5. Theatre, film industry

TEXT: The words said aloud by characters during a play.

THEME: A unifying concept in a play.

TRAGEDY: An unhappy, emotional play. Traditionally, tragedies ended in the death of the protagonist, as opposed to a tragedy, which ended in marriage and implied birth and new life.

TECHNICAL THEATRE TERMS

COSTUME: The clothing worn by characters on stage.

CUE: In technical terms, the trigger (be it a line or an event) for an action to be carried out at a specific time. Lighting and sound cues are called for by the stage manager, following along in the script with the events of the show.

DESIGN: The plan or convention for the construction or creation of an element of a play. Sets, lighting, sound, costume, plots, and make-up all require designs.

LIGHTING: The deliberate use of light to illuminate the stage or convey a location or emotion, and sometimes all three.

MAKE-UP: The use of cosmetics to create the appearance of the character during the play.

MASKS: A face covering used in theatre to create character or disguise identity.

PLOT: In technical terms, the plot refers to the design of the lights. The lighting plot maps out the color, location, brightness, and shift between lighting cues.

PROPS/PROPERTIES: The objects actors interact with onstage. Items such as books, plates, and swords are props.

PUPPETRY: A form of theatre using puppets in its storytelling. Some shows are done entirely with puppets, while other shows use puppets to enhance its story, interacting directly or indirectly with actors.

STRIKE: At the end of the run of a show, when the set and all other technical aspects are taken apart, clearing the stage for the next show.

THEATRE PEOPLE TERMS

ACTOR: The person who portrays a character in a play.

CAST: The group of actors who play all the characters in a show.

DESIGNER: The person or persons responsible for devising and creating one technical aspect of the show, be it the lighting, sound, costume, make-up, props, or some other aspect.

DIRECTOR: The individual who oversees the mounting of a stage play. He or she is in charge of all designers, bringing everything together to a cohesive whole. He or she also oversees the actors and all action onstage.

DRAMATURG: This person deals mainly with research and development for plays and operas. He or she primarily deals with the historical and cultural aspects of the play.

PLAYWRIGHT: The person who writes the plays.

STAGE CREW: The people behind the scenes who keep the play running. They can change scenery, control the elements that fly on and off the stage, help prepare actors with quick changes, and generally make the play happen.

STAGE MANAGER: This person has the overall responsibility of making a show run smoothly. He or she is in charge of all of the stage crew and technicians once the show begins, calling cues and overseeing scenery changes, etc. During rehearsals, the stage manager often acts as a prompter, keeping track of the script for the director and actors.

General film vocabulary

What sort of films do you enjoy? You've got a lot of genres to choose from: westerns (set in the American Wild West) or spaghetti westerns (those filmed in Italy) to action films (fights, car chases etc), adventure, animated (cartoons), or horror (lots of blood or ghostly visits). Perhaps you prefer comedy (or "romcom" - romantic comedy) or dramas. Sometimes these are epics (long, historical dramas) and sometimes these are adaptations (adapted either from a previous film, or from a book or play). What about thrillers (or suspense), or musicals (with song and dance) and science fiction (set in a futuristic world)? Or maybe you prefer the old black and white films, or the classics.