Movies & TV Facts for Kids
Behind-the-scenes facts from film and TV
Pixar's Up (2009) opens with a four-minute wordless sequence showing a couple's entire life together, which many critics and audiences consider one of the most emotionally powerful scenes ever put to film.
A casting director is responsible for finding the right actors for every role in a film. Many famous actors were unknown before a casting director spotted their potential, including many of today's biggest stars.
The Academy Awards include an Oscar for Best Short Film (Live Action), awarded to films lasting no more than 40 minutes. Many celebrated directors, including Tim Burton and Nick Park, made short films early in their careers.
Finding Nemo (2003) caused such a surge in popularity for pet clownfish that wild clownfish populations around the world declined. The film ironically prompted people to take fish from coral reefs.
Green screens (or blue screens) are used in filmmaking to replace the background with digital images in post-production, a technique called chroma keying. Almost every modern blockbuster uses this technique.
Method acting involves actors immersing themselves completely in their roles, sometimes staying in character on and off set for months. Daniel Day-Lewis, winner of three Academy Awards, is considered its greatest modern practitioner.
A film's opening weekend box office results are closely watched by studios as they predict a film's total earnings. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) earned over 260 million dollars in its opening weekend in America alone.
Aardman Animations, the British studio behind Wallace and Gromit, uses a process called stop-motion animation with clay models. Each second of finished film can require up to 25 individual adjustments of the models.
The Cannes Film Festival in France is one of the world's most prestigious film events. The top prize, the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm), has been awarded annually since 1955.
During the making of Jaws (1975), the mechanical shark kept breaking down. Director Steven Spielberg responded by showing the shark as little as possible, which made the film far more terrifying — less is more.