Brush Up On "Movie Speak" For The Oscars

Tony Bill, the Oscar winning producer of "The Sting"...is out with a new book titled "Movie Speak: How to Talk Like You Belong on a Film Set." The book is chock-a-block with the jargon only used on movie sets and only movie people understand.

Give it a breeze this weekend and you'll be ready to impress your friends come Oscar time on Sunday night.

Here are a couple of my favorites…when a movie director tells the director of photography he wants a "Mickey Rooney"...he's not calling for an old actor. What he wants quite literally is a short creep. Meaning a brief move when the camera is on a dolly…or on wheels.

Here's another...but don't let the star hear you say it. When the director wants the short male lead to be able to see eye with his co star. He'll ask for a man maker. Which is box the star can stand on...but, is never seen in the shot.

Sunday night you might want to do a little star math...the ratio between a star's talent and his worth...to see if he deserves the Oscar.