Deck 10: Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Films

Question 1

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

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

Answer 1

A

Question 2

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

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

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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 the biography of a person
C)Visionary documentary,which presents the director's abstract proposal
D)Synthetic documentary,a combination of documentary types

Answer 3

C

Question 4

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 5

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 6

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 entirely of re-creations of events with professional actors

Question 7

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 8

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; extreme long shots

Question 9

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

A)television commercials.
B)music videos.
C)Facebook status updates.
D)educational films used in middle school health classes.

Question 10

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 sprinkled throughout the film
D)A list of government agencies that sponsored the film

Question 11

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 or interpretation,and not necessarily scientific truth.
C)The subject of the film is usually presented as a highly 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.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT typical of rhetorical form?

A)Arguments from indisputable scientific truth with no room for interpretation
B)Arguments from source,involving sources of information that are meant to be seen as reliable
C)Arguments including a clear presentation of an explicit persuasive opinion
D)Viewer-centered arguments,which usually tap into the viewer's emotions

Question 13

A film is a documentary if it

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

Question 14

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

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

Question 15

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 16

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 17

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

Question 18

Mockumentaries can best be defined as films that

A)imitate the conventions of documentaries,often for comedic effects,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 to trick the audience.
D)deliberately avoid the conventions of the documentary.

Question 19

Associational form works most like

A)traditional portrait painting in oils.
B)motet form in choral music.
C)folkloric storytelling.
D)metaphorical poetry.

Question 20

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.

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

A)light-hearted,happy,and whimsical.
B)surreal,violent,and disturbing.
C)lyrical,flowing,and poetic.
D)hilarious,sardonic,and satirical.

Question 23

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 24

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

Question 25

Films that present strong opinions and make weak arguments without reliable research cannot be considered documentaries; instead,they are considered fiction.

Question 26

Experimental films are also known as avant-garde films.

Question 27

When a documentary is referred to as synthetic it means it's a false documentary,or a mockumentary.

Question 28

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

Question 29

In full animation,

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

Question 30

Mokumentaries pretend to portray real people and are often quite serious.

Question 31

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

Question 32

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 33

In animation,cels are

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

Question 34

"3D" computer animation is so named because it

A)gives an impression of depth when viewed through special glasses in a theatre.
B)makes two-dimensional drawings look three-dimensional (with "volume").
C)is made to be shown on special 3D movie screens.
D)involves the 3D's: drawing,detail,and description.

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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

A)Claymation using Plasticine
B)Model animation using puppets
C)Pixillation with ordinary objects or people
D)Illustrative animation using collage

Question 38

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 39

Blitz's Spellbound and Hitchcock's Spellbound not only share the same film title but are also both considered fictional films.

Question 40

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

Question 41

How did the animation technique used to make Duck Amuck differ from that used to make Sita Sings the Blues?
What makes each film visually interesting and unique? How do the films reflect the time periods in which they were made? Use specific examples from each film to illustrate you ideas.

Question 42

Write a paragraph explaining how we distinguish a documentary using categorical form from one using rhetorical form.Use specific examples from Film Art,from lectures,or from films shown for the course.

Question 43

Live-action films use continuous filming of an ongoing action in real time,but animation involves creating images one frame at a time.

Question 44

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 45

Create a table that delineates the characteristics of categorical,rhetorical,abstract,and associational formal systems.Include in the table brief examples of each system.

Question 46

Animated documentaries are usually instructional films.

Question 47

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

Question 48

Write a paragraph explaining how we distinguish an experimental film using abstract form from one using associational form.Use specific examples from Film Art,from lectures,or from films shown for the course.

Question 49

Koyaanisqatsi uses almost no recognizable human speech.

Question 50

Describe how animation differs from live-action filming.Explain the common types of animation and give examples of each.