Film Glossary

Film Glossary So you like Hollywood and Netflix, eh? Maybe you love them. If so, youll want to be able to write about your passion in the most popular language on the internet: English. Heres a film glossary that can help you get started with common film and cinema terms. Film vocabulary word cloud actora male whose profession is acting on the stage, in movies, or on television. actressa female whose profession is acting on the stage, in movies, or on television. anachronisman element or artifact in a film that belongs to another time or place; often anachronistic elements are called film flubs anamorphicrelated to different optical imaging effects; refers to a method of intentionally distorting and creating a wide screen image with standard film angleThis is the think who is able to capture an optical device anthropomorphismthe tendency in animated films to give creatures or objects human qualities, abilities, and characteristics. aperturerefers to the measurement of the opening in a camera lens that regulates the amount of light passing through and contacting the film. artistic directorresponsible for the visual and artistic published or multimedia project behind scenesout of sight of the public at a theater or organization. cameraa device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, movie film, or video signals. cameraa device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, movie film, or video signals. camera anglethe point of view of a camera camera movementA shift in view, frame, or perspective caused by the movement of a camera cameramana person whose profession involves operating a television or movie camera casting listA list of all the actors in a movie or a tv-show. catharsisduring a films climax, the audience may experience a purging or cleansing of emotional tension, providing relief or therapeutic restoration cinemaa place to see a movie climaxthe most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex. close-upa shot taken from a close distance in which the scale of the object is magnified costume designercostumier: someone who designs or supplies costumes (as for a play or masquerade) cranea large, tall machine used for moving heavy objects, typically by suspending them from a projecting arm or beam. delete sceneA scene removed from or replaced by another scene in the final version of a motion picture. denouementthe point immediately following the climax when everything comes into place or is resolved; often the final scene in a motion picture; aka tag; see resolution designera person who plans the form, look, or workings of something before its being made or built, typically by drawing it in detail. dialogueconversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie. diegeticthe term is used to name the story depicted on screen directora person who directs the production of an audiovisual work, typically for film and television. directora person who directs the making of a film. director of photographyresponsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. documentarya movie or a television or radio program that provides a factual record or report. dollya small platform on wheels used for holding heavy objects, typically film or television cameras. dolly shotrefers to a moving shot in which the perspective of the subject and background is changed; the shot is taken from a camera that is mounted on a hydraulically-powered wheeled camera platform dubbinga technique of replacing the original language of production of an audiovisual work, another language to disseminate this work in foreign countries dystopiaan imaginary, wretched, dehumanized, dismal, fearful, bad, oppressive place or landscape, often initiated by a major world crisis editingthe process (performed by a film editor) of selecting, assembling, arranging, collating, trimming, structuring, and splicing-joining together many separate camera takes (includes sound also) of exposed footage (or daily rushes) into a complete, determined sequence or order of shots (or film) editorThe person who assembles plans and sequences of a film elipsisthe shortening of the plot duration of a film achieved by deliberately omitting intervals or sections of the narrative story or action executive producerAn executive producer enables and backs up the making of a commercial entertainment product. He or she is concerned with management accounting and possibly with associated legal issues. An EP also contributes to the films budget, and does not work on set. extraa performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background. extraan actor who takes a hand accessory to the story fictiona film that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, filma thin skin, cuticle, membrane, or film. film editorThe film editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture film productionall the techniques used to render a movie, usually in a cinema, but also for private screenings flashbacka scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story. focusthe state or quality of having or producing clear visual definition frameplace (a picture or photograph) in a frame. hairstylista person who cuts and styles peoples hair professionally. headphonesa pair of earphones typically joined by a band placed over the head, for listening to audio signals such as music or speech. in shotAll the things that are in the picture jump-cutan abrupt, disorienting transitional device in the middle of a continuous shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar scenes, leading actorplays the role of the protagonist in a film or play leading actorA leading actor, leading actress, star, or simply lead, plays the role of the protagonist in a film or play. leitmotivan intentionally-repeated, recurring element or theme associated with a particular person, idea, milieu, or action; the element presents itself as a repeated sound, shot, bit of dialogue, piece of music, etc., lengthreaching up to or down to the place specified. lensa piece of glass or other transparent substance with curved sides for concentrating or dispersing light rays lightingequipment in a home, workplace, studio, theater, or street for producing light microphonean instrument for converting sound waves into electrical energy variations, which may then be amplified, transmitted, or recorded. montagethe process or technique of selecting, editing, and piecing together separate sections of film to form a continuous whole. moviea type of visual communication which use moving pictures and sound to tell stories or inform movie theaterA movie theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing movies (films). movie trailera short commercial whose purpose is to promote a film coming out in theaters soon musicsongs and instrumental pieces, which are the film score panTo move a movie or television camera to follow an object or create a panoramic effect. planshooting, between a start and stop the camera post-productionwork done on a film or recording after filming or recording has taken place producera person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of making of a movie producerSomeone who prepares and then supervises the making of a film before presenting the product to a financing entity or a film distributor projectto present an image on a surface, esp. a movie screen. projection screenA projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. prologuea speech, preface, introduction, or brief scene preceding the the main action or plot of a film; contrast to epilogue. railsa steel bar or continuous line of bars laid on the ground as one of a pair forming a railroad track. scenarioA work written by one or more writers for a film or television program scenea sequence of continuous action in a play, movie, opera, or book. screenplayThe script of a movie, including acting instructions and scene directions screenplaythe script of a movie, including acting instructions and scene directions. screenwritera person who writes a screenplay scriptwritera person who writes a script for a play, movie, or broadcast. setThe place and the environment in which the action takes place shootthe process of filming or photographing any aspect of a motion picture with a camera; the plan for a shoot is termed a shooting schedule. showingthe action of showing something or the fact of being shown. slow-motionrefers to an effect resulting from running film through a camera at faster-than-normal speed (shooting faster than 24 frames per second), and then projecting it at standard speed; if a camera runs at 60 frames per second, and captures a one second-long event soundIt a music in a film or noice in a movie sound editorresponsible for selecting and assembling sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mixing sound effectsa sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, movie, or other broadcast production sound engineer Someone who manages the sound in various sectors soundmanin charge of recording, transmitting, or amplifying sound or of producing sound effects soundtracka recording of the musical accompaniment to a movie. special effects(special effect) an effect used to produce scenes that cannot be achieved by normal techniques (especially on film split-screenthe combination of two actions filmed separately by copying them onto the same negative and having them appear side-by-side within a single frame (without overlapping) star(of a movie, play, or other show) have (someone) as a principal performer storyboarda sequence of drawings (some directions and dialogue), representing the shots planned for a movie studioRecording room location for film, radio, television, record company studioa film or television production company subtitledprovide (a movie or program) with subtitles. symbolan object in a film that stands for an idea, or that has a second level of meaning to it, symmetrywithin a film when two or more distinct plotlines mirror each other or develop variations on the films theme or plot; aka mirroring techniciana person employed to look after technical equipment or do practical work on a film set televisionThis is a set of techniques to make and receive video sequences travellinga movement of the camera during shooting, which is one of the uses of a subject parallel to follow its movement tripoda three-legged stand for supporting a camera or other apparatus. video clubShop that sells and rents video cassettes recorded visual effectsVisual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shot voice-overa piece of narration in a movie or broadcast, not accompanied by an image of the speaker voice-overrefers to recorded dialogue, usually narration, that comes from an unseen, off-screen voice, character or narrator writera person who writes a script for a film zooma single shot taken with a lens that has a variable focal length, thereby permitting the cinematographer to change the distance between the camera and the object being filmed. 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