motion pictures

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Nouns

1. motion or moving pictures, cinema, the silver screen; silent film, talking picture, picture show; rating, Motion Picture Rating Association, G, PG, PG-13, R, Ne-TV, X; production company, majors, motion picture studio, independent producer; coproduction, distribution, release; double bill, double feature, [sneak] preview, trailer. Informal, movies, talkie. Slang, flick, indie. See photography, drama.

2. A, B, or e picture, genre film, star vehicle; feature film, melodrama, romantic, slapstick, or screwball comedy; musical, newsreel, documentary, short subject, travelogue, coming attractions; cartoon, [computers-animated film; action adventure, cinema verité, film noir; detective or gangster film, law-and-order film, thriller, shocker, slasher film; disaster film; science fiction, space opera; avant-garde or experimental film, art film, new wave, nouvelle vague; exploitation film; horror film; costume film, period piece; western, cowboy film, horse opera; blue, pornographic, or X-rated film; promotional or industrial film; remake, sequel, prequel. Informal, chiller, sci-fi, tearjerker. Slang, whodunit, sexploitation, blaxploitation, oater, spaghetti western, shoot-'em-up, crash-and-burn film, skin flick, splatter movie, porn, stag movie, snuff film.

3. cinematography; academy leader; acetate base; frame, footage; Cinerama, Cinemascope, ToddAO, Technicolor, wide-screen or rear[-screen] projection, stereoscope, Foley, rotoscope; camera, camera track, anamorphic lens, parallax, dolly, crane; kinetoscope, Movieola; film, celluloid, safety film; back projection; optical effect, close up, wipe, blackout, dissolve, iris-in or -out, fade-in or -out; bridging shot, long shot, insert, pan, moving shot, tracking or dolly shot, montage, cut-in, pixilation, jump cut, smash cut, establishing or master shot, glass shot, head shot, process shot, split screen, squeezed print, hold, exterior or interior shot, library or stock shot, stop-action photography, favoring shot, freeze frame, stop motion, time-lapse photography; [film] clip, dailies, rushes, composite or married print, workprint, rough cut, final cut, locked cut, looping, continuity, crosscutting, cross-fade, flashback, flash forward, cut[away]; animation, cel; retake, reshoot; location, backlot, set, sound stage, scenery, backdrop, background, cyclorama, gobo, ground, key light, klieg light, skypan; special effects, over- or undercranking, slow motion; clap[per]board; edit, splice; dubbing, voice-over; pre- or postproduction; background music, film score. Slang, FX, inki dink, slomo, sticks.

4. screenplay, [shooting] script; storyboard, treatment; adaptation, rewrite; property; back- or front-end deal, development, option; pitch meeting; colorization.

5.

a. filmmaker, head of production, line producer; cineaste, [assistant] director, auteur, [executive or associate] producer; screenwriter, script doctor, script girl, script reader, script supervisor; casting director, lighting director, editor, sound editor; crew, first, second, etc. unit, cinematographer, cameraman, flying rig, focus puller, gaffer, greensman, grip, wrangler; animator, in-between; dresser. Slang, best boy, gaffer's assistant, hammer.

b. cast; actor, actress, extra, method actor; [male or female] lead, principal, leading lady or man, stand-in, body double, stunt man or woman; [silent] bit, cameo, heavy, ingénue, love interest; screen test, typecasting; agent, talent scout; breakdowns; billing, credits; call. Informal, talent. Slang,

buzz, heat.

6. movie house or theater, picture palace, Cineplex, multiplex, nickelodeon; cinematheque, revival house; projection booth; drive-in [theater].

7. Academy Awards, Oscars, Golden Globes.

Verbs — intercut, synchronize, cheat [to camera], score, screen.

Adjectives — cinematic; in production, in the can; offscreen, rolling, widescreen, featured.

Adverbs — on location.

Quotations — A trip through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat (Wilson Mizner), Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union (Samuel Goldwyn), The words "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"... are perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies (Pauline Kael).