) ethnicity.

Question 33

High-key lighting is used extensively in which of the following genres?

A) musicals
B) film noirs
C) mysteries
D) horror films
E) crime films

Question 34

Previsualization can include all of the following planning tools except

A) storyboards.
B) overheads.
C) color grading.
D) software.
E) editing.

Question 35

To create a balanced composition, characters whose lateral screen movement is tracked by a moving camera are almost invariably given

A) headroom.
B) eye room.
C) lead room.
D) previsualization.
E) top lighting.

Question 36

Deep-space composition conveys information, mood, and meaning by placing significant visual and narrative information

A) on a single plane of depth (foreground, middle ground, or background).
B) on two or more of the three planes of depth (foreground, middle ground, and background).
C) in only the foreground.
D) in only the background.
E) in the sky.

Question 37

Diagrams of sets that include actor and camera positions are known as

A) storyboards.
B) overheads.
C) compositions.
D) aerials.
E) kinetics.

Question 38

________ is a lighting technique often associated with horror and film noir.

A) High-key
B) Flat
C) Three-point
D) Lighting ratio
E) Low-key

Question 39

Which of the following is not an aspect of shot composition?

A) the rule of thirds
B) deep space
C) headroom
D) parallel editing
E) negative space

Question 40

The contrast of light and dark was used in The Night of the Hunter (1955) to reinforce

A) Harry's dual nature.
B) comedic elements of the plot.
C) the light sensitivity of the film stock.
D) the influence of German expressionism.
E) the difference between daytime and nighttime scenes.

Question 41

What genre of American film of the 1930s was most influenced by the highly stylized German cinema of the early 1920s?

A) gangster
B) horror
C) screwball comedy
D) melodramas
E) musicals

Question 42

The person responsible for finding and executing an approach to mise-en-scène that will best serve the particular story the film is trying to tell is the

A) production designer.
B) cinematographer.
C) producer.
D) set decorator.
E) director.

Question 43

The intersection (or, in some cases, collision) between fantasy and reality often occur in the work of which director(s)?

A) Orson Welles
B) Joel and Ethan Coen
C) Josef von Sternberg
D) William Wyler
E) Tim Burton

Question 44

The visual style of Sleepy Hollow (1999) features many characteristics of what two genres?

A) Westerns and science fiction
B) comedy and horror
C) horror and gothic
D) science fiction and melodrama
E) gothic and comedy

Question 45

The two most basic kinds of artificial lights used for film production are

A) incandescent lights and floodlights.
B) focusable spotlights and floodlights.
C) focusable spotlights and reflectors.
D) floodlights and footlights.
E) backlights and reflectors.

Question 46

Of the many personnel on a film shoot, who is responsible for aspects of visual continuity during the production process?

A) director
B) producer
C) editor
D) assistant director
E) script supervisor

Question 47

How does director Ava DuVernay use mise-en-scène in a courthouse scene to achieve authenticity in Selma (2014)?

Question 48

Director Robert Wiene used diagonal lines and jagged pointed graphics in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) to

A) brighten the mise-en-scène.
B) mask the film's low-budget settings.
C) dazzle the audience.
D) foreshadow the use of color film.
E) express the subjective state of mind.

Question 49

The kinesis of objects and figures within the frame and of the frame itself are both aspects of

A) focus.
B) decor.
C) lighting.
D) mise-en-scène.
E) setting.

Question 50

Describe the evolution of movie sets during the first two decades of moviemaking. How do filmmakers utilize sets to create the illusion of a complete location when seen on-screen?

Question 51

The first great German expressionist film was

A) The Last Laugh.
B) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
C) Metropolis.
D) Nosferatu.
E) Siegfried.

Question 52

________ was an art movement of the early twentieth century that sought to manifest subjective human feelings and emotions through a combination of objective design elements.

A) Realism
B) Dadaism
C) Cubism
D) Expressionism
E) Idealism

Question 53

In addition to the casting of nonprofessional actors, one of the signature practices of the Italian neorealism movement was

A) shooting on location.
B) improvisation.
C) artificial lighting.
D) color photography.
E) the stationary camera.

Question 54

Using examples from the text, compare the different directorial approaches to mise-en-scène by Wes Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, and Robert Wiene.

Question 55

The four basic properties of lighting are

A) intensity, direction, color, and depth.
B) color temperature, focus, source, and intensity.
C) source, quality, direction, and style.
D) bulb metrics, height, color temperature, and focus.
E) quality, quantity, style, and angle.

Question 56

Which of the following films is mostly devoid of kinesis?

A) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
B) Forrest Gump
C) Tokyo Story
D) Royal Wedding
E) Gravity

Question 57

When a film involves the future, as in science fiction, the costumes must reflect

A) the availability of raw materials.
B) the duration of the screenplay.
C) the deep-space compositions common for the genre.
D) the temperature of the soundstage during production.
E) the social structure and values of an imaginary society.

Question 58

The German Kammerspielfilm of the silent era, Italian neorealism in the aftermath of World War II, and the Dogme 95 movement launched in 1995 inspired the use of what stylistic approach to filmmaking?

A) expressionism
B) authenticity
C) minimalism
D) abstraction
E) romanticism

Question 59

Which of the following works was not influenced by German expressionism?

A) The Third Man
B) Edward Scissorhands
C) The Bride of Frankenstein
D) Twin Peaks: The Return
E) Run Lola Run

Question 60

In order to tightly control a film's visual elements during production, directors rely on

A) extended depth of field.
B) the construction of studio sets.
C) natural daylight enhanced with reflectors.
D) large locations to accommodate moving camera shots.
E) actors to deliver realistic, nuanced performances.

Question 61

What is the rule of thirds, and why is it often preferred to create the illusion of depth over a combination of deep-space composition and deep-focus cinematography?

Question 62

What was the goal of expressionism, and how was it realized in German films in the years immediately following World War I? Use specific examples.

Question 63

Citing examples from the text, explain how the use of different lighting styles on characters and settings can create different meanings, emotions, and expectations.

Question 64

How does the movie The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) illustrate the relationship between mise-en-scène and composition?

Question 65

Although movies set during historical periods often strive for accuracy in many elements of mise-en-scène, female costumes often reflect more contemporary fashions. Why is this the case?

Question 66

What are the advantages of shooting on soundstages and backlots for Hollywood studio production?

Question 67

How did films of the Italian neorealism movement of the 1940s differ from Hollywood films of the same period?

Question 68

Why is it not useful to rate the cinematic quality of a movie based solely on its kinetic intensity?

Question 69

How are costume and color used to differentiate the characters and settings in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999)?

Question 70

Why were actors in almost every film before 1960 required to wear wigs?

Question 71

Using examples from the text, explain how the use of costumes, hairstyles, and makeup can contribute to an actor's overall performance and to the audience's perception of that character.

Question 72

How do filmmakers manipulate the proximity of characters to suggest different meanings?