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Terms for subject Cinematography (724 entries)

Macguffin	A term used by Alfred Hitchcock to refer to an item, event, or piece of knowledge that the characters in a film consider extremely important, but which the audience either doesn't know of or doesn't care about. Examples: the engine plans in The 39 Steps, the statue with the microfilms in North by Northwest, and the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
magic hour	The minutes just around sunset and sunrise, where light levels change drastically and quickly, lending a warm orange glow to earlier shots, and a clearer blue in later minutes that allows a crew to shoot night scenes while light still remains.
magnetic soundtrack	A composite print in which the soundtrack is recorded on the attached strip of magnetic tape. Largely obsolete due to high cost and maintenance difficulties.
maintenance engineer	A person responsible for general maintenance and repair.
majors	The major Hollywood movie producer/distributor studios (MGM/UA, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Universal, and Disney)
makeup	The decorations placed directly on the skin or hair of an actor for cosmetic or artistic effect. Practitioners are called artists or supervisors. See also body makeup, special makeup effects, prosthetic appliances.
Making Love Tape	MLT
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.
martini shot	The last shot of the day's shoot... because the next "shot" is in a Martini glass. See also Abby Singer.
matte artist	A person who creates artwork (usually for the background of a shot) which is included in the movie either via a matte shot or optical printing.
matte shot	A photographic technique whereby artwork - usually on glass - from a matte artist is combined with live action. Contrast this with back projection or a travelling matte.
Mature	M
Mature Adult Group Involvement	MAGI
Mature Fan Club	MFC
Mature Readers	MR
medium shot	A camera shot from a medium distance, usually showing the characters from the waist up, that allows the audience to see body language, but not as much facial expression.
method acting	A style of acting formalized by Konstantin Stanislavsky which is believed by some to create more realistic performances. Essentially, the theory requires actors to draw experiences from their own personal lives that correlate to the character they are playing - an extremely demanding process emotionally. In some cases, "method" actors take the theory even further by arranging events in their private lives to resemble the lives of their characters. See the trivia entries for Down and Out in Beverly Hills and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for examples, and the trivia entry for Marathon Man for an amusing anecdote.
microphone	A device which converts sound into electrical impulses, usually for recording or amplification.
Mildly Overrated	MO
mini-majors	Studios which are large but not as large as the majors: Embassy, Gramercy, etc.