Storytelling
An L-cut is an editing technique where the audio from the preceding shot continues to play over the beginning of the following shot.
A to Z
Film Terms Starting With L
109 entries in the Movie Wiki begin with L, listed alphabetically with a one-line definition each. Open any of them for the full explanation.
1–60 of 109 entries
Definitions of Film Terms Starting With L
Open any entry for the full definition, where the term comes from and the films that show it best.
-
-
Genres
Collective of Black filmmakers from UCLA (late 1960s–1980s) crafting a distinct, community-rooted cinema.
-
Industry
A film labor union is an organization of 'below-the-line' craftspeople and technicians who collectively bargain for wages, benefits, and safe working conditions.
-
Filmmaking
A piece of essential on-set equipment used for rigging, adjusting lights, and accessing elevated positions.
-
General
A Large Language Model (LLM) is a type of artificial intelligence model trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human language.
-
Industry
A laser phosphor projector is a type of lamp-less digital projector that uses blue laser diodes and a phosphor wheel to generate its light source.
-
Filmmaking
The 'Last Looks Call' is the final opportunity for the hair, makeup, and wardrobe departments to make adjustments to the actors before a take is filmed.
-
Genres
A nightly entertainment program airing late in the evening and blending comedy, interviews, and music.
-
Filmmaking
A Latency Budget is the total acceptable delay, measured in milliseconds, accumulated across every component of a signal chain, from image capture to final display.
-
Filmmaking
A small microphone clipped to talent to capture clear dialogue in any environment
-
-
Filmmaking
A lavalier transmitter is a compact, battery-powered radio transmitter that sends the audio signal from a small lavalier microphone to a receiver connected to the sound recorder.
-
Characters
The lawyer character is a cinematic archetype who navigates the complexities of the legal system, often fighting for justice in the dramatic arena of the courtroom.
-
Industry
In film production, a lawyer letter is a formal legal opinion from an entertainment attorney that justifies a specific clearance decision, often to satisfy an Errors & Omissions insurance provider.
-
Industry
Scaling approach that processes transactions off the base chain to reduce fees and latency for media use cases.
-
Storytelling
'Laying pipe' is a screenwriting term for the part of a story, usually in the first act, where the writer must deliver the necessary exposition and backstory.
-
Filmmaking
A production role responsible for translating storyboards into preliminary scene compositions.
-
Filmmaking
A rotating camera technique achieved by placing subjects on a turntable platform.
-
-
Pop Culture
A leaderboard is a high-score table that ranks players based on their performance in a specific game or activity, fostering a sense of competition.
-
Industry
The leak window is the high-risk period between a film's finalization and its official public release, during which it is most vulnerable to piracy.
-
Industry
Direct-view modular LED display replacing projection with higher contrast and uniformity.
-
Filmmaking
An LED lighting swap is one of the most impactful sustainable production practices, involving the replacement of traditional, high-wattage film lights with modern, energy-efficient LED technology.
-
Filmmaking
Enclosed wall-and-ceiling LED stage used to display real-time environments for in-camera visual effects.
-
Filmmaking
An LED wall technician is a specialized engineer responsible for the setup, calibration, and on-set operation of the LED screens used in virtual production.
-
Industry
'Left on the Slate' is a phrase used to indicate that a planned shot or scene was not filmed and has been deferred to a later time.
-
Storytelling
A legal thriller is a hybrid genre that combines the procedural elements of a courtroom drama with the suspense, danger, and action of a thriller.
-
-
Filmmaking
The 'Leica Look' refers to a distinct, often desired, set of visual characteristics in cinematography associated with the optical qualities of Leica camera lenses.
-
Genres
A short, recurring musical phrase that signifies a character, object, or idea within a narrative.
-
-
Industry
Lens Studio is the professional software application from Snap Inc. used to design and build augmented reality experiences for Snapchat.
-
Pop Culture
A Let's Play is a series of videos where a person records themselves playing through a video game, providing commentary and sharing their experience with an audience.
-
Pop Culture
'Letterbox Love' is a slang term describing the positive reception or buzz a film receives on the social media platform Letterboxd, which can influence its perception in the film community.
-
Pop Culture
Letterboxd is a social networking platform for film lovers to rate, review and share movies.
-
Filmmaking
A presentation method preserving widescreen aspect ratios by adding horizontal bars
-
Pop Culture
A gaming-derived expression denoting progression or improvement to the next stage.
-
Genres
LGBTQ+ film is a collective term for motion pictures that feature prominent queer characters, narratives, and themes, reflecting the diverse experiences of the queer community.
-
Characters
The librarian character in film is an archetype who serves as a keeper and dispenser of crucial knowledge, often providing the key to solving a central mystery.
-
Filmmaking
A 'library shot,' also known as a stock shot, is a piece of pre-existing footage from a film library or stock footage agency that is licensed for use in a new production.
-
Industry
Granting legal permission to use film-related intellectual property for defined purposes.
-
Industry
A life rights agreement is a contract where an individual grants a producer the exclusive right to create a film based on their life story, in exchange for cooperation and a waiver of legal claims.
-
Filmmaking
A lifehack video showcases a clever trick for everyday tasks, a concept that translates into the world of resourceful, low-budget filmmaking techniques.
-
Filmmaking
A 'light check' is a brief pause in filming for the lighting and camera departments to confirm that the lighting is correct and to make minor adjustments before the next take.
-
-
Industry
Off-chain payment channels enabling fast, low-fee Bitcoin transactions for film distribution and fan commerce.
-
Pop Culture
The like count is a metric that displays the total number of users who have expressed positive feedback on a piece of online content by clicking a 'like' button.
-
Pop Culture
A single release of exclusive merchandise in restricted quantities for heightened demand.
-
Industry
Distribution pattern caps screen count—often below 600—in order to target niche audiences and maximise per-screen averages.
-
Storytelling
A television series with a predetermined episode count and a self‑contained storyline.
-
Industry
A limited-time event is a special film screening or offering that is only available for a restricted period to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
-
Filmmaking
The line producer balances artistic ambition against financial reality, guarding the ‘bottom line’ from script to wrap.
-
Industry
Linguistic Quality Control is the final review process for subtitles and dubbed audio to ensure they are grammatically correct, culturally appropriate, and contextually accurate.
-
Industry
Lionsgate is a major North American entertainment company known for producing and distributing some of the most successful independent films and blockbuster franchises of the 21st century.
-
Genres
A performance format where participants mime the vocals of popular songs for entertainment.
-
Filmmaking
A telecine technique using fluid to minimize surface scratches during film scanning.
-
Storytelling
A literary device is a technique, often originating in literature, that uses language and imagery to create deeper meaning, tone, and texture in a film's narrative.
-
General
Real-time voice chat spaces that enable interactive audio conversations among users.
-
Industry
Live chat moderation is the process of monitoring and managing user-generated comments in real-time during a live-streamed event, such as a virtual premiere or Q&A.
-
Industry
A global entertainment company specializing in live events, ticketing, and concert film production.
By category
Or Browse by Subject
Eight subject indexes, each with its own alphabetical list: filmmaking, genres and styles, characters, storytelling, industry, fandom, general terms and the rest.
