Film Lingo

• a low-budget production, originally screened to support a more important film in a double feature.

• “B” movie

• a martial arts film

• chop socky

• a French word that literally means “true cinema”; a method or style of documentary movie-making with long takes, no narration, and impromptu interview techniques, a hand-held camera, and little or no editing of the finished product

• cinema verite

• a film characterized by scenes of great tension, danger, adventure, suspense, or high drama, often climaxing at the end of a film, where the fate of the protagonist is left unresolved, increasing interest for a sequel

• cliffhanger

• a French phrase literally meaning “black film”; a genre of mostly black-and-white films with a somber, downbeat tone. The plot often takes place in the crime underworld with private detectives and femmes fatale. Low-key lighting features night scenes. Camera angles are often canted or high.

• film noir

• a blockbuster production with a predictable, overused scheme or plot

• formula

• a western film

• horse opera

• Small, low-budget companies producing and distributing films made outside of the major Hollywood studio system, often with groundbreaking subject matter. Commercial success is not often the goal.

• independent or “indie” film

• a movie that is released with little publicity, often directed by and starring relatively unknown people, that by positive word-of-mouth eventually becomes popular or financially successful beyond expectations

• sleeper

• a graphic horror film which depicts physical violence and bloody gore

• slasher or splatter film

• a science fiction film

• space opera

• a gladiator, Biblical, or Greco-Roman mythology film

• sword and sandal

• a film that flops at the box office

• turkey

• a term of contempt for movie stars who lose popularity, typically making their subsequent films financial disasters

• box-office poison

• a brief walk-through role created specifically to feature a surprising, high-profile personality

• cameo role

• a popular actor appearing in a role unlike his traditional ones, producing either a refreshing or disastrous result

• cast against type

• a term that implies the trade of sexual favors to a director or producer to obtain a film role

• casting couch

• self-indulgent hamming or overacting by a famous star

• chew up the scenery

• an Irish term which denotes hype publicity regardless of the film’s actual merit

• ballyhoo

• a small black and 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

• clapboard or slate

• titles at the beginning or end of a film that list the creative talents concerned with production

• credits

• an error that remains in the theatrical release of the film, not be confused with removed “outtakes,” which often appear on “bloopers” features

• gaffe

• the “go ahead” for a film to be made

• greenlight

• Alfred Hitchcock’s term for an item, object, goal, event, or piece of knowledge that drives the logic or action of the plot

• MacGuffin

• an Italian term for pushy photographers who stalk celebrities in their private lives

• paparazzi