Movies & TV Facts for Kids
Behind-the-scenes facts from film and TV
Motion capture technology records an actor's movements using special markers on their body. It is how characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Planet of the Apes were brought to life.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was one of the first films to have a commercially released soundtrack album. It set the trend for movie soundtracks that continues today.
Green screens (or blue screens) are used in films to replace the background with computer-generated scenery. The solid colour makes it easy for computers to separate the actors from the background.
The film Boyhood was filmed over 12 years with the same actors so that the audience could watch the characters genuinely grow up on screen.
Animal trainers in films often use tasty treats and clicker training to get animal actors to perform on cue. Cats are famously difficult to direct!
The Lumiere brothers held the first paid public film screening in Paris on 28 December 1895. One short film of a train arriving at a station reportedly frightened the audience.
Movie trailers were originally shown after the main film, which is why they are called 'trailers'. Cinemas eventually moved them to before the film when they realised audiences left too early to see them.
Colour grading is the process of adjusting the colours of a film to set the mood. Warm, orange tones can make a scene feel cosy, while blue tones can feel cold or sad.
Disney and Pixar animators often act out scenes themselves and film it for reference, pulling silly faces and striking dramatic poses to get the character movements just right.
Continuity errors are mistakes where something changes between shots — like a glass that is full in one shot and half-empty in the next. Spotting them has become a popular hobby among film fans.