Cameo - what is it? The episodic role in the movie of a famous person: examples

Reading the titles of a movie, you can stumble upon a record according to which a famous media person plays the role of a cameo. The viewer of such inscriptions are puzzling, because the word is foreign and in most cases remains incomprehensible to the average person. So, cameo - what is it? Why do such roles exist?

Cameo: what is it?

When opposite the name of the celebrity in the credits is a note "cameo," the viewer does not quite understand what is at stake. Cameo - what is it? What kind of word is so incomprehensible?

Track the exact origin of this term is difficult. But for the first time the word "cameo" was widely used in the UK and the United States regarding cinematography. Thus, the episodic role of a very famous person in any film or series was designated. And this person (politician, businessman, actor, model), as a rule, played itself.

Why do you need a cameo?

So, in the movie, the episodic role of a public person who plays herself is called a cameo. What is it, we figured out. Now there is a logical question about why and who needs it. The spectator will say: you can understand when a celebrity is playing the main role, but why should she appear in the frame for only a few minutes?

Firstly, the directors of the film or the series attract attention to their project. For example, the rating of a series of a sitcom, in which billionaire Donald Trump will appear for a few minutes, sharply increases. The public is simply interested in seeing such a person in new conditions for her. And if you imagine that in the movie, where Donald Trump appears, unknown actors are playing, it would be good to invite Oprah Winfrey to raise the rating.

Secondly, the appearance of an interesting person in the role of itself can well affect the rating of not only the series, but also the person himself. For example, a little-known artist appears in a popular film under his own name, where he is presented with the best side and even demonstrates his work. You can bet that the very next day after the display of the picture the number of requests on the Internet in the name of a little-known artist will increase dramatically, and he will turn into a celebrity.

So the cameo is an advantageous "chip" for both filmmakers and celebrities, who are invited for episodic roles.

Directing cameo

Often, directors play episodic roles in their own films.

For example, everyone knows about the famous cameo director Alfred Hitchcock. The fact that this was one of the hallmarks of his work: Hitchcock played 39 cameo in 37 of his films. True, he did not appear on the screens specifically in the image of a director or other filmmaker. He played passers-by, photographers, fellow travelers in transport - i.e. Ordinary people.

Hitchcock's habit and Quentin Tarantino changed: he plays the cameo not only in his own films, but even in projects where he just made a screenwriter or producer. The director can be seen in the pictures "Golden Girls", "My Best Friend's Birthday", "Mad Dogs", "Pulp Fiction", "Sleep with Me" and many others.

He played episodic roles and Eldar Ryazanov in the films "The purpose of his life", "Give a plaintive book." Leonid Gaidai also appeared in the film: in the film "Risk is a noble cause" he embodied on the screens the familiar image of the film director.

Why do directors play similar roles? Some simply do not want to spend money on extras, so minor roles are played by themselves. Some people say that they want to feel the atmosphere that reigns on the set. And in general, probably, each of the directors wants to just leave behind a memory, because the cinema is an ageless art.

The actors' cameo

What is a cameo in films for professional actors? This is the opportunity to "popiaritsya" once again, to confirm its "star status". Sometimes this is the way to return to the screens after a long lull.

Anyway, almost every celebrity appeared at least once in the role of himself on the screen. If you return to the Soviet film "Risk is a noble cause," the real actors of Soviet cinema played the actors' roles on the set: Evgeny Morgunov, Leonid Kanevsky and Elsa Lezdei.

Brad Pitt appeared in the role of himself in the series "Friends." And in general in the sitcom, friends played a cameo by many Hollywood celebrities: George Clooney, Steve Zahn, Brooke Shields, Jean-Claude Van Dam, etc.

What to say about the actors, if in our days in the television series you can see even a billionaire. So Donald Trump does not cease to amaze the public: he played himself in the films "Alone at home-2", "Days of our life", "Candidate" and in many other projects. For his spontaneity in the frame, Trump was even nominated for an Emmy Award.

Cameo in TV shows

Most of the cameos are in demand in television series. There, this technique is often used to raise the rating.

For example, in the long-playing "soap" "Do not be born beautiful," the cameo was performed by ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, singer Andrei Grigoriev-Apollonov, sportswoman Alina Kabaeva and TV presenter Tina Kandelaki.

Another series, which often exploited the stars to raise the rating - is "My Fair Nanny" with Anastasia Zavorotnyuk. Probably no Russian project can boast of such a pleiad of invited celebrities: Soviet actors Georgi Martirosyan and Armen Dzhigarkhanyan; Actresses Galina Polsky, Nona Grishaeva, Natalia Gromushkina, Tatyana Kravchenko; Artists Viktor Suprun, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Anton Makarsky; Singers Nikolai Baskov and Dmitry Malikov; TV presenters Alexei Lysenkov and Mikhail Shatz and dozens more of them flashed on the screen.

The series "Interns" - one of the most popular on Russian television - was honored by the presence of trainer Edgard Zapashny, actor Maxim Averin, businessman Sergei Badyuk, comedian Alexei Agopyan and singer Sergei Zhukov.

Cameo in feature films

In the feature films, the cameo is also widely used, especially if the story takes place at a social party or a party. For example, in the movie "The Day Watch", the artist to Nikola Safronov, musician Sergei Shnurov, singer Boris Moiseyev and correspondent Maria Kiseleva came to the corporate party to Zabulon.