------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOVIE DATABASE FULL ADDITIONS GUIDE =================================== For an up to date version of this guide send e-mail with the subject: HELP ADD FULL to . BACKGROUND ========== The movie database is an international volunteer effort coordinated via the USENET newsgroup rec.arts.movies. 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. It currently covers over 31,000 movies with over 370,000 filmography entries and is expanding continuously. For more information on the movie database project as a whole, send e-mail with the subject "HELP FAQ" to . The information in the database comes entirely from its users, so if you find it useful, the best way to show your appreciation is to send more movie information to the database managers. We need your help to enable the database to grow and keep it up to date with the latest releases and to fill in some of the gaps for older movies. This is a guide to submitting information to the database via the movie mail-server's central collection service. This gives you one address to which send your additions across the whole database and a choice of two formats depending on how familiar you are with the system. The WWW front-end to the database at Cardiff and its various mirror sites provide a form filling interface to the additions system. The completed forms are mailed to the same central collection address so this guide also serves as a useful explanation of the WWW forms. ------------------- THE EASY "UPDATE TITLE" INTERFACE ================================= The new "UPDATE TITLE" interface provides the most straightforward way to add data to the movie database on a title by title basis. There are no special formats to use - you simply edit the information in a form you are used to seeing and mail it back to the server for processing. If you have copies of your favourite movies on tape/LD at home, why not help to complete the information on them directly from credits of your copy? Just take a look at the instructions below, enter the missing information in the easy new format and send it off. Using the interface =================== To submit data using the new interface, follow these simple instructions: (1) the first thing you need is a template containing the current details of the movie you wish to submit additions for. You can request a template by sending e-mail with the subject or body containing lines of the form: TEMPL TITLE to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk> For example, TEMPL TITLE Vertigo TEMPL TITLE Four Weddings and a Funeral (2) load the returned template into your favourite editor and follow the instructions given in the template to add your data. The idea is that you are making the template look like the results of a standard "MOVIE" query from the mail-server. There are no complicated formats to learn, just follow the comments and add your data! (3) once you have finished editing the template, mail it back to the server - the reply address and subject are already set-up to do this, but in case you lose the mail-headers, just set the subject to "UPDATE TITLE" and send the file to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk>. A Customised Template Editor ============================ You can use any editor to add information to the templates returned by the server, however, if you have the movie database software package installed locally on your system, I can strongly recommend Phil Queinnec's template editor which has been written specifically for the new additions interface. The editor is available via anonymous FTP from: cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/templedit-1.0.tar.Z ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/templedit-1.0.tar.gz You can start up Phil's editor on a template file and it provides context sensitive name completion for all the filmography sections. For example, whilst editing the producers section, you can type "selz", press <TAB> to activate the completion and it fills in David O. Selznick. Similarly for the other sections, with only the relevant names for that section being available as completions. New names can, of course, be added but you are warned that the name is new, hopefully cutting down the number of spelling errors. ------------------- THE STANDARD "ADD" INTERFACE ============================ This interface provides the most flexible way to add to the movie database, although it does require you to understand the submission formats. This is compensated by the fact that you will receive an acknowledgement for your data, summarising the content and listing any lines which do not match the required format. To use the standard additions interface your message should have a subject: ADD and contain lines in the formats described below. Additions submitted via the server are batched up and sent to the list managers every Friday morning for processing. The delay before they are processed and included in the database depends on the amount of free time each list manager has available so please be patient. ------------------- KEYWORDS ======== Each group of additions should be preceeded by a keyword - these are ACTOR ACTRESS CAST CHARA DIRCT WRITE COMPO CINEM EDITO DESIG COSTU PRODU PLOTS TRIVI BIOGR CRAZY GOOF QUOTE SOUND COMMENT CORRECT AKA TIME. The keyword should be on a line of its own and subsequent lines will be extracted by the relevant list co-ordinator. The following lines must be in the format of the database described below. You will receive an acknowledgment from the server on receipt of your data which will show how many lines for each keyword were received. The bottom of the acknowledgment will list any lines which did not conform to the formats and hence were rejected. ------------------- TITLE AND NAME FORMATS ====================== All names in additions for the filmography and biography lists should be given in <surname>, <first name> order. For example: Grant, Cary Hitchcock, Alfred DeNiro, Robert Robards Jr., Jason This is also true for Japanese, Chinese and other names that usually are written <surname> <first name> and therefore need only a comma in between, but no switching. For example: Gong, Li ( not <Li, Gong> although credits read <Gong Li> ) All titles should have leading articles ("the", "a", "an" in English) moved to the end in order to allow correct alphabetical sorting. For example: Room with a View, A Terminator, The Affair to Remember, An The same rule applies for all other languages. For example: Blechtrommel, Die ( German ) Bidone, Il ( Italian ) Amor Brujo, El ( Spanish ) Lune Dans le Caniveau, La ( French ) Canibais, Os ( Portuguese ) Melissokomos, O ( Greek ) All titles are assumed to be movies unless otherwise indicated as follows: "xxxxx" = a television series, e.g. "Twin Peaks" "xxxxx" (mini) = a television mini-series, e.g. "Lonesome Dove" (mini) (TV) = TV movie, or made for cable movie, e.g. Duel (TV) (V) = made for video movie, e.g. Steve Martin Live (V) If more than one movie exists with the same title, we include the year as part of the title to distinguish between them all. For example: Cape Fear (1962) Cape Fear (1991) In very rare cases two movies with the same title have been released in the same year. In such cases we include (19XX/I) for the movie released first and (19XX/II) for the one released second. For example: Black Rain (1989/I) Black Rain (1989/II) ------------------- DETAILED KEYWORD FORMATS ======================== Cast Databases ============== Keywords: ACTOR = actors additions ACTRESS = actress additions CAST = actor or actress additions CHARA = character name additions for entries *already* in the database ONLY Please split additions for actors and actresses into two separate sections with the appropriate keywords. If you aren't sure of someone's gender, use the CAST keyword instead. Character names may also be included in the additions (if known) so the format can be any of: <name>|<title>| <name>|<title>|<attr>|<char> <name>|<title>|<char> The formats for the name and titles are as explained in the previous section. The attributes field is used to record details of any award nominations or wins and in most cases will be blank. If you are uncertain about whether to include anything in this field, leave it blank. Any attributes you do submit must be enclosed in ()'s, for example, (AA) to indicate an Academy Award win. The character field records the name of the character the person played in each movie. This field is optional and can be left blank if you are uncertain of the information. Examples -------- ACTOR Biehn, Michael|Abyss, The| Biehn, Michael|Terminator, The|Kyle Reese Day-Lewis, Daniel|My Left Foot|(AA) De Niro, Robert|Cape Fear (1991)| Hopkins, Anthony|Silence of the Lambs, The|(AA)|Hannibal Lector Russell, Kurt|Thing, The (1982)| ACTRESS Foster, Jodie|Silence of the Lambs, The|(AA)|Clarice Starling To add character names to *existing* entries in the database only use the keyword CHARA. The format is: <name>|<title>|<char> If the entry for which you wish to submit a character name is not already in the database you must use the ACTOR/ACTRESS/CAST keyword instead, otherwise the data will be lost! Other Filmography Databases =========================== Keywords: DIRCT = directors WRITE = writers COMPO = composers CINEM = cinematographers EDITO = editors DESIG = production designers COSTU = costume designers PRODU = producers The format is similar to that for the cast databases: <name>|<title>| <name>|<title>|<attr>| Examples -------- DIRCT Hitchcock, Alfred|Psycho|(AAN) Hitchcock, Alfred|Vertigo| WRITE Hecht, Ben|Notorious (1946) Movie Titles ============ Keyword: TITLE If your additions include a title that is new to the database please also include a section of the form: <title>|<year>| Examples -------- TITLE Aliens|1986| Aliens Are Coming, The (TV)|1980| Breakfast of Aliens|1993| Cape Fear (1962)|1962| Cape Fear (1991)|1991| Alternative Titles ================== Keyword: AKA Movies are sometimes known under several different titles. To submit one or more alternative titles for a movie use the AKA keyword. The format is: <primary title>|<aka-title>| Examples: -------- Abbott and Costello Go to Mars|On to Mars| Abbott and Costello Go to Mars|Rocket and Roll| Shoot to Kill (1988)|Deadly Pursuit| 400 Blows, The|Quatre Cents Coups, Les| Running Times ============= Keyword: TIME The running times list is the latest addition to the movie database. The format for additions is: <title>|<time in minutes>|<attributes> The attributes field is used to record the version which the time applies to, for example, "(TVV)" for television version, "(special edition)" etc. A blank attribute implies that the time applies to the original cinema release. Please include a separate entry for each version you supply a time for. Examples: --------- Vertigo|128| Psycho|109| A more detailed explanation of the formats for this list is included later in the section entitled "Submitting Running Times via the 'ADD' Interface". Plot Summaries / Biographies ============================ Keywords: PLOTS = plot summaries database BIOGR = biographies database (mini-biographies, dates of birth/death etc) The biographies and plot summaries lists have specific formats for additions. If you don't already know the formats see the later sections entitled "Submitting Plot Summaries via the 'ADD' Interface" and "Submitting Biographies via the 'ADD' Interface". Once you are familiar with the required formats you can submit additions using the codes BIOGR and PLOT as follows: BIOGR <name> <formatted data for biographies database> PLOTS <title> <formatted data for plot summaries database> Other Databases =============== Keywords: CRAZY = crazy credits TRIVI = movie trivia QUOTE = memorable quotes GOOF = unintentional mistakes SOUND = songs/music used on soundtracks These databases are of a free form nature so just include the title of the film on the line after the keyword and then your text. <title> <free text containing info can be more than one line> Comments and Corrections ======================== Keywords: COMMENT = general comments/explanations on the data you've submitted CORRECT = corrections for the database There is no format for either of these so just write in plain English. Please note that the processing software splits your mail into separate files by keyword, so make sure any comments/corrections make sense on their own and do not depend on something you added under another keyword in order to be understood. Marking the End of Your Data ============================= Finally, to finish off a message put the word END on a new line. ------------------- SUBMITTING PLOT SUMMARIES VIA THE "ADD" INTERFACE ================================================= Rules ----- 1. Try to avoid any spoilers. Some very small spoilers will be allowed, and are often necessary, but any biggies will annoy other readers when they find out the Butler didn't do it ! 2. Any analysis of the film should be left out of the plot summary. e.g. "This film is one of Hitchcocks finest". It is up to the viewer to decide if he/she likes it. This includes performances by actors and actresses. 3. Where possible, try not to use any actor or actress names in the plot outline. This is already taken care of in the movie database. If possible, use the character names from the movie. 4. All copyrighted material is excluded from the plot outlines database. This includes Movie Guides, Newspapers, and even the blurb on the back of the video case. 5. You must stick to the pre-arranged format given below. The plot summaries will be read in by a program, and will automatically be added to the list. Any non-conformant outlines may be discarded. 6. Try and keep it reasonably short. Less than 10 lines for the description if possible. 7. A list of genre types will be supplied, but if the film you are summarising doesn't fit, just add your own. In the case of multiple-genre movies, e.g. Comedy Thriller, try and stick to 2 or 3 main types, with the most significant genre coming first - i.e. if something is primarily a comedy with a bit of horror, list it as: Comedy Horror. You may add sub-genres after the main genres, e.g. Sci-Fi Romance Underwater Extra-terrestrials. 8. Any queries about plots or the submitting of plots must have "PLOT QUERY" in the subject line. 9. Please try and spell check any summaries you submit. 10.Try and keep you BY: line consistent if you write more than one summary. You will never make it into the top 10 if you have 5 variations of your name/mail address. 11.If you spot an error in a summary, mail me at colint@spider.co.uk, with "PLOT ERROR" as the subject line. Spelling and Grammar errors should be ignored. Format ------ First an example: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MV: Vertigo PL: San Francisco police detective (Scottie Fergusson) develops a fear of PL: heights and is forced to retire when a colleague falls to his death during PL: a chase. An old college friend (Gavin Elster) hires Scottie to watch his PL: wife (Madeleine) who has become obsessed with the past. Scottie follows her PL: around San Francisco and is drawn into a complex plot. GE: Mystery Thriller BY: Colin Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The format is: MV: <title> PL: <text> GE: <genres> BY: <Real Name> followed by mail name, or enter anonymous if you wish where: "MV:" indicates the title of the movie, please follow the form as used on the lists. If you are in doubt check the movie database for a definitive answer. "PL:" upto 76 characters per line of description. The description may span several PL lines. "GE:" genre keywords, separated by spaces with upto 76 characters per line. GE lines may also be repeated, but this is unlikely in reality. "BY:" author of description. Enter your name (or pseudonym) here. You may enter anonymous if you wish. The PL, GE and BY lines are treated as belonging to the last MV line encountered by the software. The processing software ignore blank lines and lines starting with a '-' so you can make the descriptions look tidy if you wish. Genres ------ Listed here are some genres for the more popular types of movies. Drama Comedy War Crime Musical Romance Biography Adventure Horror Thriller Historical Mystery Sci-Fi Fantasy Sports Spy Childrens Political Animated Action Prison Religious Opera Disaster Dance Try and use these, or combinations of them, for the main genre field. The sub-genre can be anything really. Some more examples ------------------ MV: Alien (1979) PL: The crew of the deep space mining ship Nostromo are awoken from hypersleep PL: to investigate a strange signal from a nearby planet. While investigating PL: the signal, they discover it was intended as a warning, and not an SOS. PL: What follows are some grisly and inventive special effects based on the PL: work of H.R.Giger BY: Colin Tinto <colint@spider.co.uk> GE: Horror Sci-Fi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MV: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade PL: Renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones, returns PL: for the 3rd and final Indy film. Teaming up with his father, Indiana PL: sets out to try and find the Holy Grail. Once again, the Nazis are after PL: the same prize, and try to foil Indianas plans. BY: Colin Tinto <colint@spider.co.uk> GE: Adventure ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to submit your additions ---------------------------- To submit new plot summaries follow these guidelines: * place your formatted summaries (see previous section) in a file and before the first summary put the word: PLOTS on a line on it's own (exactly as above in uppercase letters) * after the end of the last summary put the word: END on a line on it's own (exactly as above in uppercase letters) * DO NOT include the lines "-"'s to separate summaries as shown in the examples above. Lines of dashes are assumed to be start of .signature markers in the mail-server and subsequent lines are ignored! * finally, mail the file with the subject: ADD to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk> and the server will return a receipt once your data has arrived. You must use the subject "ADD" otherwise the server will interpret your message as a request for information and the data will be lost. Your summaries will be placed in a queue and processed when the list is next updated. ------------------- SUBMITTING BIOGRAPHIES VIA THE "ADD" INTERFACE ============================================== This is a guide to submitting biographies to the movie database. The biographies database is used to record personal trivia such as real name, date of birth, date of death, mini-biography about the person's life, agent's address etc. It does *not* include the list of movies the person was involved with - these are held separately in the filmography databases. To get your data included please follow the format described below, then place the biographies in a message and mark the start of the data with a line containing the keyword: BIOGR and e-mail the message with the subject: ADD to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk>. Rules ----- 1. All copyrighted material is excluded from the BIOGRAPHY database. This includes Movie Guides, Newspapers, Biographies etc. 2. You must stick to the pre-arranged format given below. The biographies will be read in by a program, and will automatically be added to the list. Any non-conformant entries will be discarded. 3. Try and keep biographies reasonably concise. 4. The list compiler has the right to choose which biography to use. Information from a number of sources may be combined to provide a single biography. 5. Any submissions must have "BIOGRAPHY" in the subject line of the mail. Multiple entries may be sent in one mail message. 6. If possible, run your mini-bio through a spell checker. 7. Any libelious or slanderous entries will be discarded. 8. When submitting Trivia, if appropriate, try and include a date so that some form of chronology can be formed. Format ------ First an example: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NM: Hamilton, Linda DB: 26th September 1956 BG: Born in Salisbury, Maryland, USA, following high school Linda BG: studied for two years at Washington College in Chestertown, BG: Maryland, before moving on to acting studies in New York. BG: In New York she attended acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg. BG: Her first parts where small parts in TV series, with her biggest BG: break coming with her role in _The Terminator_ (qv). BG: Most known to public at large from her part in the TV series BG: _Beauty and the Beast_ (qv) (before _Terminator 2_ (qv), at BG: least). BY: Steinar Bang <steinarb@falch.no> SP: 'Bruce Abbott' (qv), 19th December 1982 - 1989 TR: * Won the "Best Female Performance" and "Most Attractive Female" TR: awards for her appearance in _Terminator 2_ (qv) at the 1992 MTV TR: movie awards TR: TR: * Mother of Dalton Abbott, born 4th October 1989. TR: TR: * Recently, she's been living with director 'James Cameron' (qv), who is TR: the father of her second child. TR: TR: * Linda is an LA Dodgers fan. TR: TR: * Has an identical twin sister Leslie. AG: Linda Hamilton AG: c/o ICM AG: 8899 Beverly Blvd. AG: Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA AG: (agent: Mr. R. Shapiro) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The format is: NM: <Person's Industry Name> RN: <Person's Real Name> DB: <Date of Birth> - <Place of Birth> DD: <Date of Death> - <Cause of death> BG: <Mini-Biography> BY: <Real Name> followed by mail name, or enter anonymous if you wish BO: <Available Biographies> OW: <Other Works> TR: <General Trivia> QU: <Personal Quotes> AG: <Agent's Address> SP: <Spouse Entry> where: "NM:" This is the personalities industry name, i.e. the name we all know for the person. "RN:" This is the name given to the person at birth. "DB:" Date of birth. Please use full date e.g. 10th September 1945. This can be followed by the place of birth if known. "DD:" Date of death, if known. Again, please state full date. The cause of death, if known should follow the date. "BG:" A mini biography. Each line may contain up to 76 characters. There can be any number of BG: lines. "BY:" author(s) of description. Enter your name (or pseudonym) here. You may enter anonymous if you wish. "BO:" Biographies of / books about this person. This line contains the book title, author and possibly ISBN numbers. "OW:" Other works. This section describes works, other than movies attributed to the person, e.g. Books, plays, albums etc. "TR:" Trivia. Each line should be bulleted (see example) and contain no more than 76 chars per line. There may be more than one TR: line. "QU:" Quotes made by that person. Each quote should be enclosed by quotation marks and contain no more than 76 characters per line. There may be more than one QU: line. "AG:" Agent's address. A contact address for information on the person. "SP:" Spouses name, followed by start and end of marriage. *NB* The NM: field is required, all other fields are optional. The *smallest* detail will get added to the database. Also, these fields are extendible, so if you think of any new fields you'd like to see, drop me a line. ------------------- SUBMITTING RUNNING TIMES VIA THE "ADD" INTERFACE ================================================ NOTE/WARNING: As with other data on this database, we MUST be careful to avoid copyright violations. Therefore, please note that you CANNOT, and SHOULD NOT use movie reference books or CD-ROMs of any sort in order to gather your data. Some acceptable means of obtaining your movie running times are: a). VCR timer b). Videotape/laserdisc box c). Production publicity (e.g. studio press kits) d). stopwatch To add entries on the running times of movies, mail them to movie@ibmpcug.co.uk in the following format: TIME <movie>|<time>|<attrs> ... <movie>|<time>|<attr> <movie> - This is the full title of the film. If it is not a new title, please try to specify the title exactly as it appears in the database. <time> - This is the running time in minutes, INCLUDING the credits, but NOT including the tape leader and any other material (trailers, warnings, etc.) that may be on your videotape before the start of the film. In other words, if you're using a VCR timer, please zero the counter at the start of the film. Also, please make sure that if you're taping or otherwise taking the time off a TV broadcast, that you are careful not to include commercials. <attr> - Attribute: If you know for a fact that there are different versions of the film, and you know which one you're watching, you may qualify the entry with an attribute (which version this is). An entry without an attribute we can assume means the "original theatrical runing time in the country of origin." (E) - European version (A) - American version (TVV) - TV version (VV) - Video version (DC) - "Director's Cut" (RIV) - Re-issue version (O) - Other (if there are other significant categories that need separate treatment, I can add them later - let me know) Note that ideally the main entry should be the one released in the movie theaters. If you know that the running times of more than one version, you may include all of them, each as a separate entry. Examples: TIME 39 Steps, The (1935)|81 Birds, The|119 Dune|180 Dune|190|(TVV) Television series running times are not supported (miniseries are OK). Corrections: You may send corrections directly to me (volovich@netcom.com). Alternatively, you can send them also to the movie database server along with your other submissions. The database server will understand the keyword CORRECT (on a separate line, as with other keywords), followed by one or more lines of text. No specific format of the text is necessary, but you should clearly explain what movie and which version you're talking about, etc. Be advised, however: 1). Silent movies may be shown at slightly different speeds because at that time there was no exact standard of speed (running times for silent films were usually given in feet, but we won't go into such details here), so different people might get different times. 2). The European (PAL/SECAM) tv/video running times may be shorter by about 4% due to the fact that film runs at 24 frames, but European video runs at 25 (North American (NTSC) video actually runs at 30, but the transfer takes the 24/30 difference into account). ------------------- COMPLETE "ADD" EXAMPLE ====================== To: movie@ibmpcug.co.uk Subject: ADD ACTOR Biehn, Michael|Terminator, The| Day-Lewis, Daniel|My Left Foot|(AA) Russell, Kurt|Thing, The (1982)| DIRCT Scorsese, Martin|Cape Fear (1991)| Hitchcock, Alfred|Psycho|(AAN) TITLE Terminator, The|1984| Psycho|1960| Cape Fear (1991)|1991| TRIVI Terminator, The Shots through the Terminator's vision show Apple 2+ assembly code, taken from the left hand side of the screen while compiling a BASIC program or some such multi line comment. END ------------------- SUMMARY OF "ADD" KEYWORDS ========================= Format of Additions: ACTOR/ACTRESS/CAST/COMPO/DIRCT/CINEM/COSTU/DESIG/EDITO/PRODU/WRITE <name>|<title>| <name>|<title>|<attr>|<char> <name>|<title>|<char> CHARA <name>|<title>|<char> TITLE <title>|<year>| AKA <primary title>|<aka title> TIME <title>|<time>|<attribute> PLOTS <title> <formatted data for plot summaries database> BIOGR <name> <formatted data for biographies database> CRAZY/TRIVI/GOOF/QUOTE/SOUND <title> <free text containing info can be more than one line> COMMENT/CORRECT <free form comment can be more than one line> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------