Film and Media Vocabulary: A Comprehensive Glossary

LESSICO 6

Film and Media Terminology

• Accountability: Responsible for your decisions or actions and expected to explain them when asked.
• Set the agenda: A list of items to be discussed at a meeting.
• Archival footage: Material from the past that can be used in other films.
• Audio engineer: A person whose job is to alter and balance the levels of different sounds as they are recorded.
• Axe: To get rid of a service.
• Back: Give help or support.
• Ban: Decide or say that something is not allowed.
• Bid: Offer a service for a price, in competition with others.
• Boom: Increase in economic activity.
• Expose corruption: Reveal illegal or dishonest behavior.
• Cover-up: Action taken to hide a mistake from the public.
• Lack of credibility: Absence of the quality that makes people believe someone or something.
• Crowdfunding: Practice of funding a project by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people.
• Curb: Control or limit something bad.
• Delve into: Search thoroughly for something inside a bag or container.
• Docu-ganda: Film that uses documentary style to spread propaganda or biased information.
• Fly-on-the-wall style: Filming someone without them noticing, as if a fly on the wall is observing.
• Go viral: Spreads rapidly through a population, typically online.
• Make headlines: Be featured as the most important items of news, usually at the beginning of a news program or on the front page of a newspaper.
• In one's element: Doing what one is good at and enjoys.
• In step with: Having ideas that are the same as other people's.
• In the limelight: At the center of public attention.
• In the offing: Likely to appear or happen soon.
• Out of character: Not typical of someone's usual behavior.
• Out of favor: Experiencing disapproval or lack of support.
• Out on a limb: Not supported by other people; taking a risky stance.
• Out of one's depth: In a situation that one cannot control or handle.
• Riddle: A question that is difficult to answer, often posed as a game.
• Rigged: To influence something in a dishonest way to get the desired result.
• Spread a rumor: Share information that people talk about but may not be true.
• Fall for a scam: Be tricked by a dishonest plan for making money.
• Musical score: Music written specifically for a film.
• Scramble up: Move quickly with difficulty, using your hands to help you.
• Screenplay: The written text of a movie, including dialogue and stage directions.
• Scriptwriter: A person who writes screenplays for movies or television.
• Scrutinize: Examine something carefully for details.
• Shot on location: Filmed in an actual setting rather than on a soundstage.
• Trace sources: Identify and verify the origin of information.
• Staged scenes: Events or actions specifically arranged for dramatic or cinematic effect.
• Storyboard artist: A professional who creates storyboards, which are visual representations of a film's shots.
• Storyline: The basic plot or narrative of a film.
• Sweep: Remove something quickly and forcefully.
• Vow: A formal and serious promise.
• Voice-over: Information or narration in a film provided by a person who is not visible on screen.

Qualifying Adverbs:

• Worringly
• Frankly
• Theoretically
• As a matter of fact
• Presumably
• Obviously
• Admittedly