Film Vocabulary

film

(1) as a verb, to record a scene or make (or lense) a motion picture; (2) as a noun, refers to a motion picture, or (3) the thin strip of material on the film negative (with a base and light-sensitive coating of emulsion) that is used to create images - through light exposure.

feature (film)

a "full-length" motion picture, one greater than 60 minutes in length - but usually about 90-120 minutes on one particular topic; also known as a theatrical; contrast to shorts.

'fish-out-of-water' tale

a film (usually humorous) in which the main character(s) faces 'culture shock' by being placed in unfamiliar or new surroundings or situations

flood

a lamp that provides general diffuse lighting on a studio set

epiphany

a moment of sudden spiritual insight for the protagonist of a film, usually occurs just before or after the climax

choreographer (and choreography)

a person who plans, designs, organizes, sequences, and directs dancing, fighting, or other physical actions or movements in a film or stage production; a dancer is known as a hoofer.

footage

any length, portion or sequence of film (either shot or to be shot) measured in feet; also refers to a particular sequence of events depicted in a motion picture

foley artist

in the post-production and editing stage of a film's production, the foley artist (named after pioneer Jack Foley) creates or adds incidental sound effects/noises (e.g., footsteps, gunshots, kisses, punches, storm noises, slamming doors, explosions, etc.) that are synchronized to the film as it is projected in order to match its visual component, often with props that mimic the action

cross-cutting

the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence, or event) with another - usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two; this editing method suggests parallel action (that takes place simultaneously); often used to dramatically build tension and suspense in chase scenes, or to compare two different scenes; also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing.

executive producer

the person who is responsible for overseeing a film's financing, or for arranging the film's production elements (stars, screenwriter, budgeting/financing, etc.)

double exposure

to expose a single frame twice so that elements of both images are visible in the finished product; produces an effect similar to superimposition and is often used to produce 'ghostly' effects

film noir

a French phrase literally meaning "black film" that developed in the early 40s; refers to a genre of mostly black/white films that blossomed in the post-war era in American cinema, with bleak subject matter and a somber, downbeat tone; the plot (often a quest), low-key lighting (harsh shadows and chiaroscuro) often in night scenes, camera angles (often canted or high angle shots), the setting (the gloomy underworld of crime and corruption), iconography (guns, urban settings), characters (disillusioned, jaded), and other elements (voice-overs and flashbacks) combined to present a dark atmosphere of pessimism, tension, cynicism, or oppression. Film noirs, often crime films, were usually set in grim and seedy cities, with characters including criminals, anti-heroes, private detectives, and duplicitous femme fatales; see also tech-noir

'fifteen minutes of fame'

a cliched term popularized by pop artist/painter Andy Warhol in the late 60s, who predicted that everyone could be famous for 15 minutes and experience a moment of 'crowning glory'; aka one-hit wonders; due to today's increasing demands for pseudo-celebrities or 'personalities', headline-grabbers, and the widespread dissemination of information by cable TV, talk radio, and the WWW, it may be possible for everyone to 'bask in the limelight' for a fleeting moment (a flash in the pan).

cast

a collective term for all of the actors/performers (or talent) appearing in a particular film: usually broken down into two parts: the leads with speaking roles, and the seconds or supporting characters, background players or extras, and bit players

filmmaker(s)

a collective term used to refer to a person(s) who have a significant degree of control over the creation of a film: directors, producers, screenwriters, and editors.

double take

a comedic convention that refers to the way in which an actor first looks at an object (subject, event, scene, etc.), then looks away, and then snaps his head back to the situation for a second look - with surprise, disgust, sexual longing, etc.; a variation is termed a spit-take(the double-take causes the character to spit out whatever he is drinking)

filmography

a comprehensive (often chronological by year) listing of films featuring the work of an actor/actress, director, or other crew member; may also be a list of films for a specific genre or topic; a filmographer is another term for a film-maker or a person who studies film

epic

a costly film made on an unusually large scale or scope of dramatic production, that often portrays a spectacle with historic, ancient world, or biblical significance.

eyeline match

a cut between two shots that creates the illusion of the character (in the first shot) looking at an object (in the second shot)

cue cards

a device (cards, scrolling screen, teleprompter, or other mechanism) printed with dialogue provided to help an actor recite his/her lines; an electronic cue card is called a (tele)-prompter; derogatively called idiot cards or idiot sheets.

courtroom drama

a drama and/or mystery story, in which the main protagonist is a lawyer, and a majority of the drama and dramatic action takes place in a courtroom setting; the plot revolves around the preparation of a trial and its result of guilt or innocence

coming-of-age (film)

a film associated with difficult teen rites of passage (from adolescence to adulthood), the onset of puberty, the loss of naive innocence and childhood dreams, the experience of growing up, achieving sexual identity, etc.; aka teen films

cliffhanger

a film characterized by scenes of great tension, danger, adventure, suspense, or high drama, often climaxing at the end of a film, or at the end of a multi-part serial episode, where the plot ending and the fate of the protagonist(s) are left unresolved; the name was derived from the movie serials of the 1930's where each week the hero (or heroine) was perilously left dangling from a cliff -- with a 'to-be-continued' ending -- to increase interest for the next episode (sequel).

concert film (rock or comedy)

a film that records the live concert performance of musician(s), a band/group, or stand-up comic(s); concert films are often edited over the course of many performances and/or staged for the camera with multiple set-ups, and can be considered pseudo-documentaries; a rock concert is aka rockumentary

ensemble (film)

a film with a large cast without any true leading roles, and usually with multiple plotlines regarding the characters; it also literally means 'the group of actors (and sometimes directors and designers) who are involved in a film'.

comedy (film)

a film with elicits laughter or humor by celebrating or showing the eternal ironies of human existence; types include screwball, dark/black, farce, slapstick, dead-pan, parody, romantic comedy, etc.

flashback

a filmic technique that alters the natural order of the narrative; a flashback may often be the entire film; it takes the story order back chronologically in time to a previous or past event, scene, or sequence that took place prior to the present time frame of the film; the flash backed story that provides background on action and events is often called the backstory; contrast to flash-forward

documentary

a non-fiction (factual), narrative film with real people (not performers or actors); typically, a documentary is a low-budget, journalistic record of an event, person, or place; a documentary film-maker should be an unobtrusive observer - like a fly-on-the-wall, capturing reality as it happens; aka doc or docu; also called direct cinema; one type is termed docudrama; contrast with cinema verite and mockumentary

body double (or double)

a performer who takes the place of an actor in scenes that require a close-up of body parts without the face visible, often for nude scenes requiring exposed close-ups (considered distasteful by some actors), or scenes requiring physical fitness; not to be confused with stunt double or stand-in

flat

a section of a studio's set, consisting of a constructed wooden frame covered with materials (such as plywood that is treated or covered with fabric, metal, paint, wallpaper, etc.)

episode

a self-contained segment or part of an anthology film or serial; a number of separate and complete episodes make up an episode film

exploitation film

a sensational, often trashy B-film aimed at a particular audience and designed to succeed commercially and profitably by appealing to specific psychological traits or needs in that audience without any fuller analysis or exposition; often refers to films with extremely violent or sexual scenes; not necessarily a derogatory term; various types include blaxploitation, sexploitation, splatter films.

film clip

a short section of film removed from a movie and often exhibited; a part of a film, and sometimes a complete scene or sequence, taken from a film; similar to an excerpt.

epilogue

a short, concluding scene in a film in which characters (sometimes older) reflect on the preceding events

dutch tilt (or canted angle)

a shot made with the camera leaned to one side and filming at a diagonal angle (the horizon is not parallel with the bottom of the frame); see also camera angle.

cue

a signal or sign for an actor to begin performing, from either another performer, from the director, or from within the script; a cue is often the last word of one character's line(s) of dialogue, when another performer is expected to 'pick up their cue' to speak.

clapboard (clapper (board))

a small black or white board or slate with a hinged stick on top that displays identifying information for each shot in a movie, and is filmed at the beginning of a take. The board typically contains the working title of the movie, the names of the director, the editor, and the director of photography, the scene and take numbers, the date, and the time. On the top of the clapboard is a hinged wooden stick (called a clap stick or clapper) which is often clapped to provide audio/visual synchronization of the sound with the picture during editing; electronic clappers and synchronization are currently in use instead of the old-fashioned clapboard.

buzz track

a soundtrack of natural, atmospheric, on-location background noise that is added to the re-recorded (or looped) track of actors' dialogue and other sound effects recordings to create a more realistic sound; aka referred to as room tone or matching ambient sound; a wild track or sound refers to a soundtrack w/o any synchronized picture accompanying it (e.g., the sounds of a playground)

Dolby stereo

a stereo-sound process for motion pictures created by Dolby Laboratories, Inc., used to improve sound quality; 35mm prints have two optical sound tracks (Dolby can decode and playback on four channels), while 70mm prints have six magnetic tracks for multi-channel playback; by the 1990s, Dolby Stereo was superceded by advanced digitally-recorded sound

cyberpunk

a sub-genre of science fiction, derived from combining the terms cybernetics and punk, and related to the digital or information technology society (referring to the proliferation of computers, the online world, cyberspace, and 'hacking'); this sub-genre also incorporates classic film-noirish characteristics into its style - traits include alienation, dehumanization, the presence of counter-cultural anti-heroes, darkness, dystopia, and corruption; heavily influenced by the novels of Raymond Chandler; also associated with the work of writer William Gibson and his 1984 novel Neuromancer

featurette

a term often used before the 1970s to refer to a 20 to 45 minute film (longer than a short subject but shorter than a feature film), usually a "making of" or "behind the scenes" mini-documentary, or an extended trailer, which was usually displayed by theater owners to "sell" a film for exhibition in their movie house -- nowadays, featurettes are commonly run on premium cable stations, or offered as a 'bonus feature' as part of a DVD's extras; see also "Making of..."

fade

a transitional device consisting of a gradual change in the intensity of an image or sound, such as from a normally-lit scene to darkness (fade out, fade-to-black) or vice versa, from complete black to full exposure (fade in), or from silence to sound or vice versa; a 'fade in' is often at the beginning of a sequence, and a 'fade out' at the end of a sequence; a cross-fade means fading out from one scene and into another (often with a slight dissolve or interruption).

dissolve (or lap dissolve)

a transitional editing technique between two sequences, shots or scenes, in which the visible image of one shot or scene is gradually replaced, superimposed or blended (by an overlapping fade out or fade in and dissolve) with the image from another shot or scene; often used to suggest the passage of time and to transform one scene to the next; lap dissolve is shorthand for'over'lap dissolve; also known as a soft transition or dissolve to

boom

a traveling or moveable counterbalanced pole (also called fish pole or fishing rod), arm, or telescoped extension device upon which a microphone, light or camera can be suspended overhead above a scene and outside the frame during filming (by a boom operator or boom man); for example, a microphone (mic) boom, a camera boom, or a light boom; the most common film mistake is the appearance of the boom mike (or its shadow) in the frame; a mechanical boom mike is known as a 'giraffe.'

camp (or campy)

a type of comedy parody wherein conventional (and especially overused or clichéd) situations and plot devices are intentionally exaggerated to the point of absurdity to produce humor

Cinerama

a wide-screen filming process that first used three cameras and three projectors to achieve an encompassing view of the subject matter, and was projected on a curved screen of about 160 degrees; it was the first commercially-successful multiple-camera/multiple-screen process.

CGI

aka Computer-Generated Imagery (or Images), a term referring to the use of 3D computer graphics and technology (digital computers and specialized software) in film making to create filmed images, special effects and the illusion of motion; often used to cut down on the cost of hiring extras. See Visual/Special Effects.

cut (or cutting)

an abrupt or sudden change or jump in camera angle, location, placement, or time, from one shot to another; consists of a transition from one scene to another (a visual cut) or from one soundtrack to another (a sound cut); cutting refers to the selection, splicing and assembly by the film editor of the various shots or sequences for a reel of film, and the process of shortening a scene; also refers to the instructional word 'cut' said at the end of a take by the director to stop the action in front of the camera; cut to refers to the point at which one shot or scene is changed immediately to another; also refers to a complete edited version of a film (e.g., rough cut); also see director's cut; various types of cuts include invisible cut, smooth cut, jump cut (an abrupt cut from one scene or shot to the next), shock cut (the abrupt replacement of one image by another), etc.

blooper

an actual error or mistake (misplaced action, or mis-spoken dialogue by a performer), usually embarrassing or humorous, made by a performer during filming; also known as a goof, flaw or flub

film review

an evaluative oral or written judgment about the quality of a movie, based upon various assumptions, facts, biases, etc; professional film reviewers are known as critics; a film review usually includes a brief synopsis (avoiding spoilers, usually), a balanced notation of both the film's plusses and minuses, quotable wording, and some judgments; more extensive, in-depth film evaluations are called analytical essays.

critic (or film critic, film reviewer)

an individual who writes and/or publishes a review of a film from either an artistic or entertainment point of view.Film reviews often analyze and discuss a film's details, its content and characters, a critique of the performances, camera work, directing, editing, production, and script; film critics are usually more philosophical and theoretical than film reviewers or commentators; film criticism refers to the analysis of the narrative, historical and stylistic characteristics of film; 'critics' is sometimes abbreviated as crix.

commentary

an objective opinion or description of characters or events occurring in the film, presented from an omniscient point of view by a commentator; the commentator's voice comes from off-camera, and is presented on the soundtrack as a voice-over; also refers to one of the added features on various DVDs in which a cast member, director, film critic, or film historian 'comments' on the film in some way

blurb

another name for a commercial or advertisement (usually for TV)

dialogue

any spoken lines in a film by an actor/actress; may be considered overlapping if two or more characters speak simultaneously; in film-making, recording dialogue to match lip movements on previously-recorded film is called dubbing or looping

filter

glass, plastic, or gelatinous substance placed before or behind a camera lens to change the effect and character of the lighting within the film's frame

dark horse

in film terms, a little-known, unlikely movie (often a sleeper, a low-budget film, indie, or a foreign film) that is, surprisingly, nominated for a major award (i.e., Academy Award or Golden Globe)

credits

in general, this term refers to the text appearing on screen - composed of a list of technical personnel, cast, and production crew of a film; specifically, it refers to the list of names and functions of persons and corporations contributing and responsible for the artistic or intellectual content of a film, such as: "Story by...", "Screenplay by...", "Photography by...", etc.; sometimes distinguished from the cast (the performers in front of the camera); see also front (or opening) credits, end (or closing) credits, or (beginning or end) titles.

cash cow

in movie terms, a definitely guaranteed, 'can't-miss' blockbuster film that promises to generate disproportionately tremendous profits due to its lucrative franchise (sequels, merchandising, spin-offs, etc.). See Greatest Film Franchises of All-Time.

chiaroscuro

literally, the combination of the two Italian words for "clear/bright" and "dark"; refers to a notable, contrasting use of light and shade in scenes; often achieved by using a spotlight; this lighting technique had its roots in German Expressionistic cinematography; aka high-contrast lighting or Rembrandt lighting; flat lighting or TV lighting (bright and flat lighting with no shadows) is its opposite

deus ex machina

literally, the resolution of the plot by the device of a god ("deus") arriving onstage by means of a piece of equipment ("machina") and solving all the characters' problems; usually refers to an unlikely, improbable, contrived, illogical, or clumsy ending or suddenly-appearing plot device that alleviates a difficult situation or brings about a denouement - just in the nick of time; can sometimes refer to an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character

film(ic) codes (or conventions)

many elements within a film (the use of music, audio, costuming, scripting, camera angles, framing, shot duration, a character's actions, etc.) speak a 'language,' 'grammar,' or code that when used by the filmmaker help the viewer to understand more about the plot and its characters Examples: silence (long pauses) in dialogue, odd camera angles, gothic clothing, loud or harsh symphonic bursts, dark shadowing, etc. all communicate meaning (the character is evil or villainous, possibly) and are used by the filmmaker to imply a certain meaning for the film viewer.

foreground (abbreviated as f.g.)

objects or action closest to the camera; contrast to background (abbreviated as b.g.)

cameo

originally meaning "a small piece of artwork," refers to a bit part (usually a brief, non-speaking or walk-on role that is uncredited or unbilled) or special screen appearance by a famous actor, director, or prominent person who would ordinarily not take such a small part; contrast to a bit part; also refers to a type of camera shot in which the subject is filmed against a black or neutral background. See Directors' Cameos.

chemistry (or screen chemistry)

referring to performances between actors who are uncommonly suited and perfectly complementary to each other; performances that lack screen chemistry can sometimes be disastrous for a film; see also buddy film

experimental film

refers to a film, usually a low-budget or indie film not oriented toward profit-making, that challenges conventional filmmaking by using camera techniques, imagery, sound, editing, and/or acting in unusual or never-before-seen ways; sometimes aka avante-garde, art films

farce

refers to a light-hearted, gleeful, often fast-paced, crudely humorous, contrived and 'over-the-top' comedy that broadly satirizes, pokes fun, exaggerates, or gleefully presents an unlikely or improbable stock situation (e.g., a tale of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, etc.) often characterized by slapstick, pratfalls, and other physical antics; types of farces include screwball comedy, bedroom/sex farce/comedy; contrast to parody and satire.

deleted scene

refers to a scene that was edited out of a film's final cut, for several possible reasons: the scene was poorly done, the scene was unnecessary, the film's running time needed truncation, the film was avoiding an R or NC-17 rating, the film's studio disapproved of it, etc. Deleted scenes are now commonly included on DVDs, either re-edited into a director's cut or as a separate feature

continuity (or continuous)

refers to action moving through multiple locations without interruptions; it usually refers to the degree to which a film is self-consistent without errors, jump cuts, or mismatched shots and details; the final edited structure of a completed film includes events or scenes/sequences arranged as if they had occurred continuously, when, in fact, they were shot out of sequence; a system of editing was developed in the early 20th century to provide a continuous and clear movement of events/images in a film; a continuity cut refers to an editing cut that takes the viewer seamlessly, unobtrusively, and logically from one sequence or scene to another, to propel the narrative along; a blooper or flub is a continuity error

character color coding

refers to identifying a film's character or persona with a particular color; changes in color often represent transformations, shifts, merges, or changes in persona

Coogan's Law

refers to landmark legislation in the late 30s designed to protect a child actor's earnings, by depositing some of the minor's earnings in court-administered trust funds that the child receives when he/she reaches the age of majority; named after child actor Jackie Coogan

claymation

refers to the animation of models constructed of clay, putty, plasticine, or other moldable materials, often through stop-motion.

composition

refers to the arrangement of different elements (i.e., colors, shapes, figures, lines, movement, and lighting) within a frame and in a scene

focus

refers to the degree of sharpness or distinctness of an image (or an element of an image such as a person, object, etc.); as a verb, it refers to the manipulation or adjustment of the lens to create a sharper image; terms related are deep focus, shallow focus (very common in close-ups), soft focus, and rack focusing

expressionism (and expressionist)

refers to the distortion of reality through lighting, editing, and costumes, to reflect the inner feelings and emotions of the characters and/or the filmmaker; a cinematic style of fantasy film common in post-WWI Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, characterized by dramatic lighting, dark visual images and shadows, grotesque and fantastic shots, distorted sets and angles, heavy makeup, highly stylized acting, and symbolic mime-like action and characters; opposed to realism.

costume (or wardrobe) and costume design

refers to the garments or clothing worn by actors/performers in a film; a costume (or wardrobe)designer researches, designs, and selects the costumes to be appropriate to the film's time period, the characters, their location, and their occupations, whereas the costumer (or stylist) is responsible for acquiring, selecting, manufacturing, and/or handling the clothing and accessories; a costume drama is a film set in a particular historical time period, often with elaborate costuming

Disney-fication or Disney-fied

refers to the making of an adapted, sanitized, 'family-friendly' version of a book or play, by removing objectionable elements (such as crude language, sexuality, or violence) and modifying plot elements to make the tale more acceptable, entertaining, predictable and popular for mass consumption by audiences, as first exercised by the Disney studios in the 50s; now used as a derogatory term for how popular culture has been homogenized and cultural diversity has been minimized; see also bowdlerize(d)

can ("in the can")

refers to the round metal/plastic container that holds or stores film (reels) for transport or for long-term storage; a film that has been completed is known colloquially as "in the can"; canned means pre-recorded; also see reel

crew

refers to those involved in the technical production of a film who are not actual performers

film form

refers to various technical or logistical aspects which make up, compose, or produce a finished film, including Cinematography (Camera Movement), Sound and Editing, Lighting, Framing, Acting, and the Narrative itself

depth of focus

related to depth of field - refers to an adjustment made technically to insure that a camera shot retains its deep focus throughout all the various planes (fore, middle, and back)

catchphrase (film)

short phrases, expressions, or words that have become favored and/or popularized due to repeated use, often by film critics Examples: "over the top", "indie-style", "laugh riot", "frightfest", "crowd-pleaser", "Oscar-worthy", "three-hankie ending", "haunting images", "urban comedy", "beautifully realized", etc.

flash-forward (or flash-ahead)

simply put, the opposite of flashback; a filmic technique that depicts a scene, event or shot taking place (or imagined) or expected that is projected into a future time beyond the present time of the film, or it can be a flash forward from the past to the present

buzz

slang for the sense of excitement, expectancy, and hype that surrounds a film, an actor, or a director

cinematography (also cinematographer)

specifically refers to the art and technique of film photography, the capture of images, and lighting effects, or to the person expert in and responsible for capturing or recording-photographing images for a film, through the selection of visual recording devices, camera angles, film stock, lenses, framing, and arrangement of lighting; the chief cinematographer responsible for a movie is called the director of photography (or D.P.), or first cameraman; one of the earliest movie-picture machines, patented by the Lumiere brothers in 1895, was termed a Cinematographe.

dub (or dubbing)

the act of putting a new soundtrack on a film or adding a soundtrack (of dialogue, sound effects, or music) after production, to match the action and/or lip movements of already-filmed shots; commonly used when films are shot on location in noisy environments; also refers to adding translated dialogue to a foreign-language film; as opposed to direct sound - which is sound recorded when filming a scene; contrast to looping.

exposition

the conveyance (usually by dialogue or action) of important background information for the events of a story; or the set up of a film's story, including what's at stake for the characters, the initial problem, and other main problems.

director (and directing)

the creative artist responsible for complete artistic control of all phases of a film's production (such as making day-to-day determinations about sound, lighting, action, casting, even editing), for translating/interpreting a script into a film, for guiding the performances of the actors in a particular role and/or scene, and for supervising the cinematography and film crew. The director is usually the single person most responsible for the finished product, although he/she couldn't make a film without support from many other artists and technicians; often the director is called a helmer (at-the-helm); the assistant director is known as the a.d. ; the director of photography (or cinematographer), responsible for the mechanics of camera placement, movements, and lighting, is known as the d.p.

depth of field

the depth of composition of a shot, i.e., where there are several planes (vertical spaces in a frame): (1) a foreground, (2) a middle-ground, and (3) a background; depth of field specifically refers to the area, range of distance, or field (between the closest and farthest planes) in which the elements captured in a camera image appear in sharp or acceptable focus; as a rule of thumb, the area 1/3 in front of and 2/3 behind the subject is the actual distance in focus; depth of field is directly connected, but not to be confused with focus

conventions

the expected elements in a type of film, without question, thought, or judgment

character

the fictitious or real individual in a story, performed by an actor; also called players.

dailies

the immediately processed, rough cuts, exposed film, or first prints of a film (w/o special effects or edits) for the director (producer, cinematographer, or editor) to review, to see how the film came out after the day's (or previous day's) shooting; more commonly in the form of videotape or digital dailies nowadays; aka rushes (referring to the haste taken to make them available); used to determine if continuity is correct, if props are missing or out of place, or if sound is poor, etc., to help decide whether to re-shoot

cheater cut

the introductory footage put into the beginning of a serial episode to show what happened at the end of the previous episode

composer

the musician who creates (writes or adapts) the film's musical score; contrast to a conductor (who directs the orchestra's performance of the score), or a lyricist (who writes a song's words)

editing (editor)

the 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) - that follows the script; digital editing refers to changing film frames by digitizing them and modifying them electronically; relational editing refers to editing shots to suggest a conceptual link between them; an editor works in a cutting room; the choice of shots has a tremendous influence upon the film's final appearance.

censorship

the process of determining what can or can not be viewed by the public or depicted by the motion picture industry; also refers to changes required of a movie by some person or body (other than the studios or film makers, such as a national or regional film classification board); see also rating systems and banned. See Sex in Cinema and Most Controversial Films of All-Time.

change-over cue

the small dot, oval or mark on the top-right corner of a film frame that signaled to the projectionist to change over from one projector (or film reel) to another (about every 15-20 minutes); nowadays, most film theatres have only one projector - the reels are spliced together into one giant roll and fed into a single projector from a horizontal revolving turntable called a platter

direct sound

the technique of recording sound simultaneously with the recording of the image

CinemaScope

the term commonly refers to widescreen processes or anamorphic techniques, that use different magnifications in the horizontal and the vertical to fill the screen; it is also the specific trademark name for 20th Century Fox's commercially-successful widescreen process which uses an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (originally it could be as wide as 2:66:1 - to compete with Cinerama and 3-D processes in the 1950s.

"feel good" film (or movie)

usually a light-hearted, upbeat comedy or romance that ends with an audience-pleasing conclusion; sometimes used derogatively; compare to tearjerker

cult film(s)

usually a non-mainstream film that attracts a small, but loyally-obsessed group of fans, and remains popular and worshipped over many years; cult films have limited but special appeal, and often have unusual or subversive elements or subject matter; they are often replayed for repeat viewings and audience participation (and group identification) as midnight movies; not to be confused with B-films (not all cult films are B-films)