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Terms for subject Cinematography (689 entries)

camera	A device for recording images.
camera crew	The group of crewmembers directly involved with operation of the camera. Individual job titles include: clapper-loader, camera operator, assistant cameraman, director of photography, focus puller, grip, key grip, dolly grip, additional camera.
camera loader	The person who operates the clapboard at the beginning of a shot, also responsible for loading film stock into film magazines. The action of slapping the clapper was invented as a way of synchronizing the visual and audio components of a shot. Recent innovations in audio-visual synchronization have made this unnecessary, but it still occurs extensively. See also assistant cameraman.
camera operator	The person who operates the camera to the specifications dictated by the director of photography. A director or a director of photography sometimes assumes this role. (Luc Besson always operates the camera on films he directs.) See also Society of Operating Cameramen, Steadicam operator.
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.
Canadian Society of Cinematographers	Use of the abbreviation after a name indicates that the person is a member of the CSC.
cast	A collective term for the actors appearing in a particular movie.
casting	The process of hiring actors to play the characters in a script, typically done by a casting director, but with some input from a director, producer, or studio. See also CSA.
casting couch	During the so-called "Golden Age" of Hollwood, it was not uncommon for would-be-stars to grant sexual favours to directors and/or producers in return for a role in films. These favours were usually rumoured to be on a couch in the filmmaker's office. The phrase "Casting Couch" has been popularized, and although the practise has diminished, the term remains in use.
casting director	The person who auditions and helps to select all of the speaking role actors in film, television shows or plays. The CD must possess a vast knowledge of the actor pool and be able to match a variety of actors with just the right role. Directors and producers rely on the Casting Director to assist them with assembling the perfect cast for their production. Casting Directors are also responsible for serving as the liason between the director, and the actors and their agents. CDs negotiate the deals with agents once the actors have been cast and are also responsible for the contracts and SAG of each actor.
Casting Society of America	The Casting Society of America is a professional organization of Casting Directors working in theatre, film, and television. The C.S.A. is not a union or a guild, therefore every Casting Director working in these mediums is not necessarily a member of this organization.
caterer	A person or company who provides the main meals for cast and crew either on set or on location. See also craft service.
Cel	A hand drawn sheet representing a single animation frame, usualy made of a clear material like cellulose or mylar to allow several layers of composition.
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.
censorship	Changes required of a movie by some person or body other than the studio or the filmmakers, usually a national or regional film classification board. See also certificate.
Centre International du Film pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse	A 40-year-old international non-governmental organization whose goal is to promote quality films, television programmes and videos for children and young people around the world.
certificates	Various countries or regions have film classification boards for reviewing movies and rating their content in terms of its suitability for particular audiences. For many countries, movies are required to be advertised as having a particular "certificate" or "rating", forewarning audiences of possible "objectionable content". The nature of this "objectionable content" is determined mainly by contemporary national, social, religious, and political standards. The usual criteria which determine a film's certificate are violence and sexuality, with "mature" (adult) situations and especially blasphemy and political issues often being considered more important outside the Western world. This is by no means a hard and fast rule; see the Hays Production Code for an example. In some cases, a film classification board exhibits censorship by demanding changes be made to a movie in order to receive a certain rating. As many movies are targetted at a particular age group, studios must balance the content of their films against the demands of the classification board. Negotiations are common; studios agree to make certain changes to films in order to receive the required rating. The IMDb uses the term "Certificate" as opposed to "Rating" to avoid confusion with "ratings" meaning the opinions of critics. See also: Banned, NC-17, PG, G, XXX.
CGI	The use of computer graphics to create or enhance special effects.
change pages	When a script is being edited during production, changes are distributed to actors and the filmmakers on "change pages", which are usually a different color to the pages of the script.
change-over marks	Most completed movies consist of more than one reel, and thus for an uninterrupted screening, at least two projectors must be used. Towards the end of a reel, one or more frames may include a small circle in one of the corners. These are signals to the projectionist that the current reel is approaching the end, and he or she should be ready to start the next projector, which should have the next reel prepared for projection. Also, many theaters have switched to a platter system which allows the entire film to be spliced together and put on a large platter. The film is fed through the center of the reel (unwinding from the inside out) then into the projector, and then back onto another platter. This process allows the film to be show back-to-back without having to rewind it.