Film Terms Starting With C
300 entries in the Movie Wiki begin with C, listed alphabetically with a one-line definition each. Open any of them for the full explanation.
Definitions of Film Terms Starting With C
Open any entry for the full definition, where the term comes from and the films that show it best.
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Industry
The on‑set department providing food, beverages, and light support to cast and crew.
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Filmmaking
'Crafty' is the industry slang for Craft Services, the department on a film set responsible for providing snacks and beverages to the cast and crew throughout the day.
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Filmmaking
A crash mag is a camera media card designated for a high-risk shot where the camera is likely to be damaged or destroyed.
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Industry
A Creative Commons license is a public copyright license that enables the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work under specific conditions set by the author.
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Genres
A genre showcasing monsters or animals as central antagonists, emphasizing horror and spectacle.
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Industry
Credit arbitration is the formal process used by Hollywood guilds to determine the official writing, directing, or producing credits on a film.
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Industry
Legal action taken when contributors are excluded from film credits.
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Industry
An agreement specifying credit placement and order for film contributors.
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Characters
The Crew Member is a supporting character archetype who serves as part of a larger, functional group, often aboard a vehicle or in a specialized unit.
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Filmmaking
The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a 0-100 scale that measures a light source's ability to accurately reproduce the colors of an object compared to a perfect reference light source.
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Genres
A crime thriller merges suspenseful pacing with criminal narratives to explore illicit worlds.
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Storytelling
A crisis is a decisive moment in a story where a protagonist must make a difficult choice that will irrevocably alter the course of the narrative.
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Industry
A curated series of films restored and presented with scholarly supplements and high fidelity.
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Characters
The Critic is a character archetype who embodies judgment, intellectualism, and skepticism, often serving as an antagonist to the film's creative protagonist.
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Industry
Annual awards presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor excellence in filmmaking.
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Industry
The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are accolades presented by the Critics Choice Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement as voted by professional critics.
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Industry
Critics' Week is an independent section at major film festivals, like Cannes, programmed by film critics to discover and highlight new filmmaking talent.
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Filmmaking
CRMX, which stands for Cognitive Radio Multiplexer, is a premier wireless technology for transmitting DMX lighting control data with extreme reliability on signal-congested film sets.
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Genres
Interweaving actions in separate locations builds suspense, contrast, or thematic resonance.
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Filmmaking
"CROSS FADE TO:" is a screenplay transition that is a direct synonym for "DISSOLVE TO:", indicating one scene gradually fades into another.
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Industry
Cross-collateralization is a controversial contractual and accounting practice where a film studio uses the profits from one source to cover the losses from another, often preventing profit participants from ever seeing a payout.
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Filmmaking
A parallel editing technique that alternates between simultaneous actions in different locations.
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Storytelling
A crossover is a story that brings together characters, settings, or elements from two or more separate and distinct fictional universes into a single narrative.
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Storytelling
A crossover event is a narrative in which characters, settings, or universes from previously separate fictional properties interact in a single story.
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Industry
A crowd pleaser is a film designed to have broad, mainstream appeal, often characterized by a feel-good story, relatable characters, and a satisfying, emotional conclusion.
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Pop Culture
When an individual is passed overhead by audience members during a live event.
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Industry
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet.
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Industry
Crowdsourced content is a creative work that has been produced through the collective contributions of a large number of individuals, often from an online community.
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Storytelling
A 'crunchy cut' is film editing slang for a rough, jarring, or rhythmically awkward edit that draws attention to itself.
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Pop Culture
Crypto Art is a category of digital artwork that is cryptographically registered on a blockchain as a unique, non-fungible token (NFT), allowing for verifiable scarcity, provenance, and ownership.
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Industry
A software or hardware tool for storing and managing cryptocurrency keys and transactions.
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Pop Culture
CryptoPunks is a pioneering NFT project from 2017 whose 10,000 pixelated characters are considered the genesis of the modern PFP movement.
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Filmmaking
A CTB gel is a transparent blue filter used on lights to raise their color temperature, primarily to make a warm tungsten source appear as cool as daylight.
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Filmmaking
A CTO gel is a transparent orange filter used on lights to lower their color temperature, primarily to make a daylight source appear as warm as a tungsten lamp.
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Industry
Connected TV (CTV) is the umbrella term for any television set used to stream video content via an internet connection, encompassing Smart TVs and devices like Roku and Apple TV.
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Filmmaking
A cue is a signal or instruction in a screenplay or on set that prompts an action, a line of dialogue, or a technical effect like sound or music.
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Filmmaking
A cue sheet is a detailed, time-coded document that lists all the dialogue, sound, or music cues in a film.
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Industry
Cue-based billing is a method of financial compensation where a composer's fee is determined by the number of individual music cues or the total minutes of music delivered, rather than a single flat fee.
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Pop Culture
"Cuffing season" is a slang term for the autumn and winter months when single people are believed to be more inclined to seek out a serious relationship to have a partner for the cold season.
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Pop Culture
A film that garners a passionate, unconventional fanbase despite initial commercial failure.
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Pop Culture
A cult classic is a film that has amassed a passionate, dedicated fan base long after its initial release, often despite being a commercial or critical failure.
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Characters
The Cult Leader is a villain archetype who uses charisma, psychological manipulation, and a manufactured ideology to exert absolute control over a group of devoted followers.
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Pop Culture
Television series that attract devoted niche audiences beyond mainstream popularity.
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Characters
The Cultist is a character archetype, typically an antagonist, defined by their fanatical and unquestioning devotion to a charismatic leader or malevolent entity.
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Industry
A Cultural Consultant is a subject matter expert hired by a film production to advise on and ensure the authentic, accurate, and respectful portrayal of a specific culture, community, or historical period.
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Industry
A cultural-consultant credit is a formal, on-screen acknowledgment for an expert who advised a film production to ensure respectful and accurate cultural representation.
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Pop Culture
An individual who avidly consumes and champions various forms of art and entertainment.
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Genres
A brief cut into a portion of the action to emphasize a character’s gesture or an object’s movement.
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Genres
An insert to related action or object interrupts the main shot to provide context or pacing relief.
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Storytelling
Cutting on action is an editing technique where the cut occurs as a subject is in motion, creating seamless continuity between shots.
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Storytelling
The 'cutting room floor' is an idiom that refers to all the footage that was shot for a film but was ultimately removed during the editing process.
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Characters
A cyborg hero is a protagonist who blends human qualities with cybernetic enhancements, exploring themes of identity and humanity.
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Genres
1960s surge of inventive, satirical films blending realism and absurdism under a state studio system.
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