There are so many French words in film studies:
- Auteur: Auteur is the French word for author and in film theory, refers to the director’s personal vision; the director being the ‘author’ of the film. “Auteurism” means analyzing films, to search out the defining features that might identify the director as the author. Auteur theory was developed in the 1950s by, among others, director Francois Truffault and noted film critic Andre Bazin, editor of the French film journal Cahiers du Cinéma
- Decoupage: In film, decoupage refers to the editing process and literally translated, means ‘to cut up’. However, it usually indicates a particular style of editing, in which the transitions between shots lends continuity to the narrative.
- Mise-en-scène: A French term used to describe the design aspects of a film, mise-en-scène incorporates key aspects such as lighting, props, set design and costume. More recently the term has been broadened to include reference to a director’s attempt to get across all the information about a scene in a single shot. For example, a character’s internal struggle may be conveyed through nuances in the lighting and set design – thus a mise-en-scène is created.