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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the main shot of any given scene?
(a) The focus.
(b) The main.
(c) The master.
(d) The principle.

2. According to Mamet, storytellers need to be warned against falling into what?
(a) Characterization.
(b) Narration.
(c) Elaboration.
(d) Circularity.

3. According to Mamet in Chapter 3, if you want to build a roof, it might be a good idea to understand about the effects of what?
(a) Precipitation.
(b) Support beams.
(c) Weather.
(d) Sunlight.

4. The newspaper reviewer criticized an author for attempting screenwriting because he was nearly what?
(a) Blind.
(b) Deaf.
(c) Paralyzed.
(d) Illiterate.

5. In Chapter 2, Mamet says that it's impossible to make a character what?
(a) Narrate a story.
(b) Relatable to everyone.
(c) Interesting in general.
(d) Carry a scene.

6. What was Hitchcock's phrase for the thing which the protagonist is chasing?
(a) MacDufflin.
(b) MacGriffin.
(c) MacGuffin.
(d) Objective.

7. Mamet says the audience requires not information, but what?
(a) Drama.
(b) Exposition.
(c) Character.
(d) Narration.

8. Mamet cited Aristotle in saying there is no such thing as what?
(a) A happy ending.
(b) Plot.
(c) Character.
(d) A tragic ending.

9. In what area did Mamet have greater experience in when writing the book?
(a) Stage directing.
(b) Acting.
(c) Screenwriting.
(d) Film criticism.

10. Who wrote The Profession of the Stage?
(a) Georgi Tovstonogov.
(b) Constantin Stanislavski.
(c) Michael Chekhov.
(d) Andreas Tovstonogov.

11. According to Mamet, you can't rely on the ________ to tell the story. Which of these is the correct answer?
(a) Direction.
(b) Beats.
(c) Acting.
(d) Shots.

12. What kind of camera has helped in injuring the cinema, according to Mamet?
(a) The zoomcam.
(b) The steadycam.
(c) The dollycam.
(d) The digital camera.

13. What is the term which means "it works correctly on paper but for some reason doesn't work when we get it on its feet"?
(a) The K.I.S.S. Rule.
(b) The Jesus Factor.
(c) The Rule of Circularity.
(d) The Hippo Factor.

14. Mamet says in Chapter 1 that if the film follows the protagonist around, what he does had better be what?
(a) Interesting.
(b) Heroic.
(c) Narrating.
(d) Active.

15. What is the first way suggested by students in the class for shooting a scene of a bunch of people coming to class?
(a) At head level.
(b) As a closeup.
(c) From above.
(d) From below.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said of American films that they were all "pictures of people talking"?

2. According to Mamet in Chapter 3, he challenges the way people talk about any performance artist and the way they talk about whom?

3. According to Mamet in Chapter 3, the only thing the dramatic form is good for is what?

4. Who directed the film Places in the Heart?

5. All the audience cares about is the what, according to Mamet?

(see the answer keys)

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