McGuffin

McGuffin
(or MacGuffin)
  Alfred Hitchcock's term for the device or plot element (an item, object, goal, event, or piece of knowledge) that catches the viewer's attention or drives the logic or action of the plot and appears extremely important to the film characters, but often turns out to be insignificant or is to be ignored after it has served its purpose; its derivation is Scottish, meaning a "lion trap" for trapping lions in the lion-less Scottish Highlands (i.e., a trap that means nothing, since it is for an animal where there is no such animal).
  Examples: 'mistaken identity' at the beginning of North by Northwest (1959) and the 'government secrets', the uranium ore in Notorious (1946) (seen here), or the stolen money - $40,000 in Psycho (1960); also the 'black bird' in The Maltese Falcon (1941) served as a McGuffin - before it was termed

Glossary of cinematic terms . 2015.

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  • mcguffin — Movie term, invented by Hitchcock, to refer to any interchangeable object diamonds, secret plans, computer disk, rare animal etc. that is the focus of the action in the plot, but which has no significance to the plot itself. In The Pink Panther,… …   Dictionary of american slang

  • mcguffin — Movie term, invented by Hitchcock, to refer to any interchangeable object diamonds, secret plans, computer disk, rare animal etc. that is the focus of the action in the plot, but which has no significance to the plot itself. In The Pink Panther,… …   Dictionary of american slang

  • McGuffin — noun (film) a plot element that catches the viewers attention or drives the plot the McGuffin was a key element of Alfred Hitchcock s films • Syn: ↑MacGuffin • Topics: ↑film, ↑cinema, ↑celluloid …   Useful english dictionary

  • McGuffin — variant of MacGuffin …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • McGuffin — MacGuffin kann meinen: MacGuffin MacGuffin (Kodierung), eine Verschlüsselungstechnik Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort bezeichneter Begriffe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • McGuffin — filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s term for a device that keeps a thriller’s plot in motion …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • McGuffin — n. family name; person or object which hold no intrinsic value but is introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot of the story …   English contemporary dictionary

  • McGuffin — noun an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot. Origin 1930s: a Scottish surname, adopted by the film director Alfred Hitchcock, allegedly from a humorous story involving such a pivotal factor …   English new terms dictionary

  • Peter McGuffin — is a psychiatric geneticist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.After emigrating with his parents at aged 10 to the Isle of Wight, he first decided that he wanted to be a psychiatrist at the age of 16 after coming across Freud’s Introductory Lectures… …   Wikipedia

  • David McGuffin — is the Africa Correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reporting for its television, radio and online news services. In 2004 McGuffin re opened CBC s bureau in Africa. Since that time, from his base in Nairobi, Kenya, he has re… …   Wikipedia

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