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From solano.community.net!uunet!pipex!ibmpcug!cn Thu Aug 25 10:21:59 1994
Path: solano.community.net!uunet!pipex!ibmpcug!cn
From: cn@ibmpcug.co.uk (Colin Needham)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies,alt.cult-movies,rec.arts.sf.movies,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Movie Database: Frequently Asked Questions List
Supersedes: <moviedb-faq-940811@natalie.ibmpcug.co.uk>
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Date: 18 Aug 1994 05:24:45 GMT
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Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
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Message-ID: <moviedb-faq-940818@natalie.ibmpcug.co.uk>
Reply-To: cn@ibmpcug.co.uk (Colin Needham)
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Summary: An introduction to the rec.arts.movies movie database, which provides
on-line movie information, including filmographies of actors,
actresses, directors, writers...; plot summaries; movie trivia etc.
Keywords: movie database FAQ
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Xref: solano.community.net rec.arts.movies:199816 alt.cult-movies:55552 rec.arts.sf.movies:25909 alt.answers:3996 rec.answers:6792 news.answers:27030
Archive-name: movies/movie-database-faq
Posting-Frequency: weekly
Last-modified: 1994/08/11
Version: 1.13
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 <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk> with the subject "HELP FAQ"
Comments and suggestions on this FAQ are welcome and should be directed
to Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>.
MOVIE DATABASE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
=========================================
This is a guide to the rec.arts.movies movie database. The database is
available in several forms on the internet and provides one of the most
comprehensive sources 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:
SECTION ONE: General Information
(1) What is the movie database?
(2) Searching the database
(3) How is the database organised?
(4) Where does the information come from?
(5) How can I add to the database?
(6) Expanding the type of information covered
(7) Distributing the database
(8) A brief history of the whole project
(9) Key to the titles
(10) Key to the symbols appearing in filmographies
(11) Appearances in TV-series before an actor was even born!
(12) Who are the list managers and what do they look like?
(13) Can I get hold of the source datafiles in plain ASCII?
(14) How frequently is the database updated?
(15) How long should I expect it to take for updates to be processed?
(16) Easier ways to submit new data
SECTION TWO: Specific Queries
How do I find...
(17) all the information on a particular movie?
(18) all the information on a particular person?
(19) filmographies for everyone associated with a movie?
(20) full details of all the movies associated a person?
(21) a list of all the movies released in a particular year?
(22) a list of all the movies starring two particular people?
(23) a list of people who've played a particular character?
(24) when/where someone was born/died?
(25) a contact address for someone
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION ONE
===========
1. What is the movie database?
==============================
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 32,000 movies
with over 370,000 filmography entries and is expanding continuously. The
database includes filmographies for actors, directors, writers, composers,
cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume designers and
producers; plot summaries; character names; movie ratings; year of release;
running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs; soundtracks; personal trivia and
Academy Award information. Several thousand of the movies are covered
completely from the major actors to the minor bit players. In their ASCII
form, the source datafiles currently occupy about 18Mb of disk-space. All the
information comes from the users of the database so please continue to support
it and help it to grow.
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
--------------------
For details send a message with the subject HELP to <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk>
and the movie mail-server will respond with a guide.
2.2 WWW interface
-----------------
The database is available via the World Wide Web. Access is via a
"browser". The two main WWW browsers are Mosaic and Lynx...
Mosaic (X windows, MS-Windows, Mac, Amiga) ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu /Web
lynx (vt100) ftp.wustl.edu /packages/www/lynx
From your browser, OPEN or GO to the any of the following documents:
http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ (European users prefered)
http://www.msstate.edu/Movies/ (USA/rest of world prefered)
http://ballet.cit.gu.edu.au/Movies/ (Australian users *only*)
Please help spread the load on these servers and use the one nearest to you.
See the comp.infosystems.www FAQ for more information on the WWW.
2.3 local installation (Unix/Amiga)
-----------------------------------
The movie database package enables you to install the data locally and
provides a variety of search tools. It is available via anonymous FTP:
cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/moviedb-3.0.tar.Z
ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/moviedb-3.0.tar.gz
see the README file in the same directories for more information. The Amiga
version is in the file mdb3_0_Amiga.lha
You will need between 3 and 12 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 just a
reasonable performance hit.
2.4 local installation (MS-DOS)
-------------------------------
The CineBASE program provides an MS-DOS interface to the database and is
also available via anonymous FTP:
cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/cb140.arj
ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/msdos/cb140.arj
The preloaded database files have also been made available on the ftp.funet.fi
site. You can avoid the lengthy install process by downloading all the files
in the /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/msdos directory and following the
instructions in the program archive. Alternatively, the database can be loaded
directly from the .list files as posted to rec.arts.movies.
2.5 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
2.6 telnet access via WWW
-------------------------
There are several telnet'able WWW servers. Here are some examples;
telnet info.cern.ch
then type go http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/
telnet www.njit.edu (login: www)
then type g http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/
telnet ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu (login: www) needs vt100
then look under "by Subject" then "Movies"
3. How is the database organised?
=================================
The database is made up of many lists which are maintained by different people
on the internet. The following table gives an overview:
List | Maintained by
---------------------|--------------------------------------------|
Actors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Actresses | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Biographies | Mark Harding <ccsmh@ss1.bath.ac.uk>
Character Names | Steve Hammond <shammond@indirect.com>
Cinematographers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Composers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Costume Designers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Crazy Credits | Mark Harding <ccsmh@ss1.bath.ac.uk>
Directors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Editors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Goofs | Michael Gaines <render1@teak.njit.edu>
Movie Titles | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto <colint@spider.co.uk>
Producers | Andre Bernhardt <ujad@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>
Production Designers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Quotes | Lars J Aas <larsa@colargol.edb.tih.no>
Ratings | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Running Times | Gene Volovich <volovich@netcom.com>
Soundtracks | Ron Higgins <rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu>
Trivia | Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
Writers | Jon Reeves <reeves@zk3.dec.com>
---------------------|--------------------------------------------|
All of the lists are available via anonymous FTP from:
cathouse.org in pub/cathouse/movies/database
ftp.funet.fi in pub/culture/tv+film/lists
some of the lists are posted either in full or in a highlighted form to the
newsgroup rec.arts.movies on a regular basis. The coverage is being expanded
continously and the database grows by several thousand entries per month. The
latest versions are always on the FTP sites listed above.
The following subsections describe the source lists in more detail.
3.1 Cast Lists
--------------
The character names information is now published with the main list files,
but is still maintained separately by Steve Hammond.
List | Maintained by
-----------------|--------------------------------------
Actors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Actresses | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Character Names | Steve Hammond <shammond@indirect.com>
-----------------|--------------------------------------
Highlights from the actors and actresses lists are posted to rec.arts.movies
on a regular 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 three pieces of information: the name,
the title and an attributes field to store, for example, academy award
nominations. 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.
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 <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Composers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Costume Designers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Directors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Editors | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Producers | Andre Bernhardt <ujad@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>
Production Designers | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Writers | Jon Reeves <reeves@zk3.dec.com>
---------------------|--------------------------------------------
3.3 Titles Lists
----------------
The following lists contain information that relates to individual titles:
List | Maintained by
-------------------|---------------------------------------
Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Crazy Credits | Mark Harding <ccsmh@ss1.bath.ac.uk>
Goofs | Michael Gaines <render1@teak.njit.edu>
Movies | Michel Hafner <hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto <colint@spider.co.uk>
Quotes | Lars J Aas <larsa@colargol.edb.tih.no>
Ratings | Col Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Running Times | Gene Volovich <volovich@netcom.com>
Soundtracks | Ron Higgins <rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu>
Trivia | Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
-------------------|---------------------------------------
The alternative titles list contains original foreign language, video titles,
TV titles etc. for the primary titles in the database.
The crazy credits list contains trivia and jokes that appear in movie credits.
The goofs list contains a list of mistakes (or goofs) in movies.
The movies list contains the year of release of most movies in the database,
along with any awards given to the movie as a whole.
The plot summaries list has brief outlines of some of the movies in the
database along with the genres which the movies fit into (war, sf etc.).
The quotes list contains memorable quotes from movies.
The ratings list is the rec.arts.movies Movie Ratings Report which is a
massive on-going electronic poll wherein readers of the group rate movies
on a scale from 1 (bad) to 10 (good).
The running times list contains the length in minutes of movies in the
database.
The soundtracks list contains details of songs used on the soundtracks of
movies.
The trivia list contains all kinds of trivia for movies from cameo appearances
to behind-the-scenes information.
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
and books about them.
4. Where does the information come from?
========================================
The list managers 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 four or five years. If you notice something missing from the
database then please send it in - see question 5 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 several
weeks for information to make it into the individual lists so please be
patient.
5. How can I add to the database?
=================================
The most convenient way to send in 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 <movie@ibmpcug.co.uk>. 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 list
managers. They are then processed by the individual managers with the aid of
some automatic list 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, 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.
6. 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
list and it could be added quite quickly. I have a full suite of list
management support 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.
7. 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 the
following conditions are met: firstly, all the header and trailer information
in the various database files remain intact, and secondly, that NO FEE OF ANY
KIND IS CHARGED FOR ITS DISTRIBUTION. The data has been given freely by users
of the database over the years and managed on a volunteer basis, therefore we
do not feel it appropriate for anyone to profit financially from its
distribution. Please contact the various database managers directly for more
information.
This specifically forbids the distribution of the database on CD-ROM without
permission, again contact the database managers directly for more information.
8. 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 four years. I estimate that 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
movie database package 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