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Vocabulary

                                               FILM= MOVIE= PIC= FLICK

Types of films: 

  • Action films: a film with fights, car chases, etc.

  • Adventure film: a film with travelling, adventures,…

  • Animated film: The characters are computer-animated.

  • Biography/biopic: a film based on the events of someone’s life.

  • Blue movie: A film that shows a lot of sexual activity.

  • Cartoon: A short humorous film in which the characters are drawn.

  • Comedy: A film that tries to make the audience laugh.

  • Costume drama:play or film about a particular historical period in which the actors wear clothes typical of that period.

  • Detective film: a film with police, detectives,…

  • Documentary: A film that gives facts and information about a subject.

  • Drama/ melodrama: A film that tells a true story, often shown on TV.

  • Fantasy film: a film with unreal characters, settings,…

  • Historical: a film based on historical events.

  • Horror/Scary movie/Chiller: It frightens the audience.

  • Musical: a film with songs and dance.

  • Romance/love story/soap opera (culebrón): a film about a romantic relationship.

  • Rom com= Romantic comedy: A film that combines comedy with a love story.

  • Series: several programmes which are part of the same story involving the same characters or events (a crime series, a comedy series).

  • Sci-fi (science fiction): A film that is set in the future and there are some imaginary scientific developments.

  • Silent film:film in which voices and other sounds are not heardespecially a very old film.

  • Thriller (de suspense): A very exciting story that often involves a crime.

  • War: a film based on war.

  • Western: a film about the western United States in the 1800s, usually with cowboys.

 

Other films: 

  •  

  • Blockbuster: A very popular and successful film or play.

  • B-movie: A film that is made cheaply and is of low quality.

  • Chick Flick: a romantic film that attacks women.

  • Feature film: (largometraje): A full-length film that has a story and is acted by professional actors, and which is usually shown in a cinema.

  • Flop: a film that is a failure at the box-office.

  • Home movie:  an informal film that someone makes themselves, often about their own life and family.

  • Miniseries:film made to be shown on television in several parts on different days.

  • Newsreel  (noticiario) is a news report on a film that was shown in cinemas in the past.

  • Premiere: the first public performance of a play or movie.

  • Remake: – the second version of a film's narrative.

  • Sequel: a part added to a book or film that continues and extends it,

  • Short film. Cortometraje.

  • Spoiler: information about the plot of a book, movie, or television show that spoils the surprise or suspense for a reader or viewer.

  • Tearjerker: a book, film, play, etc. that has a sad story intended to make people cry or be sad

  • Trailer: a series of short extracts from a film, used to advertise it in a cinema or on television.

  • Trilogy: a group of three films that together compose a larger narrative and are related in theme.

 

Film elements:  

  • Award (countable noun) is a prize given out for some form of merit or achievement. The word award can also be used as a verb, when awarding prizes for being good at things. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) gives out awards called Oscars every year for excellence in film and cinema.

  • Budget (presupuesto): The money spent.

  • Cameo: Short appearance in a film or play by a well-known actor.

  • Camera shots: high angle shot/ full or long shot/ medium shot/ extreme wide shot/low angle shot/ wide shot/close up.

  • Clapboard (claqueta): a small black or whiteboard that displays identifying information for each shot in a movie, and is filmed at the beginning of a take.

  • Costumes: the clothes worn by actors.

  • Credits (opening/closing credits): The list at the start of the film that tells you the name of the film, the actors, and the director; the words on the screen at the end that tell you who played who, and who was the cameraman, set designer, etc.

  • FX=Special effects: an unusual image or sound in a filmcreated artificially using various technical methods.

  • Plot (trama)   the story of a bookfilmplay, etc.

  • Prop – an object used by the actors performing in a film

  • Reel: carrete o bovina de cine.

  • Review (crítica):   A critical article or report about a film.

  • Rush: The first, unedited print of a movie scene.

  • Screenplay/script (guion cinema/theater): – a script or text for a film production written with all the dialogues and the essential actions.

  • Screen test: Short scene filmed to find out if the actor is good in a particular part

  • Subtitles: Translation of the dialogue of a foreign-language film shown at the bottom of the screen.

  • Set/Setting:  the site where the action takes place in a film.

  • Soundtrack: The recorded music from a film.

  • Synopsis: a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument.

At the  cinema:  

People:  

  • Actor/Actress: a performer in theater, television, or film.

  • Cameraman/woman: Someone who operates a camera for films or television.

  • Cast (elenco): a collective term for all of the actors/performers appearing in a particular film

  • Character (alien, wizard, monster, cowboy, ) is the fictitious or real individual in a story, performed by an actor.

  • Director: the person who directs the making of a film and gives instructions to the actors, cameraman, and other people working on a film or play.

  • Double = Stuntman: a person replacing the actor in dangerous situations.

  • Extra: An actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd.

  • Film producer: Someone whose job is to control the preparation of a play, film, or broadcast in general, but who does not direct the actor.

  • Usher (acomodador): Someone who shows people to their seats at a theatre, cinema, wedding etc.

 

Adjectives:

Absorbing – very interesting, keeps your attention for a long time

Action-packed – with a lot of thrilling incidents

Amazing

Boring

Captivating – very exciting

Controversial – causing a lot of discussions or disagreement

Convoluted – overcomplicated

Disgusting

Dreary – dull and uninteresting

Dubbed: having the sounds/speech on a film changed to a different language

Educational

Enjoyable

Exciting

Frightening

Gripping – very interesting

Hilarious – very funny

Interesting

Intriguing– very interesting in a way that arouses your curiosity

Moving – causing strong emotions (usually in a good way)

Outstanding: extremely good

Overrated – overvalued

Predictable – pretty obvious what is going to happen in each scene

Realistic

Riveting – keeps you glued to the screenSilly

Second-rate – mediocre, unexciting, nothing to write home about

Slow-moving – developing very slowly

Special

Spine-tingling – enjoyably frighteningUnusual

Spooky – frightening and ghostly

Thought-provoking – stimulating you to think about something, often something you haven’t thought of before

Thrilling – exciting, action-packed

Underrated – much better than what people believe

Uplifting – making you feel happy and cheerful

Weepy (a film that makes you cry)

 

Verbs:

  • book the seats/tickets = to reserve the tickets in advance

  • bring out – to release a film, music album, or book

  • buy some popcorn

  • buy tickets

  • catch a movie

  • get a drink

  • give thumbs up= give positive reviews

  • go to a movie theater

  • pan something= to severely criticize something

  • read a movie review

  • reveal

  • see a movie

  • sit in an aisle seat

  • supporting

  • take a seat (at the front/ in the middle/at the back) = to find your row and number and sit down

  • wait in line

  • watch a movie trailerthe credits/ the previews

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