Those Who Work In the Cinema

THE CINEMA

Cinema, Picture, Film and Related Words

Cinema, pictures, movies, flicks

All these words can be used in such sentences as:

e.g. a. I’d like going to the cinema/pictures/movies/flicks.

b. We went to the cinema/'pictures/movies/flicks last night.

However, there are certain differences of usage between them.

Cinema is now the most common word in Britain. It used to be confined to formal style, but is now used in conversation too.

Cinema denotes:

1. a building for showing films,

e.g. there are over a hundred cinemas in Leningrad.

2. films as an art form or entertainment,

e.g. a. I like the cinema better than the theatre.

b. The popularity of the cinema has declined sharply in Britain over the past 25 years.

It occurs in the following expressions:

Cinema-goer

e.g. a. This film will not appeal to the average cinema-goer.

b. He’s a keen cinema-goer.

c. Cinema-goers usually buy CINEMAWEEK, to see what films are on where.

Cinema-going

e.g. Cinema-going has declined in Britain.

Cinema audience

Note that spectator is not used with reference to the cin­ema (see unit 122).

Cinema programme

e.g. Cinema programmes change once or twice a week in this country.

Cinema ticket

e.g. How much do cinema tickets cost here?

Pictures is also British English, and more colloquial then cinema. It used to be the most common word in conversation, but its use has declined slightly in favour of cinema during recent years.

Movies (from moving pictures) is American English. Most English people know the word, but practically no one uses it.

Flicks is a slang word for cinema, used in such sentence as: Let's go to the flicks.

Film, picture, movie

Film is the most common word in Britain.

e.g. a. Have you seen any good films lately?

b. There's an interesting film on at the Odeon.

It is used in a considerable number of expressions where кино would be used in Russian.

film actor/actress

film star
film director
film.company

a commercial organization which produces films

e.g. The Rank Organization

Film industry

thecinema from a commercial point of view, or film companies collectively.

Film studio

film camera (See unit 162.)

film show (See unit 152.)

film festival

film critic

Film review

film version (See unit 113, under musical)

film music

To be in films means "to be employed in the film industry” and to go into films "to enter it, as an actor, designer, director, etc. (работать в кино)".

e.g. a. - What does... do?

- He's in films.

b. (Speaking of an actor) — He used to be on the stage, but then he went into films.

Film may also be used as a verb, meaning "to make into a film”.

e.g. "The Great Gatsby" has been filmed three times.

Picture is sometimes used in Britain instead of film.

e.g. There's a good picture on at the Odeon.

However, this is less common than film and is becoming rather old-fashioned.

Motion picture is used in the film industry, especially by Americans.

Movie is used by Americans in such sentences as We went to a movie.

Performance, Programme, Show

Performance

Performance is used in the sense of сеанс.

e.g. a. I'll meet you outside the cinema ten minutes before the performance.

b. Let's go to the eight o'clock performance.

c. When's the first/last performance?

d. Seats for evening performances are more expensive than for matinees. (See unit 100.)

Cinema, not film, is generally used with performance.

e.g. Cinema performances begin at 10 a.m. in Leningrad.

Continuous performance denotes the system, widespread in England, whereby one film is shown continuously throughout the day, with only a very short interval between each showing, and people can come and go whenever they like (although naturally most people do so between showings).

Performance is also used in the sense of исполнение, asin the theatre.

e.g. Alec Guiness gave a marvellous performance of the king in "Cromwell".

Programme

Programme is used in two senses:

1. films being shown at a cinema (репертуар),

e.g. a. (Cinema) programmes change once or twice a week.

b. Programmes are varied, and include both Soviet and foreign films.

Note that repertoire/repertory are not generally used in the cinema (see unit 93).

2. what is shown at a particular performance (программа)

e.g. The programme usually includes a full-length feature film, a newsreel and a short documentary.

Cinema programmes in Britain generally used to include not only a full-length feature film and a newsreel (sometimes called the news), but also a short feature film. There was an interval before the main film (sometimes called the big film). The complete programme therefore lasted about three hours, and people went to the cinema for a whole evening's entertainment. Since the rise of television, however, this system has disappeared; instead one full-length feature film is shown often but not always with a short documentary or cartoon. As a result of this tendency, the distinction between programme in its second sense and performance is not always clear-cut, and in some cases they are more or less synonymous. For example, some London cinemas put in their advertisements:

Progs. (= programmes) 4.00, 6.15, 8.30
or Cont. progs. (= continuous programmes)
and others put:
Perfs. (= performances) 3.15, 5.30, 8.45
or: Cont. perfs. (= continuous performances)
Programme may therefore be used as an alternative to performance in translating сеанс.

Show

As a noun, show is little used in the cinema. Its main use is in the expression film show, which, however, generally denotes not a regular performance in a cinema, but something occasional, special. For example, film shows are sometimes arranged at clubs, conferences, on board ship.

Showing is sometimes used substantivally, as in the explanation of continuous performance above:

“ …with only a very short interval between each showing,… Most people do so (=come and go) between showings."

Show as a verb is very common in the cinema, and needs no explanation, since it corresponds to показывать. Note that there is no synonym for show with reference to Russian демонстрировать. Demonstrate is not used in films.

Release

153. When a film first appears, it is usually shown at one centralcinema for a certain period, after which it is released (выпущен на экран), that is, it is made available to any cinema.

General release occurs in such sentences as:

a. - Have you seen "The Godfather"?

- No, I’m waiting for it to go on general release/be released.

b. It’s on general release now.

These expressions are much less common now in Britain than the used to be, since many cinemas, especially in the suburbs, have closed, and there are hardly any cinemas left at which " released" films can be shown. In this country, however, where big cities have many cinemas, the words release and general release are sometimes needed.

Those Who Work In the Cinema

154. Note that there is no general expression denoting a person who works in the cinema, like the Russian работник кино. In some cases, however, we can use to be in films (see unit 149).

Director, Producer, Manager and Related Words

155. The usage of director, producer and manager in the cinema is much simpler and more uniform than in the theatre (see units 95—97). This can be explained as follows:

1.the cinema is a much more recent art than the theatre and American influence was dominant from the very beginning of its development. The British cinema therefore simply adopted American usage, having no traditions of its own.

2. the cinema in Britain and America is entirely commercial (see unit 90), not a mixture of commercial and subsidized activity, like the theatre.

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