Movie speak: the way people talk on the sets of movies. As in “Get me an apple” (apple box: a box used to support a prop, a light, or a diminutive actor). Tony Bill: the producer of “The Sting” and the director of “Five Corners” and “Flyboys,” who, twelve years ago, got the idea of putting together a lexicon of movie-set lingo. “There’s a culture of the set that never gets written about,” he said recently. Gobo: an object used to block the light; it was one of the first terms that Bill learned, in 1963, on the set of “Come Blow Your Horn,” in which he played Frank Sinatra’s little brother. Other good ones: Honeywagon, the bathroom trailer; Jane Russell, a shot of a woman framed across the … view more

Most authors have a favorite spot they go to when it's time to write ---- a quiet study, perhaps, or a home office. When Tony Bill was working on "Movie Speak: How to Talk Like You Belong on a Movie Set" (Workman Publishing, $8.95), though, he had to wait until he was on a movie set before he could work on his book. view more

For anyone who has ever wandered onto a movie set -- or those who are just baffled by such terms as "gabo," "hair in the gate," "four-banger" or a " Mickey Rooney," let alone more standard lingo like "grips," "gaffers" and "best boy" -- Tony Bill has come to the rescue… view more

If you’re on a movie set and someone tells you, “Give me two Ts or a cowboy with the Jack Lord and make sure the BG is visible as you pan and maybe we’ll make that a one-er so just banana left,” what do you do?
Well one option is to pick up a copy of a new book called “Movie Speak” by Tony Bill, which provides a helpful guide to movies language… view more