amorce

English translation: over-the-shoulder shot

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	amorce
English translation:	over-the-shoulder shot
Entered by:	John Holland

14:33 May 10, 2015

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama

French term or phrase: amorce

The passage, from the main essay of a catalogue about a contemporary Canadian video artist:

Les images de [l'artiste] paraissent nées dans un certain angle mort du cinéma d’allégeance hollywoodienne avec, pour « amorce », la force imposante d’une figure vénérée de la pensée critique dont l’artiste se réclame souvent. [...] Le terme « amorce » est à prendre ici, bien que métaphoriquement, dans les deux sens de son usage au cinéma :

1. c’est la partie de film non argentique collée avant la première et après la dernière image de chaque bobine et qui comporte diverses indications telles que le titre, le métrage et le point de synchronisation ;

2. le mot désigne également un objet ou un personnage disposé près de la caméra, au premier plan de l’action principale, qu’il masque partiellement.

The author apparently has consulted
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossaire_du_cinéma

I assume the first sense would be "film leader" or "head leader," but I have not been able to find an English equivalent for the second sense (sounds similar to a repoussoir in painting).

I would be most grateful for any help.

Sincerely,
Donald Pistolesi

Donald Pistolesi KudoZ activity Questions: 9 (1 open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 1
Local time: 07:19

over-the-shoulder shot

Explanation:
See definition 3 of "amorce" in Roy's Dictionnaire général du cinéma at
https://books.google.fr/books?id=unPhu6dHnCkC&lpg=PA503&vq=o... :
"over-the-shoulder shot" is provided in English on p. 14 to describe the meaning of "amorce" you're looking for here.

Also see p. 232 and p. 235 of the PDF at http://www.afar-fiction.com/IMG/pdf/Chapitre_09.pdf :
"over-the-shoulder shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . prise de vue avec plan en amorce"

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Note added at 20 hrs (2015-05-11 10:33:44 GMT)
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@teletubby
The translated sentence would need to read something like this:
"2. this word also refers to an object or person placed in front of and partially blocking the main action in an over-the-shoulder camera shot."

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Note added at 3 days2 hrs (2015-05-13 17:12:22 GMT) Post-grading
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@Daryo

I believe that the source text includes the numbered elements, such that it begins with "Les images de..." and end with "...qu’il masque partiellement." If this is correct, the source text includes the fact that "amorce" has more than one definition.

For that reason, I do not believe it is necessary to find one translation to expresses both meanings. For example, the translated sentence could begin something like this (rough draft):
"X's images seem to have their origins in a certain blind spot about Hollywood cinema, with the imposing force of some venerated critical theorist whose work he advocates serving as a kind of "bait" [amorce]. [...] The term "amorce" should be understood metaphorically here, with the two meanings it has in film... [note: this would be followed by the two definitions given in the source text]"

Maybe something other than "bait" would be better; another possibility is "teaser," which is one translation of a figurative meaning of "amorce." See: http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/amorce
I'm not sure we have enough context to know what would be best. We'd need to know more about what the author says about this artist, what kind of point he is making about the artist's relation to theory, etc.

In any case, my understanding was that the question here concerned how to translate the second meaning of the term and not how to deal with the part of the source text before the two definitions. My apologies if I that was not correct...

Selected response from:

John Holland
France
Local time: 13:19

Grading comment

You people's willingness to share your expert knowledge will help me sleep at night. Thank you.

The term in question seems to mean "shooting past someone (or something) in the foreground toward someone (or something) farther off. The French term seems to refer to the someone or something in the foreground, the English to the angle/position of the camera. All things considered, it is in my opinion a good match.

Though my question was about terminology, my problem was one of translation. I am also grateful to the others who addressed this in the discussion.
Donald
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

lead-in

Daryo

over-the-shoulder shot

John Holland

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

11 hrs confidence:

lead-in

Explanation:
lead-in [of a tape]
the beginning of a tape, possibly containing all sort of formatting information, used as introduction before the "payload"/the useful part of the tape

lead-in [of a new character]
"introduction" of a new character, by showing it initially only partially on the screen

also:
in the printed press "the lead" is the beginning of an article [the title in bigger font] used to attract the attention of the reader i.e. to lead the reader into reading the article"

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:19
Native speaker of:

Serbian,

French
PRO pts in category: 13

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Melissa McMahon: This is a good suggestion for a term that potentially fits both contexts, but the asker wanted the English term for the type of shot described in the second sense of "amorce", and John is correct on that score.

1 hr

-> for the purpose of this text you need one term that can be used in both meanings - the whole sentence is based on the double meaning on one term, not on using two different terms

neutral

John Holland: As Melissa rightly notes, this answer does not correspond to the question, which concerns the meaning of "amorce," used in reference to a kind of camera shot. // Please see the note I added to my answer for more thoughts about this.

5 hrs

-> and what about the ST? the proposed translation is supposed to be usable for the given ST // I can't imagine a tape starting with a label that is a non-viewable "over-the-shoulder shot" ...

36 mins confidence:

over-the-shoulder shot

John Holland
France
Local time: 13:19
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Notes to answerer

Asker: Dear Mr. Holland, Looking over your answer and addenda as my deadline looms and I continue to grapple with this particularly nasty bit (though with the feeling I might come out on top), I just wanted to say thanks again for your abundant enlightening comments. Donald

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Melissa McMahon

8 hrs

-> Thanks, Melissa

disagree

Daryo: how would you put an "over-the-shoulder shot" at the beginning of a tape, before any recorded parts? + it doesn't fit with the rest of the sentence

10 hrs

-> As Melissa notes below, the source text notes that "amorce" has two meanings. One meaning is "lead in" and the other is the meaning given here.

neutral

Ben Lenthall: We always used this to describe just that - a shot, usually of a conversation favouring the face of one person shot 'over the shoulder' of the other but never applied to 'un objet.'

15 hrs

-> Please check the links provided above. This answer is based on two published dictionaries of film terms that include both the French and English terms.... Please also see the note above.

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