Industry
Music and Effects stem mix used to create foreign-language versions without original dialogue.
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Film Terms Starting With M
166 entries in the Movie Wiki begin with M, listed alphabetically with a one-line definition each. Open any of them for the full explanation.
1–60 of 166 entries
Definitions of Film Terms Starting With M
Open any entry for the full definition, where the term comes from and the films that show it best.
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Filmmaking
An M&E track is a complete audio mix of a film that contains all music and sound effects but intentionally excludes all dialogue.
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Storytelling
An object or goal that motivates the characters' actions but holds little intrinsic value.
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Characters
A MacGuffin Carrier is a character whose primary narrative function is to possess, protect, or be the target of a pursuit for the story's MacGuffin.
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Characters
An eccentric or unhinged inventor whose experiments often spiral out of control.
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Filmmaking
A magnetic stripe, or mag stripe, is a thin coating of magnetic oxide applied to a film print, allowing for the recording of high-fidelity, multi-channel sound similar to an audio tape.
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Filmmaking
A magic arm is a versatile articulating arm used on film sets to mount cameras, lights, or other accessories in various positions.
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Filmmaking
Elusive sliver of dawn or dusk light renders skies pastel and skin tones painterly—a holy grail for cinematographers.
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Filmmaking
A 'magic hour shoot' is a film shoot scheduled specifically during the brief period of 'magic hour'—just after sunrise or before sunset—to capture its unique, warm, and diffused light.
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Characters
The Magical Mentor is a character archetype who guides the protagonist on their journey by providing wisdom, training, and supernatural aid.
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Genres
Magical realism is a narrative style where fantastical or magical elements are presented in an otherwise realistic, mundane setting as if they were an ordinary part of life.
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Filmmaking
A magnetic stripe slate was a specialized clapperboard that recorded SMPTE timecode directly onto a magnetic stripe on the film stock itself for synchronization.
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Industry
Magnetic tape is a recording medium used for analog and digital audio and video storage in film production.
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General
The Magritte Awards are Belgium’s national film awards, celebrating achievements in Francophone Belgian cinema.
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Pop Culture
A makeup tutorial is an instructional video demonstrating cosmetic techniques used for characters and scenes in film production.
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Industry
Long-form documentaries chart a film’s creative birth, crises, and triumphs—sometimes eclipsing the movie itself.
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General
A representation test requiring at least one female character with an independent narrative arc.
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Storytelling
Critical concept describing how visual media often frames women from a heterosexual male perspective.
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Pop Culture
Manga is a Japanese style of comics and graphic novels that encompasses a wide variety of genres and target demographics.
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Characters
A whimsical female character who exists solely to teach brooding male protagonists to embrace life.
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Characters
The Manipulative Politician is an antagonist archetype who uses charisma, deceit, and political power to achieve their self-serving goals.
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Filmmaking
A 'manned camera' is a camera that is physically operated by a camera operator, as opposed to a stationary, un-manned 'lock-off' camera.
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Industry
The Marché du Film is the world's largest and most prestigious film market, held annually alongside the Cannes Film Festival.
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Industry
The Marché du Film, running concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival, is the largest and most important international film market in the world.
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Filmmaking
'Mark It' is the command given by the Assistant Director for the slate, or clapboard, to be presented to the camera and clapped to synchronize picture and sound before a take.
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Filmmaking
Adhesive tape used on set for marking positions, continuity, and shot framing.
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Industry
A film marketing campaign is the comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy designed by a studio to advertise a movie and persuade an audience to see it during its theatrical run.
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Genres
A genre centered on choreographed combat, featuring martial disciplines and stunt innovation.
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Industry
A film production studio behind the groundbreaking Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
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Characters
A Mary Sue is a pejorative term for an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character who is often criticized as being poorly written or a form of authorial wish fulfillment.
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Characters
A masked vigilante is a character who operates outside the law to fight crime and deliver justice, using a costume and concealed identity to protect themselves and inspire fear or hope.
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Industry
A master copy is the definitive, highest‑quality original from which all distribution and duplication copies are derived.
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Filmmaking
The master copy is the definitive, highest-quality version of a finished film from which all subsequent distribution copies are made.
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Filmmaking
A master shot is a wide-angle shot that captures the entire scene, including all characters and action in a single framing.
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Characters
The Master Thief is a character archetype of a highly skilled and often charismatic criminal who specializes in elaborate heists and seemingly impossible thefts.
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Industry
A master use license grants the right to use a specific recorded version of a song in a visual or audio production.
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Genres
An edit that links two disparate shots through visual, audio, or thematic similarity for seamless transition.
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Filmmaking
A match cut is an edit that connects two different shots by matching a similar shape, action, or composition, creating a strong visual or metaphorical link.
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Storytelling
Match on action is an editing technique that cuts between two shots where the action continues seamlessly, creating visual continuity.
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Genres
A 'Matrix Shot,' more formally known as 'bullet time,' is a visual effect that detaches the camera's viewpoint from the flow of time, allowing it to move around a moment that is frozen or in extreme slow-motion.
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Filmmaking
A camera accessory that blocks unwanted light and holds filters in front of the lens.
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Filmmaking
Hand-crafted or digital vistas extend sets, conjuring worlds impractical to build or locate.
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Industry
Monthly active users tracks the number of unique users engaging with a service each month.
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Filmmaking
A MaxCLL alert is a technical quality control flag in HDR video mastering that indicates a problem with the metadata defining the content's peak brightness.
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Characters
A town leader balancing civic duty, political ambition, and personal flaws.
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Storytelling
A 'McGuffin Frame' is a slang term for a shot that is intentionally composed to highlight or introduce the film's MacGuffin, the object that drives the plot.
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Industry
128-bit hash used as a fixity value to verify that files have not changed during copy or storage.
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Industry
Meat puppet is a derogatory industry slang term for a performer, typically a background extra or actor, who is perceived as simply following directions without creative input.
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Industry
The purchase of advertising space or time across media channels to promote a film.
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Characters
The medium is a character archetype with the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead, serving as a conduit between the living world and the afterlife.
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Genres
This waist-up framing balances environment with character expression for dialogue-driven scenes.
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Pop Culture
An exclusive benefit granted to members of a film-related program or service.
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Pop Culture
In the context of film, a meme is a humorous or relatable image, video clip, or piece of text from a movie that is spread, copied, and altered by internet users, becoming a part of online culture.
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Pop Culture
A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency that is based on or inspired by an internet meme or a humorous cultural reference.
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Pop Culture
Memeable describes a scene, character, or line of dialogue from a film or show that has the potential to become a viral internet meme.
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Industry
Designated set role that organizes psychological resources, crisis protocols, and referrals for cast and crew.
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