Establishing shot, that's probably the closest one yet. The description from Life on the Mississippi reminds me of the opening--establishing shot--of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Joe Alvarez 900 Havel Court Charlotte, NC 28211-4253 Telephone: 704.364.2844 FAX: 704.364.9348 Sent from my iPad > On Aug 25, 2016, at 1:47 AM, Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > What you called the"birds-eye view" might also be called an establishing > shot > Not by Twain, though. > > On Aug 25, 2016 1:27 AM, "Joe Alvarez" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > How about "zoom in"? That is what is happening in your description. > > Joe Alvarez > 900 Havel Court > Charlotte, NC 28211-4253 > Telephone: 704.364.2844 > FAX: 704.364.9348 > > Sent from my iPad > >> On Aug 24, 2016, at 8:33 PM, Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> I have a question about one passage in Life on the Mississippi. I suspect > i= > t >> will be very familiar to many of you. >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> It's the passage where we first get a birds-eye view of a place along the >> river before Twain narrows his focus to one town, then one street, then > on= > e >> house, then a sleeping man on a porch. >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> Back in grad school, a professor used a term to define this technique of >> moving from the general to the specific, but I can't figure out now what >> term he meant. >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> Any ideas? >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> =20 >> Dr. Wesley Britton >> =20 >> Author, Beta-Earth Chronicles >> =20 >> www.drwesleybritton.com >> =20 >> =20