|
Glossary Illustrated B - 2 |
(alphabetical and illustrated) Introduction | A - 1 | A - 2 | B - 1 | B - 2 | C - 1 | C - 2 | C - 3 | D | E | F G - H | I - J - K | L - M | N - O | P | Q - R | S - 1 | S - 2 | T | U - V - W - X - Y - Z |
|
|
|
|
| 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 million (the new benchmark by the early 2000s, after the original mark was $100 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 |
|
|
or blue-screen shot |
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 |  Example: a bluescreen for Jurassic Park III (2001), or greenscreen for Charlie's Angels (2000) 
|
| another name for a commercial or advertisement (usually for TV) | ||
(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 |  Example:
Marli Renfro, a hired double for Janet Leigh for test scenes in the
shower scene in Psycho (1960). |
| 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. |  Example:
Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding (2001), a modern Indian film set
in current-day New Delhi, echoes the Bollywood spirit with typical
traits including music and dance, romance, and comedy. Also the Best
Picture winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008). |
|
| 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.' |  Example: A microphone boom stand from the late 40s |
|
| 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. |  Example: a bootlegged DVD version of Star Wars (1977), mastered using an Asian release of the special edition laserdisc. |
|
| 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 |  Examples
of bridging shots include: falling calendar pages, newspaper headlines,
railroad wheels, seasonal changes, and maps, such as the transitional
travel maps (reminiscent of serials) in Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981) |
|
| 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) | ||
Examples: