Realism

Verisimilitude – Making something look real and believable

Social realism – drawing attention to real socio-political conditions, mainly the harsher parts of reality

Magic realism – Taking a fantasy theme in a real tone, such as synchronised dance numbers, or fairies appearing in the real world

Hyperreality – an inability for the conscience to distinguish reality from simulated reality, e.g. exaggeration or a compression of time

Visual style

Iconography – Where certain images/icons take interpreted meaning

Intertextuality – relations between different, texts, films plotlines or styles

Visual/sound motifs – patterns or sounds that are repeated throughout a movie that convey a meaning

Colour grading – The act of manipulating colours in a scene to create mood

Auteur trademarks – things that are recognisable and easily linked to a director/actor

Tone

Pathos – something that brings out pity/sadness in the viewer

Bathos – change in tone from serious to ridiculous

suspense – a sense of extended anxiousness or excitement in anticipation

comedy – something with the purpose of creating amusement in the viewer

dramatic irony – where the audience has more information than the character to create effect

distancing effect – techniques used where the audience is alienated from the emotional involvement in movie