Drama and Theatre Arts (and Film)

Items

• continuity editing

  Editing that ensures a smooth, logical flow of time and space between camera shots to create a realistic effect.
• convention

  An accepted technique, device, or style that audiences recognise (e.g., chorus, soliloquy).
• corpsing

  When an actor collapses into uncontrollable (unscripted) laughter during a rehearsal or performance, ways of covering the laughter mostly involve the actor turning away from the audience and covering their mouth with their hand.
• costume

  Clothing and accessories worn by actors to represent character, period, and status.
• counterweight / stage weight

  Standard weight used in a counterweight fly system / usually weighs 10kg.
• counterweight system

  Method of flying scenery which uses a pulley system with ropes and a cradle containing weights to counterbalance the weight of the flown scenery.
• cowboy shot

  A variation of the medium long shot, framing from mid-thigh to just above the head. Named after Westerns, where it allowed visibility of a gun holster.
• cradle

  A metal frame in which counterweights are carried in a flying system.
• credits

  Credits are lists of names and roles displayed beforeor after a film, television episode, theatre production, or digital media project to acknowledge the actors, technical teams, and other contributors.
• crew

  Technical personnel, including stage management, lighting, sound, and stagehands, all excluding actors.
• crisis

  The point in a tragedy where the protagonist makes a crucial decision leading to the climax.
• cross (X)

  To move from one area of the stage to another / noted in blocking (e.g., “cross to table”).
• cross fade

  Bringing a new lighting state up while simultaneously fading out the old one, therefore, never fading to black between lighting cue changes / also applies to music.
• cross-cutting

  An editing technique alternating between two or more actions happening simultaneously in different locations.
• cue

  A signal (verbal, visual, or technical) that triggers an action such as a line, lighting change, or set movement.
• cue sheet

  A list indicating all the cues (lighting, sound, projections, etc.).
• cue-to-cue

  A technical rehearsal technique where technicians run only the cues (lights, sound) and skip intervening dialogue to check transitions.
• cueing

  The act of giving commands to technical operators / crew: 1) “Standby for sound cue 4” (always standby first, then cue type and number). 2) “Sound cue 4 Go” (always cue type and number first, and Go last).
• Cultural Materialism

  Studies how cultural production (like plays or films) reflects and is shaped by historical, political, and economic forces.
• curtain call

  The acknowledgement of applause by the actors at the end of a performance / usually, the cast bows followed by a short applause back at the audience as a way of thanking them.
• curtain line

  An imaginary line across the performance space marking the point where the front tabs are flown. The final line of the play before the curtain comes down.
• cyclorama (cyc)

  The cyclorama (cyc) is a curved plain cloth or plastered wall filling the rear of the stage / strictly, a cyc should be curved, but most theatres make use of a flat cloth at the rear of the stage to the same effect.
• decolonial aesthetics

  Artistic practices that resist Eurocentric standards and restore indigenous or local creative values and forms.
• Decolonisation (in theatre)

  The process of identifying, acknowledging, and dismantling the legacies of colonialism, colonial power dynamics, and colonially inherited hierarchies in theatre and theatre-making theory and practice, to cultivate more equitable access as well as promote locally indigenous forms of knowing and doing.
• decolonising the curriculum

  Adapting theatre education to include diverse, non-Western perspectives and challenge Eurocentrism by including Afro- and global south-centric perspectives.