Hi! My name is Marguerite, and I am studying in the Arts and Culture program in Cégep de Thetford. This semester, I have the privilege to learn more about cinema, which is very interesting, but also a bit challenging when it comes to vocabulary. There's a lot to remember! If you struggle with understanding and using cinema-related terms, this glossary can help. I made a list of 20 words including their part of speech, pronunciation, definition, and translation. To help you understand even better, I put examples for every one of them and images when it's relevant.
actor/actress
noun
A person whose profession is acting on the stage, in movies, or on television.
Example: Fans now recognize James more as an ACTOR than as a singer.
en: acteur/actrice
antagonist
noun
An antagonist is a character, group, or force that opposes, contends with, or rivals the protagonist (main character) in a story, creating conflict and driving the plot.
Example: He turned to confront his ANTAGONIST.
en: antagoniste
audition
verb
An interview for a particular role or job as a singer, actor, dancer, or musician, consisting of a practical demonstration of the candidate's suitability and skill.
Example: Jessica had always wanted to AUDITION before but had been too shy.
en: audition
cast
noun
The actors taking part in a play, film, or other production.
Example: I absolutely love the CAST of this new movie!
en: distribution des rôles
catharsis
noun
Catharsis in cinema is the emotional purging, purification, or release of tension experienced by the audience as a result of a character’s journey, often involving the resolution of intense, built-up conflict.
Example: She saw "tragedy as the universal experience," so she opted for the traditional CATHARSIS, or purging of emotion that Maggie and Tom's death delivers to the reader.
en: catharsis
climax
noun
The most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex.
Example: The patterns are not distributed in an even and plain way, but create a CLIMAX in the story, which increases in terms of frequency and complexity towards the end of the tale.
en: point culminant
dialogue
noun
Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.
Example: The book consisted of a series of DIALOGUES.
en: dialogue
editing
noun
Choose material for (a movie or a radio or television program) and arrange it to form a coherent whole.
Example: Include in your discussion cinematic features such as mise-en-scène, cinematography, EDITING, and sound, and show how they support the film's vision of antiquity.
en: montage
ellipsis
noun
In cinema, an ellipsis is a narrative and editing device that omits unnecessary parts of a story, allowing for the skipping of time or action.
Example: The scene we just watched included an ELLIPSIS.
en: ellipse
epilogue
noun
An epilogue in cinema is a concluding scene or sequence occurring after the main plot resolution, designed to provide closure, reveal character fates, or jump forward in time to show long-term consequences.
Example: She can't wait to see the EPILOGUE of this movie to see how the character's doing now.
en: épilogue
film director
noun
A person who supervises the actors, camera crew, and other staff for a movie, play, television program, or similar production.
Example: The page design features a white box, containing content, on a light grey background, with a picture of a 1920s FILM DIRECTOR in the corner, in keeping with the pseudo-"film noir" company image.
en: réalisateur
flash-forward
noun
(Of a film, TV episode, etc.) show events that will happen at a later time than the main story.
Example: The flash-forward was important to understand the movie better.
en: prolepse
flashback
noun
A scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.
Example: This initial sequence is clearly subjective and the camera itself acquires the heroine's perspective as it glides through the gates of Manderley while the narrator introduces her FLASHBACK, hence, her story.
en: retour en arrière
lighting
noun
Equipment in a home, workplace, studio, theater, or street for producing light.
Example: In order to do this I will look at the following areas; symbolic codes such as- colour choices, appearance of human beings, background setting, photographic codes- such as LIGHTING editing and linguistic codes- such as captions brand names.
en: éclairage
prologue
noun
A prologue in cinema is an independent introductory scene or sequence occurring before the main narrative timeline, designed to establish essential context, backstory, thematic framing, or world-building.
Example: The director uses literary techniques such as alliteration in the final line of the PROLOGUE to draw the audience in and set their focus on specific words that will give them an idea of what they should expect from the opening of the film.
en: prologue
soundtrack
noun
A recording of the musical accompaniment to a movie.
Example: She has requested a collaboration for the SOUNDTRACK to her forthcoming movie.
en: bande originale
special effects
noun
An illusion created for movies and television by props, camerawork, computer graphics, etc.
Example: It complements good quality acting, directing and SPECIAL EFFECTS, and contains a mix of sincerity and jokes.
en: effets spéciaux
subtitles
noun
Captions displayed at the bottom of a movie or television screen that translate or transcribe the dialogue or narrative.
Example: I love to listen to films in foreign languages with English SUBTITLES.
en: sous-titres
trailer
noun
An excerpt or series of excerpts from a movie or program used to advertise it in advance; a preview.
Example: This is a terrific TRAILER for a mediocre horror movie.
en: bande-annonce
voice-over
noun
A piece of narration in a movie or broadcast, not accompanied by an image of the speaker.
Example: There is a combination of both synchronous and asynchronous communication; the speech is immediate and simultaneous and the writing which appears towards the end of the advert has a time-delay as it must be read by the VOICE-OVER after it has appeared on screen.
