The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema – A to Z of Film

Film deserves a better dictionary—so we made one.

Part reference book, part collector’s item, The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema is designed for cinephiles, filmmakers, and fans alike. With over 1,500 terms across nine curated sections, it unpacks the language of cinema—from industry slang to academic theory, from visual tropes to cultural movements. Each term is crisply defined and visually laid out to make flipping through feel as immersive as watching your favourite film.

We organized entries thematically — so you can dive deep into grip truck gear, internet fandom, or even the tweedier side of film theory without flipping past the ‘final girl’ trope or studio exec jargon. Each section runs A to Z, making the book easy to explore by topic.

Looking for something specific? A full A to Z master index in the back lists every term across all sections. And of course — it’s all backed by a painstakingly compiled and carefully reviewed bibliography of sources.

Genres give films their form. Movements give them their moment. Theory gives us the tools to interpret them all. This section traces how we categorize, historicize, and analyze cinema—across decades, borders, and ideas.

Only a small taste of entries in The Study section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Cameras capture. Directors shape. Performers breathe life into it all. This section covers the creative building blocks of what we see and feel onscreen—from shot sizes and lighting styles to acting methods, blocking choices, and the language of visual storytelling itself.

Only a small taste of entries in The Art section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Behind every shot is a small army of craftspeople. This section maps the working language of a film set—from grips and gaffers to HMU, costumes, and camera rigs. It’s where creative vision meets physical execution, and where every frame is shaped by collaboration.

Only a small taste of entries in The Set Life section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Movies don’t just happen—they’re pitched, packaged, sold, and seen. This section unpacks the business side of cinema: how projects are developed, how deals get made, how films find audiences, and how an idea becomes a finished release. From pitch decks to P&A, it’s the industry in plain language.

Only a small taste of entries in The Biz section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Every story starts on the page—and every genre comes with its own toolbox.
This section explores the language of screenwriting, from structure and dialogue to recurring tropes, archetypes, and screenwriting conventions. It’s where storytelling craft meets the shorthand of cinematic tradition.

Only a small taste of entries in The Page section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

A film isn’t finished when the camera stops rolling—sometimes, it hasn’t even begun.
This section dives into the invisible magic of post: from animation and editorial to sound design, colour grading, and visual effects. It’s where raw footage becomes rhythm, and where entire worlds are built frame by frame.

Only a small taste of entries in The Magic Touch section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

This is where cinema celebrates itself—and where the industry tells its own story.
This section covers the institutions that shape a film’s reputation: awards shows, festival circuits, and the legacy media outlets that influence perception—critics, trades, and the press machinery that surrounds the art form.

Only a small taste of entries in The Glamour section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Cinema doesn’t live in a vacuum—it lives in memes, hot takes over coffee, and Letterboxd reviews. This section captures the evolving language of film culture—propelled online, shaped by fandom, and at home in the group chat.

Only a small taste of entries in The Discourse section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Cinema is fleeting—but someone always finds a way to hold on.
This section explores how films are stored, shared, and saved: from home media formats to museum archives, repertory screenings to restoration labs. It’s about memory, materiality, and the long fight to keep movies alive.

Only a small taste of entries in The Archive section of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema!

Still want more info? Feel free to check out our draft preface and draft bibliography for more details and information at the link here. However, please note these are WIP/draft versions and may not be 100% reflective of final inclusions/omissions. 

Prices in the graphic above are shown in USD. Even though we’re based in Canada, most of our audience—and expected backers—are in the US, so we’ve used US dollars to keep things clear.

USD is also easier to understand for many backers outside North America.

Kickstarter requires us to charge and receive funds in Canadian dollars (CAD).
Because of this, you might notice small differences between the prices shown in the graphic and the ones shown on Kickstarter, due to daily exchange rate changes.

Kickstarter will automatically show you prices in your local currency.
If you’re in the US, you’ll see USD. If you’re elsewhere, you’ll see your own currency.

The prices above were calculated using this exchange rate: $1 USD = $1.37 CAD

We’re proud to build Cinematicalism in collaboration with artists we admire. Nevin Do Art and Matt Darling—based on opposite ends of the planet—bring singular perspectives to our add-on t-shirt merch for this campaign. 

Uplifting indie talent is core to our values. Art should support art. Whether that art is a dictionary about movies or a t-shirt graphic. 

Follow them here: 

@nevindoart
@midnite_tremors

Cinematicalism is a film-centric digital content and emerging publishing brand dedicated to celebrating the full spectrum of cinema — from A-movies to B-movies, arthouse to popcorn blockbusters, Hollywood to global cinema, and everything in between.

What began as a movie nerd stan account has grown into a curated platform for cinephiles, filmmakers, students, and obsessives alike — with over 75,000 followers across social platforms.

We create media that blends academic depth, fan passion, and cultural clarity — with an eye towards long-term preservation and physical media production (i.e. publishing). Our mission is to help people talk about film better, love it more deeply, and understand its language with confidence.

The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema is our flagship project — a definitive reference designed to last, learn from, and leaf through for years to come. It also lays the groundwork for a growing ecosystem of educational tools, original merch, and film culture ephemera — all supporting the production of increasingly sophisticated digital content.

Follow us @cinematicalism across platforms — we’re most active on Instagram for now.

Kory O. & Chrissy M. 

You can find Kory’s IMDb here and Chrissy’s here. 

Richard W. & Midori H. 

You can find Richard’s graphic design portfolio here and Midori’s here. 

Kory Orban

Kory Orban is a writer, movie nerd, and founder of Cinematicalism, a media project built for cinephiles, obsessives, and industry lifers alike. He cut his teeth working on everything from Emmy-winning prestige dramas to Marvel blockbusters to commercials for Fortune 500 companies before pivoting to all you can see and read about in this campaign. With The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema, Kory is creating the kind of resource he always wished existed on set.

Chrissy Mozylisky

Chrissy Mozylisky is a certified Intimacy Coordinator, all-around industry pro, and co-founder of Cinematicalism. With over a decade of experience across performance and on-set production in various roles, she specializes in bridging creative vision with human-first practices. Her work champions safety, authenticity, and care—on screen, behind the scenes, and in the culture at large.

By backing this project, you’re not just helping print a beautiful book — you’re helping lay the foundation for Cinematicalism’s long-term future.

The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema began as a natural extension of the content we were already making: thoughtful, accessible posts that helped people see film with new eyes. As our community grew, so did our ambition. But there’s only so much we can do off the side of our desks.

This Kickstarter is our first step towards making Cinematicalism sustainable — a way to justify putting more time, energy, and resources into what we’re building. Your support helps us level up from scrappy Instagram posts to polished vertical videos, and eventually to full-length YouTube mini-docs, podcasts, and future physical releases.

We want Cinematicalism to be a home for people who care deeply about film — a place where content becomes culture. A digital space with the spirit of an old-school indie video store.

And yes, we’re already thinking about the next Kickstarter.
(Hint: it plays VHS.)

We started this thing in our free time. If it goes big, we want to go bigger — together. Here’s what we’re unlocking if we pass our goal:

2,500 COPIES
Unlock a variant illustrated cover post-campaign add-on, inspired by pulp monster movie posters and vintage sci-fi. Maximum spook. 

5,000 COPIES
We hit go on the next Kickstarter. No break. No nap (okay — maybe at least one nap). Just building the next big thing the second this one is off to the printers. SPOILER ALERT: It’s a VCR.

7,500 COPIES
That variant cover becomes a deluxe expanded edition with extra sections. If you’re a nerd for SUPER deep cuts, this is the one you are gonna want to try to help us hit. 

10,000 COPIES
Kory directs a short film, developed in public with community input every step of the way. Collaborative cinema, Cinematicalism-style.

100,000 COPIES
Okay, chaos mode: a feature film. Funded by the community, built with transparency, and shaped by the people who made this whole thing real — you.

1,000,000 COPIES
We renounce earthly concerns, form a cinematic monastery, and dedicate our lives to film preservation, global well-being, and immaculate vibes. Red velvet robes. Daily screenings. No notes.

1,000,000,000 COPIES
Okay, chill. We want this to succeed too — but let’s be real.

1,000,000,000,000 COPIES
We will fund a Jurassic Park–style cloning program to resurrect cinema’s lost legends. Say hello (again) to Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Kubrick, and Hitchcock.

1,000,000,000,000,000 COPIES
This is too much power for a small group of movie nerds to hold. We would go on a quest to throw the project into Mount Doom (crossing our fingers the moral of that implausible story is the friends we make along the way).

What began as a chaotic stack of terms and a logline of an idea is finding its final form as a meticulously structured reference — shaped by obsessive research, community and expert feedback, and countless hours of drafting and redrafting.

Here’s a look at the processes and policies guiding the writing and rendering of The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema.

This book isn’t casually compiled, scraped, or generated — it’s being built carefully, obsessively, and by hand.

Every entry in The Comprehensive Dictionary of Cinema is drafted, cross-referenced, and refined using over 150 trusted sources — from textbooks and industry catalogues to academic journals, trade glossaries, internet archives, and personal experience. All of this research is being compiled into a massive working index — the foundation for the final dictionary.Select manuscript content and feedback prompts have already been shared with our early pre-launch community on Discord, where supporters have helped flag omissions, clarify confusing terms, and surface contested entries. Their feedback — along with ongoing insight from academics and industry professionals — is informing the shaping of the final manuscript.

The result will be a book that balances clarity with credibility, precision with passion — built for students, scholars, crew members, executives, and every movie obsessive in between.

The best part? It’s not too late to weigh in. All Kickstarter backers will be invited into our Discord community for final review and comment on draft entries before the book goes to press.

No entry will be included in the final dictionary unless it meets all three of the following criteria:

Verified Across Sources
Each term must be supported by at least three credible sources — including textbooks, trade publications, and limited allowable internet or personal sources.

(Internet sources must NEVER be AI-generated and only drawn from reputable organizational glossaries or published articles from established outlets. Limited exceptions will be made for fan-led or emergent terms in The Discourse section, where rigorous sources may not yet exist. In those cases, entries are grounded in traceable usage across communities in lieu of reputable glossaries or published articles.)

Fully Vetted & Transformed
Every entry undergoes a complete editorial process: research, community review, expert feedback, and rewriting for clarity, accessibility, and originality.

Human-Curated, Not Copy-Pasted
No entry is ever pulled directly from a single source. Every definition is materially rewritten and synthesized to reflect Cinematicalism’s tone, accuracy standards, and reader-first design.

This book is NOT AI slop. 

Large language models (like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Claude) were used sparingly — to dummy-check term lists, spark brainstorming, or provide light editorial feedback. But no definitions were AI-written. 

No entries were AI-generated. 
No entries were AI-sourced.
No entries were AI-vetted.

Every definition is human-authored, rigorously sourced, and community-reviewed.

Had we written this book ten years ago, it would look almost exactly the same.

Wow — you read this far. You deserve a gold star. Here are five — just for you. 

Congratulations, strong work, and all of the kudos available in the world. Only a little bit further to go! 

The rates below should be seen as best-effort estimates, based on up-to-date quotes from our fulfilment partners. We’ve included ranges to reflect the geographic disparities that exist within countries and regions.

Once final volumes and demand are confirmed, we’ll make every effort to reduce shipping costs — including palletizing bulk shipments to regional hubs and completing final delivery through local fulfilment partners wherever possible.