@database "MovieDatabase.guide" @title "MovieDatabase.guide" @node main INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ================================================== Archive-name: movies/movie-database-faq Posting-Frequency: weekly Last-modified: 1995/09/07 Version: 1.48 This is a guide to the Internet Movie Database. The database is available in several forms on the Internet and provides the most comprehensive source of free on-line movie information, ranging from the early cinema to the latest releases. Questions about how to access the movie database or questions which could easily be answered using it seem to be generating a lot of traffic these days so please keep this guide around for reference. Topics and questions covered are: General Information =================== @{" 1. What is the movie database? " link 1} @{" 2. Searching the database " link 2} @{" 3. How is the database organised? " link 3} @{" 4. The Internet Movie Database Team " link 4} @{" 5. Where does the information come from? " link 5} @{" 6. How can I add to the database? " link 6} @{" 7. Expanding the type of information covered " link 7} @{" 8. Distributing the database " link 8} @{" 9. A brief history of the whole project " link 9} @{"10. Key to the titles " link 10} @{"11. Key to the symbols appearing in filmographies " link 11} @{"12. Key to movie ratings " link 12} @{"13. Appearances in TV-series before an actor was even born! " link 13} @{"14. Who are the team members and what do they look like? " link 14} @{"15. Can I get hold of the source datafiles in plain ASCII? " link 15} @{"16. How frequently is the database updated? " link 16} @{"17. How long should I expect it to take for updates to be processed? " link 17} @{"18. Easier ways to submit new data " link 18} @{"19. Taking Part in the Movie Ratings Poll " link 19} @{"20. How to get a review included in the WWW interface " link 20} @{"21. How to keep a local installation of the database up-to-date " link 21} Specific Queries ================ How do I find... @{"22. all the information on a particular movie? " link 22} @{"23. all the information on a particular person? " link 23} @{"24. filmographies for everyone associated with a movie? " link 24} @{"25. full details of all the movies associated a person? " link 25} @{"26. a list of all the movies released in a particular year? " link 26} @{"27. a list of all the movies starring two particular people? " link 27} @{"28. a list of people who've played a particular character? " link 28} @{"29. when/where someone was born/died? " link 29} @{"30. a contact address for someone? " link 30} @{"31. a list of movies containing a particular word in the title? " link 31} @{"32. whether a movie is available on video/laserdisc/etc? " link 32} Copies of this article may be obtained by anonymous ftp to rtfm.mit.edu under /pub/usenet/news.answers/movies/movie-database-faq, or by sending e-mail to with the subject "HELP FAQ" Comments and suggestions on this FAQ are welcome and should be directed to the database coordinator, Col Needham . Changes: - size of the database (Q 1) - new URL for WWW interface at Cardiff [the old one still works] (Q 2.2) @endnode @node 1 1. What is the movie database? ============================== The Internet Movie Database is an international volunteer effort whose objective is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. It currently covers over 52,000 movies with over 720,000 filmography entries and is expanding continuously. The database includes filmographies for actors, directors, writers, composers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume designers, producers and a miscellaneous catch all section; plot summaries; character names; movie ratings; year of release; running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs; soundtracks; personal trivia; alternative names; certificates; color information; country of production; genres; production companies; sound mix; reference literature; filming locations; sequel/remake information; release dates; advertising tag lines; detailed technical data; and Academy Award information. Many thousands of movies are covered completely from the major actors to the minor bit players. In their ASCII form, the source datafiles currently occupy over 50Mb of disk-space. All the information comes from the users of the database so please continue to support it and help it to grow. @endnode @node 2 2. Searching the database ========================= The database can be searched in a variety of ways either on the Internet or by directly installing the information locally on your system. @{"2.1 E-Mail Interface " link 2.1} @{"2.2 WWW Interface " link 2.2} @{"2.3 Local Installation (Unix) " link 2.3} @{"2.4 Local Installation (Amiga) " link 2.4} @{"2.5 Local Installation (MS-DOS) " link 2.5} @{"2.5 Local Installation (Acorn) " link 2.6} @{"2.6 Telnet via WWW " link 2.7} @endnode @node 2.1 2.1 e-mail interface -------------------- For details send a message with the subject HELP to and the movie mail-server will respond with a guide. @endnode @node 2.2 2.2 WWW interface ----------------- The Internet Movie Database is available over the WWW (World Wide Web). There are numerous WWW clients (browsers) available for almost every system. e.g. NetScape (X, Windows, Mac) ftp.mcom.com Mosaic (X, Windows, Mac) ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu /Web lynx (vt100 terminal) ftp.wustl.edu /packages/www/lynx WebExplorer (OS/2) ftp.ibm.net /pub/WebExplorer Using a WWW client, open one of the following URLs (country): http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Movies/welcome.html (UK) http://www.msstate.edu/Movies/welcome.html (USA) http://rte66.com/Movies/welcome.html (USA) http://www.leo.org/Movies/welcome.html (Germany) http://ballet.cit.gu.edu.au/Movies/welcome.html (Australia) http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/Movies/welcome.html (Japan) http://cezanne.daum.co.kr/Movies/welcome.html (Korea) http://www.gem.co.za/Movies/welcome.html (South Africa) See the comp.infosystems.www.browsers.* newsgroup heirarchy for more info on the WWW and discussion on availability of browsers for your system. @endnode @node 2.3 2.3 local installation (Unix) ----------------------------- The movie database package enables you to install the data locally and provides a variety of search tools. It is available via anonymous FTP: ftp.cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/moviedb-3.2d.tar.gz ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/database/tools/moviedb-3.2d.tar.gz ftp.fu-berlin.de in /pub/misc/movies/database/tools/moviedb-3.2d.tar.gz see the README file in the same directories for more information. You will need between 5 and 20 Mb of local disk-space depending on how much of the data you want to access and whether you choose to compress it or not. All the programs automatically support compressed database files with a reasonable performance hit. NOTE: Users of previous versions must upgrade to this version immediately. The recent growth in the database means that only 3.2d is able to handle the full database. The internal formats of the databases have changed so you will need to do run 'make cleandbs' before upgrading. The Unix interface is written and maintained by Col Needham . An interactive front-end for the Unix interface is available from the ftp sites in: tools/imoviedb-2.0.tar.gz A LaTeX pretty printer for the interface is also available in: tools/moviedb2tex-2.0.shar.gz The two add-on packages are written by Philippe Queinnec @endnode @node 2.4 2.4 local installation (Amiga) ------------------------------ An interface for the Amiga is also available, complete with an easy to use graphical front-end. The Amiga version is available on all AmiNet ftp sites and also on the IMDB ftp sites: ftp.cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/imdb3_1_Amiga.lha ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/database/tools/imdb3_1_Amiga.lha ftp.fu-berlin.de in /pub/misc/movies/database/tools/imdb3_1_Amiga.lha If you have any further questions concerning the Amiga interface, please contact its author, Andre Bernhardt . @endnode @node 2.5 2.5 local installation (MS-DOS) ------------------------------- The CineBASE program provides an MS-DOS interface to the database and is also available via anonymous FTP: ftp.cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/cb152.arj ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/database/tools/cb152.arj ftp.fu-berlin.de in pub/misc/movies/database/tools/cb152.arj The preloaded database files have also been made available in the tools/msdos directory at the above sites and additionally at: gatekeeper.dec.com in /pub/misc/cinebase blender.digital.com.au in /pub/CineBASE You can avoid the lengthy install process by downloading all the files from the directories above and following the instructions in the program archive. Alternatively, the database can be loaded directly from the .list files. The program uses a different internal database format than the Unix interface described above and, as a result, you'll need approximately 75Mb of disk-space for a full CineBASE install. If you create a compressed drive using one of the MS-DOS disk compression programs such as DoubleSpace/Stacker/etc the data fits in about 25Mb though. Finally, the CineBASE program and preloaded data files are now available for downloading via the WWW. See the CineBASE home page for more information: http://www.usyd.edu.au/~hlebovic/CineBASE.html If you have any further questions concerning CineBASE, please contact its author, Henry Lebovic . @endnode @node 2.6 2.6 local installation (Acorn Machines) --------------------------------------- The Credits program provides a RISC OS interface to the database for Acorn machines and is available via anonymous FTP from: jpb.cse.bris.ac.uk @endnode @node 3 3. How is the database organised? ================================= The database is made up of many separate sections which are maintained by different people on the Internet. The following table gives an overview: List | Maintained by ---------------------|--------------------------------------------| Actors | Col Needham Actresses | Col Needham Alternative Names | Michel Hafner Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner Biographies | Mark Harding Cast Completion | Col Needham Certificates | Mark Harding Cinematographers | Michel Hafner Color Information | Mark Harding Composers | Michel Hafner Costume Designers | Harald Mayr Countries | Mark Harding Crazy Credits | Mark Harding Directors | Col Needham Editors | Harald Mayr Genres | Lars J Aas Goofs | Murray Chapman Literature | Joachim Polzer Locations | Rob Hartill Misc. Filmography | Col Needham Movie Links | Col Needham Movies | Michel Hafner Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto Producers | Andre Bernhardt Production Companies | Rob Hartill Production Designers | Harald Mayr Quotes | Bob Glickstein Ratings | Col Needham Release Dates | Mark Harding Running Times | Mark Harding Sound Mix | Mark Harding Soundtracks | Ron Higgins Tag Lines | Rob Hartill Technical Info | Joachim Polzer Trivia | Murray Chapman Writers | Jon Reeves ---------------------|--------------------------------------------| All of the files are available via anonymous FTP from: ftp.cathouse.org in pub/cathouse/movies/database ftp.funet.fi in pub/culture/tv+film/database ftp.fu-berlin.de in pub/misc/movies/database Some of the them are posted either in full or in a highlighted form to various rec.arts.movies.* newsgroups on a regular basis. The coverage is being expanded continously and the database grows by thousands of entries per week. The latest versions are always on the FTP sites listed above (updated every Friday) The following subsections describe the sections in more detail. @{"3.1 Cast Lists " link 3.1} @{"3.2 Crew Lists " link 3.2} @{"3.3 Titles Lists " link 3.3} @{"3.4 Biographies List " link 3.4} @{"3.5 Alternative Names List" link 3.5} @endnode @node 3.1 3.1 Cast Lists -------------- List | Maintained by -----------------|-------------------------------------- Actors | Col Needham Actresses | Col Needham Cast Completion | Col Needham -----------------|-------------------------------------- Highlights from the actors and actresses lists are posted to the newsgroup rec.arts.movies.people on an occasional basis and contain filmographies for most popular performers in those categories. The versions on the FTP sites contain the full lists with all the actors and actresses known to the database. Each filmography entry consists of up to five pieces of information: the name, the title, an attributes field (to store, for example, academy award nominations), the character name and a number to specify their position in the credits. Please note that guest appearances on TV-shows are not eligible for the cast databases owing to the volume and accuracy of this type of information. Note that the actors and actress lists only contain filmography information - biographical data such as date and place of birth, real name etc. is stored in the biographies list. The cast completion list simply records which movies have full cast lists in the database (i.e. everyone listed in the credits of the movie is in the actors/actresses lists). @endnode @node 3.2 3.2 Crew Lists -------------- The following lists are of a similar format to the cast lists in that they contain filmographies for people in the respective fields: List | Maintained by ---------------------|-------------------------------------------- Cinematographers | Michel Hafner Composers | Michel Hafner Costume Designers | Harald Mayr Directors | Col Needham Editors | Harald Mayr Misc. Filmography | Col Needham Producers | Andre Bernhardt Production Designers | Harald Mayr Writers | Jon Reeves ---------------------|-------------------------------------------- The miscellaneous filmography list is a "catch all" for people in careers not covered by the other filmography lists. Anyone who worked on a movie can be listed here. The idea is to spin-off new filmography lists from it if new managers can be found and the volume of data relating to a particular type of contribution justifies a new separate list. @endnode @node 3.3 3.3 Titles Lists ---------------- The following sections contain information relating to individual titles: List | Maintained by ---------------------|--------------------------------------- Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner Certificates | Mark Harding Color Information | Mark Harding Countries | Mark Harding Crazy Credits | Mark Harding Genres | Lars J Aas Goofs | Murray Chapman Literature | Joachim Polzer Locations | Rob Hartill Movie Links | Col Needham Movies | Michel Hafner Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto Production Companies | Rob Hartill Quotes | Bob Glickstein Ratings | Col Needham Release Dates | Mark Harding Running Times | Mark Harding Sound Mix | Mark Harding Soundtracks | Ron Higgins Tag Lines | Rob Hartill Technical Info | Joachim Polzer Trivia | Murray Chapman ---------------------|--------------------------------------- The alternative titles list contains original foreign language, video titles, TV titles etc. for the primary titles in the database. The certificates list contains the certificates / ratings classifications (MPAA, BBFC etc.) The color information list records whether the movie was shot in color or black & white. The countries list records the country of origin. The crazy credits list contains trivia and jokes appearing in movie credits. The genres list records the genres which describe the movie. The goofs list contains a list of unintentional mistakes in movies. The literature list records references to essays, critical analyses and books relating to specific movies. The locations list holds information on where movies were filmed. The movie links list notes links between movies in the database, such as sequels, remakes and also trivial connections such as homages and spoofs. The movies list contains the year of release along with any awards given to the movie as a whole. The plot summaries list has brief outlines of the movies in the database. The production companies list records the production company / studio which produced the movie. The quotes list contains memorable quotes. The ratings list is a massive on-going electronic poll wherein users of the database rate movies on a scale from 1 (bad) to 10 (good). The release dates list records the release dates of movies on a country by country basis. The running times list contains the length in minutes of movies in the database. The sound mix list records whether movies are recorded in mono, stereo etc. The soundtracks list contains details of songs featured on the soundtracks. The tag lines list contains advertising tag lines used to publicise movies (e.g. for Alien "In space no-one can hear you scream") The technical list records technical information such as aspect ratio, negative formats, print formats, cinematographic process etc. The trivia list contains all kinds of trivia for movies from cameo appearances to behind-the-scenes information. @endnode @node 3.4 3.4 Biographies List -------------------- The biographies list contains personal trivia on people in the database including dates of birth, dates of death, mini-biographies, agent's addresses, marital status and other works. @endnode @node 3.5 3.5 Alternative Names List -------------------------- The alternative names list contains details of different names people have been billed under during their careers, for example Joanne Whalley / Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. @endnode @node 4 4. The Internet Movie Database Team =================================== As mentioned earlier, the database is managed by a team of volunteers across the Internet. If you have any comments or suggestions which are appropriate for the whole team, we can be reached via e-mail at: Please DO NOT use this address to send additions and corrections to the content of the database. Also, suggestions and comments on specific sections should be mailed directly to the appropriate manager. However, if you do have something to say to the whole team, feel free to mail us, but PLEASE read the whole of this FAQ first (if it's obvious you haven't, you'll just receive a standard reply). The team members include all the database managers plus other people directly involved in the project. They are listed below in the order they joined the team along with their areas of responsibility: Col Needham ------------------------------ - overall co-ordinator and creator of the Internet Movie Database - manager of actors, actresses, directors, miscellaneous, movie links and movie ratings sections - author of Unix database interface - manager of mail-server keyword based additions interface - editor of the Internet Movie Database FAQ - editor of complete database additions guide - contact for general licensing/usage issues Michel Hafner ----------------------------------- - manager of composers, cinematographers, titles, aka titles and aka names sections - manager of internal master names and titles reference files to ensure database consistency across the various sections Murray Chapman ----------------------------------- - manager of movie trivia and goofs sections - WWW publicity/promotion manager Colin Tinto --------------------------------- - manager of plot summaries section - author of Windows interface help files Jon Reeves ------------------------------- - manager of writers section - responsible for information on latest releases, including incorporation of studio press pack data - manager of published movie review URLs (excluding r.a.m.reviews) for use in WWW interface - awards info coordinator (Golden Globes, Academy Awards etc.) Rob Hartill ------------------------------- - author and manager of WWW interface to the database - manager of production companies, tag lines and locations sections - WWW mirror site co-ordinator - manager of external movie URLs information, including links to the rec.arts.movies.reviews archives and official studio WWW sites Mark Harding ------------------------------- - manager of biographies, crazy credits, certificates, color information, countries, release dates, running times and sound mix sections - author and manager of easy template based "UPDATE" additions interface - publisher of weekly celebrity birthday/obituary lists Andre Bernhardt ------------------------------------------ - manager of producers and German aka titles sections - author of Amiga movie database Lars J Aas -------------------------------------- - manager of genres section - author of 'man' pages for Unix movie database Ron Higgins -------------------------------------- - manager of soundtracks section Henry Lebovic ------------------------------------------- - author of CineBase, the MS-DOS interface to the database Jin Mai -------------------------- - author of the forthcoming MS-Windows interface to the database Joachim Polzer ------------------------------------------ - manager of technical and literature sections Harald Mayr ------------------------------------ - manager of production designers, costume designers and editors sections Bob Glickstein -------------------------------- - manager of quotes section @endnode @node 5 5. Where does the information come from? ======================================== The team rely on users of the database to keep the information as complete as possible. The data has been collected by people on the Internet over the last five years. If you notice something missing from the database then please send it in - see question 6 for more information. Several thousand movies and people are covered completely, but there are still huge gaps in the coverage and help is always appreciated. Owing to the way the database is organized it can take anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks for information to make it into the individual sections so please be patient. @endnode @node 6 6. How can I add to the database? ================================= The most convenient way to send new additions or corrections is via the movie mail-sever's central collection service. For a complete submissions guide which covers everything send e-mail with the subject: HELP ADD FULL to . This guide contains all the information listed in the more specific guides described below and should have everything you need to know about adding to the database. Additions sent to the server are batched up and mailed weekly to all the team. They are then processed by the individual managers with the aid of some automatic management tools. Data sent to the mail-server can therefore be included much more quickly than mailing the managers directly. For a guide specifically covering the new easy additions interface only, send e-mail to the server with the subject: HELP UPDATE This interface is very easy to use and there are no special formats to learn, you just request a template for a movie or person, fill in any missing data and mail it back to the server. The second additions interface is more flexible and allows you to submit any information across the whole database. For a guide specific to this interface send e-mail with the subject: HELP ADD For users accessing the database via the WWW, it is possible to use your WWW browser to submit certain additions and/or corrections. The interface provides a template for submissions and will email them to the appropriate address on your behalf. We are always working on making it easier to submit additions and corrections to the database so suggestions are welcome. If you find a particular interface hard to use and have some ideas on how to simplify it, please let us know. As a result of the continual update of the additions interfaces please ensure you have an up to date copy of the submission guidelines. @endnode @node 7 7. Expanding the type of information covered ============================================ If you have a new idea for information currently missing from the database then please let me know. All we need is a willing volunteer to manage the new section and it could be added quite quickly. I have a full suite of database management tools to help make the task easier. All you would need is an interest in a particular area, access to anonymous FTP and the USENET group rec.arts.movies (so the data could be published) and some disk space to store the information and management tools. See question 32 for information on video availability in the database. @endnode @node 8 8. Distributing the database ============================ The objective of the database is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. The information is NOT public domain, however, permission is granted to distribute it freely in an electronic form only, providing certain conditions are met. A copy of the license attached to each database file is included below for reference. License ------- This file is part of the Internet Movie Database. The database is an international volunteer effort whose principal objective is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. The Internet Movie Database Team can be reached via e-mail at and are happy to discuss the implications of and exceptions to this license. All data and software released by the Internet Movie Database Team is freely available to anyone within certain limitations described below. You are encouraged to quote subsets of the database in USENET articles, movie related FAQs, magazine articles etc. We do ask, however, that if appropriate, you make reference to the source of the data and provide a pointer to the database for the benefit of the reader. Permission is granted by the copyright holder to allow free distribution of this file and any other part of the Internet Movie Database in an ELECTRONIC FORM ONLY, providing the following conditions are met: (1) NO FEE OF ANY KIND (however indirect), can be charged for its distribution. If this file is being stored for later distribution to anyone that can be seen as a customer to yourself or your company / organization YOU MUST contact the Internet Movie Database Team for permission. (2) Each of the database files may be distributed individually but only in an unaltered form. All the header and trailer information (including this notice and the details on how to access the database) must remain intact. (3) Specifically the files may NOT be used to construct any kind of on-line database (except for individual personal use). Clearance for ALL such on-line data resources must be requested from the Internet Movie Database Team. This is to enable us to maintain an up to date list of all such sites. Clearance will be granted provided access to said database is itself entirely free from ANY fees. (4) In addition, copies of the movie database frequently asked questions list and additions guide must be made available in the same area / by the same method as the other database files. (5) CD-ROM distribution is prohibited without written permission from the Internet Movie Database Team (see below for an e-mail contact). Distribution by e-mail, BBS and Internet systems is positively encouraged within these limitations. The files and software which make up the movie database may be uploaded to commercial BBS systems providing that the above conditions are met and no *additional* fees are applied above the standard connect time or downloading charges. This copyright notice has been designed to ensure that the voluntary time and effort of the Internet Movie Database Team and database users, is not used for financial gain by those who have contributed nothing or little to its growth or success. The changing nature of the Internet towards more commercial uses has forced us to produce this statement. Please do not be discouraged from submitting additions to the database as a result of this policy. If you need further explanation please contact the team at the address given below. If you are in doubt as to whether this copyright notice prevents you from distributing the database to others, you should contact the Internet Movie Database Team by e-mail at . @endnode @node 9 9. A brief history of the whole project ======================================= So where did it all start? Well, it all began back in 1989 when someone started a discussion in rec.arts.movies about who were the most attractive looking actresses around. In response to this thread, a college student in the US began to collect a list of all the actresses, along with the movies they had appeared in. The list was pretty disorganised to say the least and the original maintainer disappeared from the net after a few months. At this point Andy Krieg picked up the list, sorted it properly and began to post it monthly to rec.arts.movies under the title "THE LIST". In May of 1989 Chuck Musciano started the Movie Ratings Report, an on-going poll of movies posted weekly to the group. The two projects remained entirely separate for a couple of years, but it is appropriate to mention the start of the report here. I approached Andy Krieg in July 1990 asking why he didn't do an actors list. He said he was too busy but suggested I manage one. The actors list was created early in August and grew very rapidly. It was limited to living actors (like the actress list) to keep the size down. Being a fan of older movies I was disappointed that I couldn't include some of my favourite actors since they were dead. Later that month I asked for volunteers to run a dead actors/actresses list and when nobody came forward I started the dead list. At this point it's appropriate to mention the biggest contributor to the cast lists, Kevin Arvin. Kevin had been collecting movie information on-line and around this time he agreed to keep us supplied with data - something he's continued to do every month for the last five years. I estimate that over 100,000 entries in the database originate from Kevin and there's no doubt we owe an awful lot of the success to him. In September 1990 Dave Knight volunteered to manage a directors list to complement the cast lists. Seeing all the lists in rec.arts.movies, Grant Mason, a post-graduate student at Edinburgh, posted a request asking for some software to search the lists as a whole. Since I already had some very basic list processing shell scripts, I volunteered to publish them and the Internet Movie Database was born. Within a month, Jeff Sullivan volunteered to manage a writers list and by the end of 1990 Michel Hafner was managing the composers and cinematographers lists. Michel had some ideas on creating master reference lists of names and titles to keep everything consistent across the lists. He also suggested a list structure based on relations that was adopted. Throughout '91 and '92 the lists and software grew rapidly. Support was added for the movie ratings report and Michel's titles list which now meant you could access ratings and the year-of-release information in the database. Michel also launched a master reference list of alternative titles which enabled lots of redundancy in the database to be eliminated. Some of the original list managers had to give up their lists so things swapped around a little during this time. We got access to an FTP site at the University of Colorado which helped significantly since the data was then available all the time. Towards the end of '92 Steve Hammond volunteered to manage a character names database and Murray Chapman started the trivia list, agreeing to make it compatible with the software. Early in '93 Colin Tinto volunteered to start a plot summaries list and February '93 saw the launch of the first version of the software that was mostly in C. Jon Reeves also joined the team, taking over the writers list from Andy who had been looking after it temporarily. Around this time we discussed the idea of making the database available on an e-mail server somewhere. Alan Jay volunteered to create and run it at the PC users group in London. The movie mail-server went public in the summer of '93 and receives an average of 400 requests per day, although this rate is rising continuously. In August '93 the cast lists were reorganised slightly so that all the data was available to the movie database package (up until then only entries for people with a certain number of requests were available publicly). In September '93 Mark Harding volunteered to manage a biographies list and the crazy credits section which used to be part of the trivia list. Rob Hartill set up a WWW interface to the database and the Cardiff movie server was created. The WWW server receives tens of thousands of requests each *day* and again this figure is rising. Also at this time, Andre Bernhardt expressed an interest in porting the movie database software to the Amiga and a release followed shortly afterwards. At the end of '93 I took over the actresses list from Andy Krieg who at that point was the longest serving list manager. The six cast lists were merged to two, with the posted versions just being subsets of the full versions on the anonymous FTP sites. New filmography lists for editors, production designers and costume designers were also released. Henry Lebovic approached us about an MS-DOS interface to the database that he had been working on. In March '94 Andre volunteered to manage a producers filmography list, Lars Joergen Aas a quotes list, Ron Higgins a soundtracks list and Mike Gaines agreed to make the movie goofs list compatible with the database. Rob began to look at setting up mirror sites for his heavily used WWW interface database and there are now mirrors in Mississippi (run by Frank Peters), Australia (run by Mike Lawley), Iceland (run by Mark Townley), Germany (run by Wolfgang Klimt) and Japan (run by Jun-ichiro "itojun" Itoh). Also, Henry released CineBASE, the MS-DOS interface to the database, making the whole system accessible to even more people. In April '94 the movie mail-server additions interface was launched, meaning that updates for the whole database could now be sent to the same address, significantly simplifying things for the database managers and users. In May '94 the running times list was added to the database and the cast lists were reorganised to include the character names, although the char name information is still managed by Steve as a separate activity. During the latter part of '94 the new easier template based additions system, designed and managed by Mark Harding, was launched. This opened the database to many new contributors who'd previously been put-off by the long addition guidelines. In October '94 eight new lists were added to the database, significantly increasing the range of information available. The new lists were: alternative names, certificates, color information, countries, genres, miscellaneous filmographies, production companies and sound mix. The cast lists were enhanced to include credit ordering information, enabling the stars of each movie to be identified easily. In December '94 seven further lists were added, making virtually every class of movie information available within the database. The new lists were: the cast completion tracking, literature, locations, movie links, release dates, tag lines and technical information. @endnode @node 10 10. Key to the titles ===================== The titles in the database fall into one of five categories: (1) movies, unless otherwise indicated the title is a movie (2) made for TV movies, indicated by a (TV) tag (3) made for video movies, indicated by a (V) tag (4) TV-series, indicated by enclosing the title in "'s (5) mini-series, indicated by enclosing the title in "'s and a (mini) tag @endnode @node 11 11. Key to the symbols appearing in filmographies ================================================= The filmography databases enable details of awards earned for or notes on a particular performance/contribution to be recorded. Each database has a different set of symbols, although some overlap where appropriate. Universal Symbols ----------------- (AA) = Academy Award winner in relevant category (AAN) = Academy Award nomination in relevant category (GG) = Golden Globe winner in relevant category (GGN) = Golden Globe nomination winner in relevant category (BFA) = British Academy Award ( = British Film Award ) (Cesar) = French Academy Award (David) = Italian Academy Award (Felix) = European Academy Award ( = European Film Award ) (Guldbagge) = Swedish Academy Award Title Key --------- (FL:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best foreign movie (FL:AA) = Academy Award for best foreign movie (FL:GGN) = Golden Globe Nomination for best foreign language movie (FL:GG) = Golden Globe for best foreign language movie (GBB) = Golden Bear Berlin (GPC) = Golden Palm Cannes (SBB) = Silver Bear Berlin (GLV) = Golden Lion, Venice Acting Key ---------- (S:AA) = academy award winner (best supporting actor/actress) (S:AAN) = academy award nominee (best supporting actor/actress) (C:GG) = golden globe winner (best comedy/musical actor/actress) (C:GGN) = golden globe nominee (best comedy/musical actor/actress) (S:GG) = golden globe winner (best supporting actor/actress) (S:GGN) = golden globe nominee (best supporting actor/actress) (N:GG) = golden globe winner (best newcomer) Writers Key ----------- (song) = The writer is the author (composer?) of a song on which the screenplay was based. (story) = The writer contributed on the story for the screenplay only or the writer is the author of a story on which the movie was based. (play) = The writer is the author of the play on which the screenplay was based. (novel) = The writer is the author of the novel on which the screenplay was based. (novel XXX) = The writer is the author of the novel on which the screenplay was based, but the novel is not the same title as the movie. (book) = The writer is the author of the book on which the screenplay was based. (article) = The writer is the author of the article on which the screenplay was based. (operetta) = The writer is the author of the operetta on which the screenplay was based. (also XXX) = The writer was involved in some other aspect than just writing the screenplay. They may have authored the novel the screenplay was based on, or developed the story, etc. (A:AA) = Academy Award for Best Adaptation (A:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Adaptation (DS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (DS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (MPS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story (MPS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Motion Picture Story (S:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay (S:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay (SA:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - Adapted (SA:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - Adapted (SAM:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - based on Another Medium (SAM:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - based on Another Medium (SAO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material (SAO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material (SO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - Original (SO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - Original (SS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay (SS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay (SSF:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay - based on Factual material or material not previously published or produced (SSF:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay - based on Factual material or material not prev. published or produced (SSS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay - written directly for the Screen (SSS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay - written directly for the Screen (StO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story - Original (StO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story - Original (T:AA) = Academy Award for Title Writing (T:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Title Writing (WA:AA) = Academy Award for Writing Achievement (WA:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Writing Acheivement (BA) = British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Best Screenplay (G) = Genie for Best Screenplay (GG) = Golden Globe for Best Screenplay Composers Key ------------- (A:AA) = Academy Award for best score adapted from another musical source (A:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score adapted from another musical source (AAA) = Australian Academy Award (D:AA) = Academy Award for best score in a drama or a comedy (D:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score in a drama or a comedy (M:AA) = Academy Award for best score in a musical (M:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score in a musical (O:AA) = Academy Award for best original score (O:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best original score (BS:AA) = Academy Award for best song (BS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best song (songs) = The composer composed songs for the movie (also songs) = The composer composed also songs for the movie @endnode @node 12 12. Key to movie ratings ======================== The movie ratings report is a massive on-going poll of movies rated on a scale from 1 (bad) to 10 (excellent) by users on the Internet. An example entry on the report is: 0000000123 506 8.5 Casablanca For each movie, the vote distribution, the total number of votes and the average rating are shown. The vote distribution uses a single character to represent the percentage of votes for each ranking. The following characters codes can appear: "." no votes cast "3" 30-39% of the votes "7" 70-79% of the votes "0" 1-9% of the votes "4" 40-49% of the votes "8" 80-89% of the votes "1" 10-19% of the votes "5" 50-59% of the votes "9" 90-99% of the votes "2" 20-29% of the votes "6" 60-69% of the votes "*" 100% of the votes So, in our example above, "Casablanca" has received a total of 506 votes, the average of the votes being 8.5 with 30-39% 10/10; 20-29% 9/10; 10-19% 8/10; 1-9% 7/10 etc. @endnode @node 13 13. Appearances in TV-series before an actor was even born! =========================================================== There are several TV-series which have been running for many years, for example "As the World Turns" started in 1956 and "The Doctors" in 1963. Several actors and actresses began their careers by appearing in series such as these, for example, Meg Ryan played Betsy Montgomery in "As the World Turns". Queries to the database are usually sorted into chronological order, the year used being the year that the movie was released, or in the case of long running TV-series, the year it was first broadcast. This means that you can sometimes get information indicating a particular performer appeared in a TV-series before they were even born. In our example, Meg Ryan was born in 1961, but her filmography indicates she appeared in "As the World Turns" in 1956! To overcome this limitation in the database we normally use the character name to indicate the range of years the people appeared in the show. In our example Ryan's appearance was from 1982 to 1984 so her character name becomes "Betsy Montgomery (1982-1984)", @endnode @node 14 14. Who are the team members and what do they look like? ======================================================== The team members are all volunteers with an interest in movies. The database is provided free of charge as a service to the Internet and nobody is paid to manage this stuff. See section three for a list of who manages which bits of the database. If you've ever wondered what we look like, check out the rogues gallery on the Cardiff WWW interface to the database: http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Movies/rogues_gallery.html which has pictures of several of the database managers. @endnode @node 15 15. Can I get hold of the source datafiles in plain ASCII? ========================================================== If you're not on a Unix system and don't have access to the decompression tools 'uncompress' or 'gunzip' then use anonymous FTP to the ftp.funet.fi site (more details in question 3). This ftp server supports automatic decompression of the files as they are transfered to you. All you have to do is 'get' the files you are interested in as usual, but do *not* include the final .gz extension in the filenames. @endnode @node 16 16. How frequently is the database updated? =========================================== As outlined in question 3, the various files in the database are managed by several people across the Internet. The time between updates for the individual lists therefore varies according to the amount of free time available to their respective managers. The majority of the files are updated weekly. The FTP sites are updated every Friday and the WWW and mail-servers are updated on demand as the managers finish the weekly updates. The database currently grows by a minimum of 10,000 entries per week. We'd love to see the growth rate continue to rise though so keep those additions coming fast! @endnode @node 17 17. How long should I expect it to take for updates to be processed? ==================================================================== It all depends on the individual manager and where in the update cycle you sent the information. It can be anything from a few days to a few weeks. We are always working on ways to improve the time it takes additions to be processed, but the volume is continually rising as the Internet and the database grows. If you have any suggestions to make submitting additions easier, we are always happy to hear them. The majority of the database managers usually process their additions every week. The remaining sections tend to get updated at least once per month depending on the manager's workload, although work/study commitments sometimes delay them for longer. If you just miss an update it's possible to wait several weeks before your additions will be included. To summarise then, "it depends" :-), but all data is processed eventually so please don't be put off sending more additions in the meantime. The fastest way to get your updates processed is to send them to the movie mail-server, see question 5 for more details. @endnode @node 18 18. Easier Ways to Submit New Data ================================== If you find the standard addition formats too complex there is now an alternative easier way to submit additions on a title by title basis. There are no special formats to learn, you just request a template for a movie, fill in any missing data and send it back to the mail-server. For information on this interface send a message with the subject: HELP UPDATE to or for receive a template for a movie directly use the subject: TEMPL TITLE For example: TEMPL TITLE Vertigo TEMPL TITLE Lion King, The The "UPDATE" interface now includes support for adding to the filmography and biography sections in a similar manner. The subject to use is: TEMPL NAME <surname>, <first name> For example: TEMPL NAME Grant, Cary TEMPL NAME Davis, Geena @endnode @node 19 19. Taking Part in the Movie Ratings Poll ========================================= Everyone is encouraged to take part in the movie ratings poll (see Q 11). The WWW interface provides a simple way to vote in the report - just look up the details on any title and the voting buttons are located at the bottom of the page. You must remember to mail your votes to the ratings tabulator if you vote via this interface (the voting page has full details of what to do). Another way to vote is by replying to the weekly movie ratings ballot article posted to rec.arts.movies.lists+surveys every Friday. The WWW interface also contains a link to the weekly ballot: http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ballot.html Finally, a selection of movie ratings ballots are now available via the movie mail-server interface. For more information send e-mail with the subject: HELP BALOT to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk>. @endnode @node 20 20. How to get a review included in the WWW interface ===================================================== We don't store movie reviews in the database directly, instead they are linked in from other sources on the Internet. The primary source is the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup archive which contains over 3,000 detailed reviews. Therefore, the easiest way to get a review included in the WWW interface is to publish it in that newsgroup. This is a moderated newsgroup but as long as you are posting an original review it will be accepted and thus included in the WWW interface. @endnode @node 21 21. How to keep a local installation of the database up-to-date =============================================================== The majority of the database files are updated every Friday on the ftp sites which means keep a local installation such as the Unix or Amiga interface up-to-date involves a significant amount of network traffic. To help reduce this, weekly 'diff' files are now available in the database/diffs subdirectory on each ftp site. These enable you to download a much smaller single file with all the updates for each week. For more details on this scheme see the file database/diffs/README on all the ftp sites. @endnode @node 22 22. How do I find all the information on a particular movie? ============================================================ Unix: title -t "<title>" -full eg: title -t "Vertigo" -full Mail-Server: MOVIE <title> eg: MOVIE Vertigo @endnode @node 23 23. How do I find all the information on a particular person? ============================================================= Unix: list -name "<name>" -full eg: list -name "Hitchcock, Alfred" -full Mail-Server: PERSN <name> eg: PERSN Hitchcock, Alfred @endnode @node 24 24. How do I get filmographies for everyone associated with a movie? ==================================================================== Unix: listall -t "<title>" -full eg: listall -t "Notorious (1946)" -full Mail-Server: TRACE MOVIE <title> eg: TRACE MOVIE Notorious (1946) @endnode @node 25 25. How do I get full details of all the movies associated a person? ==================================================================== For actors/actresses: --------------------- Unix: ltrace -a "<name>" -full eg: ltrace -a "Grant, Cary" -full Mail-Server: TRACE ACTOR <name> eg: TRACE ACTOR Grant, Cary For directors: -------------- Unix: ltrace -d "<name>" -full eg: ltrace -d "Hitchcock, Alfred" -full Mail-Server: TRACE DIRCT <name> eg: TRACE DIRCT Hitchcock, Alfred @endnode @node 26 26. How do I find a list of all the movies released in a particular year? ========================================================================= For a plain list: ----------------- Unix: lindex -title -yreq <year> eg: lindex -title -yreq 1993 Mail-Server: INDEX ALL <year> eg: INDEX ALL 1993 For a list sorted by average rating: ------------------------------------ Unix: lindex -title -yreq <year> -smrr eg: lindex -title -yreq 1993 -smrr Mail-Server: INDEX SMR <year> eg: INDEX SMR 1993 For a list sorted by number of votes: ------------------------------------- Unix: lindex -title -yreq <year> -vmrr eg: lindex -title -yreq 1993 -vmrr Mail-Server: INDEX VMR <year> eg: INDEX VMR 1993 @endnode @node 27 27. How do I find a list of all the movies starring two particular people? ========================================================================== Unix: list -a "<name1>" -a "<name2>" eg: list -a "Tracy, Spencer" -a "Hepburn, Katharine" Mail-Server: LISTA <name1> AND <name2> eg: LISTA Tracy, Spencer AND Hepburn, Katharine @endnode @node 28 28. How do I find a list of people who've played a particular character? ======================================================================== You can't do this at the moment in the Unix and Mail-Server interfaces, but you can search for character names via the WWW interface. There is a link on the database home page which will search the character names information. @endnode @node 29 29. How can I find out when/where someone was born/died? ======================================================== This information is contained in the biographies database and will be returned as part of any query about the person you are interested in (assuming this data is in the system - we currently have birthdate/birthplace information for about 7,000 people). Unix: list -name "<name>" -full eg: list -name "Curtis, Jamie Lee" -full Mail-Server (for actors/actresses): ACTOR <name> eg: ACTOR Curtis, Jamie Lee @endnode @node 30 30. How can I find a contact address for someone? ================================================= This information is contained in the biographies database and will be returned as part of any query about the person you are interested in, however, so far we only have a handful of addresses. The address listed is always that of the person's agent. It is not the intention of the database to ever store private home mailing addresses. Unix: list -name "<name>" -full eg: list -name "Hamilton, Linda" -full Mail-Server (for actors/actresses): ACTOR <name> eg: ACTOR Hamilton, Linda @endnode @node 31 31. How do I find a list of movies containing a particular word in the title? ============================================================================= Unix: lindex -title -s "<substring>" eg: lindex -title -s "Alien" Mail-Server: SEARC TITLE <substring> eg: SEARC TITLE Alien @endnode @node 32 32. How do I find whether a movie is available on video/laserdisc/etc? ====================================================================== Videotape availability is not stored in the movie database. The shear quantity and rate of change of such information is not something we can really handle. There are plenty of video companies on the net who are in a much better position to cover this area. Please see one of the WWW indexing sites for details of these companies. One such index is: http://www.yahoo.com/Business/Corporations/Entertainment/Video/ Having said this, however, we will be supporting a LaserDisc section in the near future. The LD market is much smaller and less fragmented by country so it seems to be something we can manage within the database. @endnode ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you find this FAQ useful. If you have a question that isn't covered please contact me via e-mail at <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Col Needham Internet Movie Database Co-ordinator -----------------------------------------------------------------------------