At the time of its birth a century ago, the cinema was greeted as a kind of universal language. This universal language soon developed a special language of its own, a professional jargon made of words borrowed from theatre, factory and laboratory, plundered from other arts and other nations, or coined in the heat of film-making. The Language of Cinema provides a fascinating set of paths into this rich argot, sampling some 2000 words associated with the technology, business and skills of film-making, from the A and B roll printing to Z-movies. Informative for the non-specialist film-buff and film-goer, entertaining for film professionals, The Language of Cinema is essential reading for anyone interested in how moving pictures have changed the way we speak, write and read as well as the way we see.