leitmotif: Intentionally repeated theme suggested with a person, idea, or action. Example: John Williams' eerie score for the shark every time it attacks in "Jaws" (1975).  

 

letterboxed: Technique of shrinking the image just enough so it entire width appears on a TV screen, with black areas above and below the picture.

 

lighting: The light of a scene.

 

lines: Spoken dialogue belonging to a single performer.

 

lip sync: Synchronizing between mouth movement and words on a film's soundtrack.

 

location: Properties of places used for filming away from the studio or set.

 

locked down shot: A camera that is immobile while the action happes off screen.

 

logline: A short, intro summary of a film usually on the first page of a screenplay.

 

long shot: Camera view of an object or character from a considerable distance so that it appears small in the frame.

 

long take: A shot of lengthy duration.

 

looping: Process by which dialogue is previously re-recorded by an actor and is matched to lip movements on the screen.

 

low angle shot: A shot in which the subject is filmed directly from below and the camera tilts up at the action or character.

 

madcap comedy: A fast paced wild comedy with plenty of slapstick, goofy humor. Example: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963).

 

magic hour: The prime time for filming of magical or romantic scenes due to warm and soft lighting condition, characteristic of a golden-orange hue that occurs about 30 minutes around sunset and sunrise.

 

male gaze: Term coming from feminist film theory, which states that men are able to exercise control over women by representing them through the camera len as passive sexual objects of male desire.

 

master shot: Continous shot or long take that shows the main action or setting of an entire scene.

 

match cut: A transisitional technique in which there's a cut between two shots that are joined by visual or similarities images.

 

MacGuffin: Alfred Hitchcock's term for a plot element that captures the viewer's attention and appears to be important, but often turns out to be insignificant. Example: The stolen money in "Psycho"  (1960).   

 

medium shot: Refers to a conventional camera shot filmed from a medium distance.

 

melodrama: Originally a drama accompanied by music; Film characterized by expressive plots with strong and intense emotions often tearjerkers or chick flicks.

 

 

 

 

midnight movies: Offbeat, low budget independent, often "cult films" shown at theatres late at night: Example: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

 

miscast: An actor who is wrong in a certain role and shouldn't have been cast in that role.

 

mise en scene: French for "putting into the scene"; Refers to all elements placed before a camera within the frame of the film.

 

 

 

 

 

money shot: A shot that gives the audience their money's worth.

 

monolouge: A portion of a script in which an actor gives a lengthy speech without interruption.

 

montage: A movie collage consisting of a series of short shots that are put together into a sequence to create a composite picture.

 

motif: Recurrent thematic elements in a film that are reapeated significantly.

 

MPAA: Motion Picture Association of America; The organization that give ratings to films.