The Big Screen & The Small One
Landmark films, famous lines and the series people planned their week around.
Who directed Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?
Hollywood is the loudest film industry, not the largest, and rarely the most influential.
Film history told through Hollywood misses most of what happened. Italian neorealism took cameras into the street with non-professional actors because the studios had been destroyed. The French New Wave was made by critics who had spent years arguing about films before making any. India has out-produced the United States in features for decades. These questions cover the movements and industries that shaped the medium elsewhere, and the techniques they contributed that everyone now uses.
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
Play it insteadAnswer: B. India
Why: Indian cinema spans many languages and regional industries, of which Hindi-language Bollywood is only one part.
Answer: A. Shooting on location with non-professional actors
Why: It emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, partly because Italy's major studio had been damaged and money was short.
Answer: D. Film critics
Why: Several wrote for the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, arguing that the director is the true author of a film.
Answer: C. Nigeria
Why: It grew from direct-to-video production in the 1990s and became one of the largest film industries in the world by volume.
Answer: B. Distorted sets and extreme shadow
Why: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is the standard example, and the style fed directly into film noir when many of its directors emigrated.
Answer: A. Montage theory, the meaning created by cutting shots together
Why: Kuleshov demonstrated that the same shot of a face reads differently depending on what is cut next to it.
Answer: D. Cannes
Why: Venice is the oldest film festival; Berlin awards the Golden Bear; Cannes has awarded the Palme d'Or under that name since 1955.
Answer: C. Martial arts and action choreography
Why: Its choreography and stunt work reshaped action filmmaking worldwide, and several of its directors later worked in Hollywood.
Answer: B. Restrained realism, frequently featuring children
Why: Working within tight censorship rules pushed directors toward allegory and everyday settings, which many critics regard as a strength.
Answer: A. Japan
Why: It covers every genre and audience rather than being a single style, and much of the world's animation work is subcontracted across Asia.
Harmony is not a matter of taste alone. Simple ratios, overtones, and the compromise hiding inside every piano.
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Landmark films, famous lines and the series people planned their week around.
Who directed Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?
Ten directors and the films that made their names recognisable.
Which director made Vertigo, Rear Window and North by Northwest?
Pilots, showrunners, syndication — the vocabulary behind what reaches the screen.
A television "pilot" is best described as what?