Live action

cinematography, videography not produced using animation

Live action - Wikipedia
Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Live_action
Live action - Wikipedia
1 day ago - Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or similar visual media.
Overview
Live action vs. animation
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/english › is it "live action" or "live-action"? how do you write this noun?
r/ENGLISH on Reddit: Is it "live action" or "live-action"? How do you write this noun?
April 7, 2023 -

I would like to know how to write that word in english correctly? Even Cambridge Dictionary uses the two forms, so does it means that I can use both?

C.D. examples:- It’s not always easy as you might think to tell the difference between live action and an animated film.

- a live-action movie

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/live-action

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Live-action: Adjective. A live-action film is one that is shot from live action and not animated. Live action: Noun. Things that happen in the real world. You can create a film by photographing live action, rather than using animation.
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Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › live-action
LIVE-ACTION Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
of, relating to, or featuring cinematography that is not produced by animation; done or performed live and usually in person… See the full definition
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Mack Sennett Studios
macksennettstudios.net › home › what is a live action film?
What Is A Live Action Film? - Mack Sennett Studios
September 27, 2021 - Instead, “live action” refers to non-animated characters within an animated context. Think Space Jam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or Mary Poppins.
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › live-action
LIVE ACTION | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
(in movies, etc.) action involving real people or animals, not models, or images that are drawn, or produced by computer: It’s not always easy as you might think to tell the difference between live action and an animated film.
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Dictionary.com
dictionary.com › browse › live-action
LIVE-ACTION Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
of or relating to movies, videos, and the like, that feature real performers, as distinguished from animation. A new live-action version of the classic animated film will be released later this year.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › dictionary › live-action
Live action Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
LIVE ACTION meaning: a movie or scene in which actors and sets are used a movie or scene that is not produced by animation
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Stack Exchange
english.stackexchange.com › questions › 117878 › difference-between-action-and-live-action
meaning - difference between action and live action - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
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This is probably general reference, but this might be hard to understand for someone learning English. Even though the phrases are very similar, they mean entirely different things.

1) An action movie is a movie where most of the content involves things like fights, chases, and explosions. This tends to be a very popular type of movie like terminator or die hard.

2) A live action movie is a movie that is performed with real actors filmed with a camera, rather than being animated or being a cartoon. You would use this phrase when trying to point out that a movie is not animated.

The cartoon Scooby Doo has a live-action movie.

Also, the movie Who framed Roger Rabbit? is an animated movie with a bunch of real actors in it. We say that the real people are live-action characters because they are filmed with a camera instead of animated.

When you're talking about TV, "live" means that what they are recording is going straight to your TV. This is not the meaning of live used for live action movie. Live in the phrase "live action" does not mean much of anything, the phrase together is what is important.

Find elsewhere
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Stack Exchange
video.stackexchange.com › questions › 18486 › whats-a-good-alternative-term-for-live-action
terminology - What's a good alternative term for "live action"? - Video Production Stack Exchange
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No, there is no BETTER term. But if you really require a DIFFERENT word (for undisclosed reasons), you could perhaps re-define the term "Cinéma vérité". If we had some clue about the motivation for needing a different term, we may have a better idea how to respond.

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You don't need another term. Live Action is the accepted term for differentiation between, well, live action film and other kinds of movies, such as animation/3D films. It's also used consistently for this purpose, e.g. the Oscars use it in their category names:

Short Film (Animated)
Short Film (Live Action)

Conversely, I have never seen this term used to indicate a live stream, so nobody will get confused.

There are other terms for feature-length such as feature film or motion picture, however those are rather used to differentiate between feature lenght movies and short films and can also be used for animated films.

If you have a feature-length film, you could amalgamate the terms to something like live action feature film or live action motion picture, but I really wouldn't recommend that.

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Howtoproducemovies
howtoproducemovies.com › what-is-live-action-movie
What Is A Live-Action Movie? – How To Produce Movies
Today things have gotten so good that we are not at all impressed or phased as an audience when we witness a movie or commercial or television show that incorporates animation in a living world. Because of this, the term “live action” has been redefined over and over again as the medium ...
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VMG Studios
blog.vmgstudios.com › live-action-vs.-animation
Live-Action Video vs. Animation: Pros & Cons
October 20, 2025 - Types of live-action include scripted narratives, interview case studies, product demos, and live tutorials. Making a decision can be hard but listing the pros and cons can help you either commit or pull the plug.
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Vidico
vidico.com › news › live-action-vs-animation
Live Action vs Animation: What’s the Difference?
April 18, 2025 - Live video production involves filming real people and physical sets, typically in real-world locations or studio sets. In a live-action video, actors perform in front of cameras, interacting with real-life footage to create a sense of realism.
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StudioBinder
studiobinder.com › directing › what is a live action movie — definitions & examples
What is a Live Action Movie — Definitions & Examples
May 30, 2025 - A live-action movie is a film that features real-life actors performing on physical sets. These productions rely on tangible elements such as real-world locations, props, costumes, and special effects.
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Attention Insight
attentioninsight.com › animation-vs-live-action-a-comprehensive-comparison-guide
Animation vs. Live Action: A Comprehensive Comparison Guide - Attention Insight
February 22, 2024 - To learn more about this topic, you can visit https://explain.ninja/blog/animation-vs-live-action-a-comparison-guide/. Both animation and live-motion depend upon visible effects and generation to decorate their narratives. Animation makes use of 2D or 3-D PC pix to build worlds and characters from scratch, even as live-action regularly combines practical effects with laptop-generated imagery (CGI) to obtain thoughts-blowing visuals.
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WordReference
wordreference.com › english dictionary › live-action
live-action - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
live-action - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. All Free.
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Collins Dictionary
collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english › live-action
LIVE-ACTION definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
LIVE-ACTION definition: of or involving the direct filming of actors , sets, etc., as distinguished from... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples
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Quora
quora.com › What-are-the-reasons-for-creating-live-action-adaptations-of-animated-movies-instead-of-producing-new-ones
What are the reasons for creating live-action adaptations of animated movies instead of producing new ones? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): My best guess is money. While it depends a lot on specifics, live action is generally cheaper to produce per minute than animation. Plus, the general arc of the story is set, so you don’t need much script development.
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Apolline
apolline.art › en › content › what-live-action
What is live action? - Apolline
June 17, 2022 - As far as the manga universe is concerned, here "live" qualifies the faithful adaptation of a story, taking into account the scenario, the characters and the concepts. So we find real actors who embody the characters of manga in a universe adapted into a film "in the real world". They are therefore a kind of "remake" in real or photo realistic shots.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/explainlikeimfive › eli5: what's a "live-action" movie ? by example please..
r/explainlikeimfive on Reddit: ELI5: What's a "live-action" movie ? By example please..
August 8, 2014 -

"It will be a live-action movie" is a phrase I encounter from time to time especially in interviews of directors.

or "Bill Murray will play Baloo in the next "live-action" jungle book movie"..

I've looked it up on Wikipedia and on the net, but it's still not clear what a live-action movie is.

Question 1: what would be the opposite of a live-action movie ? A cartoon maybe ?

Question 2: Which of these movies is a live-action movie :

  • First blood/Rambo (action, ok. Live-action ?)

  • Space Jam, Roger Rabbit, .. (cartoon characters + real guys/gals)

  • Lord of the Rings / Hobbit (Gollum - Andy Serkis, Smaug ?)

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the '90s (karate guys in costumes - does it count ?

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 - CGI Turtles ?

  • the Avengers (Hulk, Iron Man etc.)

So what exactly should I understand when someone talks about a live-action movie ?

Edit: Now it's clear :) Thanks a lot for all the answers !

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Anything that's not fully animated. Partially-animated (a la Space Jam or Lord of the Rings) still counts as live-action. NOT live-action would be cartoons like the Simpsons, or 3-d animation like Toy Story/Frozen.
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The opposite of live-action film would be an animated film (whether it be traditional animation or all CGI). It's usually applied looking at the film as a whole. It's not the same thing as an Action (genre) film. Live-action is how the film is made, Action movie is more the general "theme" of the movie. Of the movies you listed, only Space Jam would probably be the only one considered not live-action. While the line gets pretty fuzzy sometimes, generally, if it has more real actors (i.e. you're seeing a real person acting something out in front of a camera) it's live-action. If it's more created from scratch (i.e. drawn, created in a computer) it's animated.
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LV PRODUCTIONS
lv-prod.com › home
What is the difference between live action and animation? | LV Productions
May 2, 2025 - Storytelling Needs: Live-action suits stories needing a real-world setting, while animation is ideal for abstract or futuristic concepts.