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Terms for subject Cinematography (689 entries)

colorization	A film alteration process where an operator digitally alters a black and white image to include color. It is a controversial practice because many filmmakers and viewers believe it fundamentally alters an artistic creation. Early attempts at colorization in the 1980's were relatively crude in their shading range. Examples of this kind of alteration are versions of Casablanca and It's a Wonderful Life. Citizen Kane is notable in that Orson Welles was able to legally prevent its alteration.
pornographic film	A film in which sex is graphically depicted to a large degree. See also XXX.
silent film	A film that has no synchronized soundtrack and no spoken dialogue. It was a form predominate in film until the late 1920's when practical synchronized soundtrack technology was developed and its use became popular. See also intertitles.
martial-arts	A film which features hand to hand combat, usually using various Asian combat systems like Karate and the Chinese fighting styles popularly known in the west as Kung Fu. "Chop-socky" is a slang and scornful term for martial-arts movies.
epic	A film with large dramatic scope or that required an immense production.
biographic picture	A filmed story of a person's life story.
auteur	A filmmaker, generally a director, who creates a body of work with a unified sensibility that reveals, through the interplay of themes and styles, a personal worldview. The term originated with François Truffaut, whose 1954 essay "Une certaine tendence du cinéma français" put forth the idea that the most interesting films were those that functioned as a medium of personal expression--and therefore bore the distinctive imprint of their "author." American critic Andrew Sarris later translated and expanded this idea into an "auteur theory," which proposed an evaluation of films based on their context within the filmmaker's oeuvre, rather than for their technical proficiency or greater historical significance. The term "auteur" later came to refer to any filmmaker who performed or was intimately involved in all aspects of the moviemaking process (writing, directing, producing, editing, etc.)
Dogme 95	A filmmaking movement launched in 1995 by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, among others. The Dogme 95 Manifesto renounces special effects and other forms of "gimmickry" in favor of stripped-down techniques. In order to qualify for Dogme status, filmmakers must abide by the following ten rules (known as the "Vow of Chastity") Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found) The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot) The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place) The film must be in color. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera) Optical work and filters are forbidden. 6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.) 7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.) Genre movies are not acceptable. 9. The film format must be Academy 35mm. 10. The director must not be credited.
time lapse photography	A form of animation in which numerous single frames are filmed spaced at a given interval to show a process that would take a very long time to occur. i.e. a flower blooming, or the motion of the stars.
stop motion	A form of animation in which objects are filmed frame-by-frame and altered slightly in between each frame. See also go motion.
go motion	A form of animation similar to stop motion, but which incorporates motion blur. Ordinary stop motion cannot produce motion blur as motion only occurs between frames. Robotic models that are moved during the exposure of each frame produce motion blur, and thus are more realistic. Pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic for Dragonslayer.
cel animation	A form of animation where hand drawn pictures are transposed on to plastic sheets, each with a different element such as characters and background, and layered on top of each other to create a complete scene. The composition is then photographed and incorporated in the finished film. It was the predominate of form of animation until the rise of computer generated animation in the mid 1990's.
screen test	A form of audition in which an actor performs a particular role on camera, not necessarily with the correct makeup or on the set.
camp	A form of comedic parody where the clichéd conventions of a dramatic form like adventure are deliberately exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. Often unfairly used to describe superhero films and shows as Batman is a prime example of this form of comedy.
key	A general adjective denoting importance.
production company	A general term for a company that is associated with the making of a movie.
script	A general term for a written work detailing story, setting, and dialogue. A script may take the form of a screenplay, shooting script, lined script, continuity script, or a spec script. A script is often sold for a particular price, which is increased to a second price if the script is produced as a movie. For example, a sale may be described as "$100,000 against $250,000". In this case, the writer is paid $100,000 up front, and another $150,000 when the movie is produced. See also advance.
writer	A general term for someone who creates a written work, be it a novel, script, screenplay, or teleplay. See also Writers Guild of America.
talent	A general, informal term for actors (and possibly extras)
billing	A great deal of importance is placed on the relative sizes, positions, and order of names and the movie's title in printed publicity material as well as the opening credits. Generally, higher positions designate higher importance. Additionally, there is significant given to names which appear before or above the actual title of the movie. The person whose name is shown first in the credits or whose name is at the top of an advertisement is said to have received "top billing". If more than one name appears at the same time or at the same height, they are said to have "equal billing", with the importance of the people concerned decreasing from left to right. In some movies with a large number of stars, the publicity department must go to great lengths to satisfy the demands of various parties. "Diagonal billing" is where a different name appears first, depending on whether the material is read from top to bottom, or from left to right. In some extreme cases, multiple stars in the same movie have each demanded top billing, in which case an equal number of differently-billed advertisement have been created.