Film Terms Glossary - Illustrated

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a combination of the terms "black" and "exploitation"; refers mainly to sensational, low-budget films in the 1970's featuring mostly African-American casts (and directors), that broke the mold of black characterization in feature films; usually emphasized fads of the time in hairstyles, music and costuming, and also brutality, sleazy sex, street-life, racist and militant attitudes, etc. Examples: Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song (1971), Superfly (1972), and Ralph Bakshi's animated Coonskin (1975); a documentary titled Baadasssss Cinema (2003) from the Independent Film Channel by filmmaker Isaac Julien examined the early 70s and the phenomenon of blaxploitation films

used to refer to Britain

the sound-deadening housing a noisy movie camera is put in to prevent the recording of extra sounds by the camera's motor or sound equipment

originally referred to a large bomb that would destroy an entire city block during World War II; now in common usage, an impactful movie that is a huge financial success - usually with box-office of more than 200ドル million (the new benchmark by the early 2000s, after the original mark was 100ドル million) upon release in North America; ticket lines for blockbusters literally go around the 'block'; also known as box-office hit; the term may also refer to a costly film that must be exceptionally popular in order to recoup its expenses and make a profit; the opposite of a blockbuster is a bomb, flop, or turkey. See All-Time Box-Office Bombs/Flops. Examples: The term was first applied to Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), often acknowledged as the first blockbuster; James Cameron's Titanic (1997) was also a massive blockbuster hit. See All-Time Top 100 Box-Office Hits.

the process of figuring out where the camera goes, how the lights will be arranged, and what the actors' positions and movements - moment by moment - are for each shot or take; often, the specific staging of a film's movements are worked out by the director, often with stand-ins and the lighting crew before actual shooting

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; see also continuity Examples: in Jurassic Park (1993) , the name of a common dinosaur (Stegosaurus) was spelled incorrectly; in the cafeteria scene at Mt. Rushmore in North by Northwest (1959), a boy extra in the cafeteria of Mt. Rushmore plugs his ears before a gun goes off; or in The Invisible Man (1933) when Claude Rains strips to avoid police, he leaves visible shoe prints in the snow; probably the most frequent flub in films is the appearance of the boom mike

an optical process - the enlargement of a photographic image or film frame; often used to create 70mm release prints from original 35mm films

a special-effects process whereby actors work in front of an evenly-lit, monochromatic (usually blue or green) background, screen, or backdrop. The background is then replaced (or matted) in post-production by chroma-keying or optical printer, allowing other footage or computer-generated images (CGI) to form the background image; since 1992, most films use a green-screen

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

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

refers to the burgeoning film industry of India, the world's biggest film industry, centered in Bombay (now Mumbai); the etymology of the word: from Bo(mbay) + (Ho)llywood; unlike Hollywood, however, Bollywood is a non-existent place.

a term denoting scenes at the beginning and end of a film that complement each other and help tie a film together; aka framing device Example: the view of Xanadu's gate in Citizen Kane (1941)

a traveling or moveable counter-balanced pole (also called fishpole 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 (mike) 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.'

a continuous single shot made from a moving boom, assembled like a montage, and incorporating any number of camera levels and angles. Example: Hitchcock used this filming technique for almost all of Rope (1948).

an illegally copied, unauthorized, and/or distributed version of a copyrighted film/video/DVD, often of second-rate quality; also termed pirated.

refers to a device to reflect light during filming; the board is usually a large white surface made of foam or poster board

refers to purging anything considered disturbing, vulgar, or adult in content in order to make it sanitized for mass market consumption and appropriate for children; originally a literary term derived from the name of Englishman Thomas Bowdler who published a 'censored' Family Shakespeare version in the early 1800s. Examples: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1956) removed the stage play's references to homosexuality; Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was a 'bowdlerized,' prudish and sterilized version of the original Grimm fairy tale, with darker and more adult content

the measure of the total amount of money or box-office receipts paid by movie-goers to view a movie; also referred to as B. O. or gross; usually divided into domestic grosses (unadjusted and adjusted for inflation), and worldwide grosses; films with great box-office results or a strong and outstanding performance are often termed 'boff', 'boffo', 'boffola', 'whammo', 'hotsy', or 'socko'.

the act of shooting a scene several times with different F-stops to try and get a certain desired effect

a transitional type of shot used to cover or 'bridge' a jump in time or place or other discontinuity; see also audio bridge and match-cut

a subgenre of film (comedies, westerns, dramas, action films, road films, etc.) in which two mismatched persons (usually males) are forced to work together, often a pair of police cops; situations are often contrived to present the pair with challenges or strains that both strengthen their bond and weaken it; buddy films are often action/comedy films with witty dialogue between the two characters and sometimes the inclusion of a love triangle; has been extended to include female buddies; compare to fish-out-of-water tale Examples: The Defiant Ones (1958), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Midnight Cowboy (1969), 48 HRs (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987) , Midnight Run (1988) (pictured), Thelma & Louise (1991), Unforgiven (1992), Wayne's World (1992), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Leon (or The Professional) (1994), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Men in Black (1997)

using dramatic devices such as increased tempo, volume, and emphasis to bring a scene to a climax

usually refers to the pre-film segment of pre-made film that contains studio trademark and logo or title identification; also refers to a period of positive financial growth (i.e., it was a 'bumper year' for films) Examples: MGM's lion, Universal's spinning globe, DreamWorks' cloudy scene with boy fishing, etc.

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

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)