Introduction
Movie Database is a package of FileMaker Pro databases designed to help you catalogue movies you own, have seen, want to get, etc.
Requirements
FileMaker Pro 5.0 or later
AppleScript (the databases rely heavily on internal AppleScripts to perform most of their functions related to processing data et al)
Installation
Put the 3 FileMaker Pro documents (the master database "Movie Database", and the related databases "Movie Personnel Database" and "Movie Awards Database") anywhere on your computer, but put them in the same folder. Do not rename the database files. If you want to use multiple copies of the database (e.g., 1 for drama and 1 for comedy), just make separate folders for each database set. Do not have more than 1 copy of the databases open at the same time, as multiple databases with the same name will interfere with the database relationships.
Usage
Storing & Viewing Data
The master database "Movie Database" is primarily used for storing
and viewing information on movies. The information is presented in 5
views: 1) Movie View, which is primarily used for storing readily
available information about the movie (such as title, director,
producer, genre, et al.) 
;
2) Info View, which is primarily used for storing more detailed
information (such as personnel), as well as your own conributions
(such as rating, medium, and general information)
;
3) DVD View, which provides fields for storing information specific
to DVDs, such as regions, aspect ratios, special features,
etc.;
4) Graphics View, which provides enlarged fields for pictures and
movies; and, 5) List View, which provides a list of all movies with
some summary information. There are buttons in the database to get
Time and Chapter Number information from DVD Player if the
appropriate movie is playing. In addition, information on awards
received by the movie and its personnel can be viewed either as a
field in the Info View or in a separate view(s). If viewed
separately, the award information may be viewed in 2 views listing
all 6 of the awards listed in the database
(see below) or in a single view in which any 3 of the 6 awards may be
selected. Of note, the database will match a movie with awards only
when both the title and year match the award information, since
different movies may have the same name.
The related database "Movie Personnel Database" is used primarily
for storing and viewing information on each artist. The information
is presented in 3 views: 1) Info View, which is used for storing
information on each artist ;
2) Award View(s), which provide information on awards received by the
artist (see below for more details on awards)
;
and, 3) List View, which provides a list of all artists with some
summary information. As with the master database, the awards may be
viewed in 2 views listing all 6 of the awards listed in the database
or in a single view in which any 3 of the 6 awards may be
selected.
The related database "Movie Awards Database" is used primarily for
storing and viewing information on a select group of film awards. The
information is presented in 3 views: 1) Year View(s), which provide
information on awards by year ;
2) Summary View(s), which are used for storing information on each
award for all years ;
and, 3) List View, which can be used to provide a list of all of the
awards in a specific category for each year. As with the master
database, the awards may be viewed in 2 views listing all 6 of the
awards listed in the database or in a single view in which any 3 of
the 6 awards may be selected.
The Awards
The awards listed in the databases are:
1) the Academy awards
(Oscars), presented by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (represented by 
)
2) the Golden Globe
awards, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
(represented by 
)
3) the Los Angeles Film Critics
Association (LAFCA), comprised of Los Angeles based professional
film critics (represented by 
)
4) the National Board of Review (NBR), a highly respected film board consisting of critics, educators, and writers
5) the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), comprised of critics from U.S. publications and media outlets
6) the New York Film Critics Circle
(NYFCC), comprised of film reviewers from New York based
publications (represented by 
).
The awards are listed by the year the movie was released, rather than the year the award was received, since some awards are given out at the end of the year released and some in the beginning of the next year.
There are dozens of well-respected local, national, and international film awards given annually, but time and space considerations required some screening to decide which to use in this database. I based my choices on 3 criteria: 1) awards had to be given in at least 6 of what I consider to be the major categories (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Suporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and Screenplay); 2) awards had to be given for at least 25 years; and, 3) a list of the awards had to be readily available for entry into the database. Additionally, because of the time it would have involved, I have not included all of the awards given out; for example, there are numerous Oscar categories that I have omitted. The last row of awards in the Summary and Year View layouts in the Awards database can be used to view information on the 'minor' categories I did catalog, such as Best Song, Score, Makeup, et al; clicking the button at the left side of the row will bring up a dialog from which you can choose a category. A comparable button exists in the last row of the Award Views in the master database and in the Personnel database; clicking the button in any of the databases will update all databases. Similarly, the cell in the heading of the List View layout in the Awards database representing the category visible in List View can be used to select the category to display in List View.
In addition to these awards, I have also included the rankings for
the 100 Years lists by the American
Film Institute (AFI), as voted on by the members of the AFI
(represented by 
).
These are lists of the 100 greatest movies, overall and in each of
several categories, in the first 100 years of the AFI (through 1999),
as well as the 25 greatest male and female screen legends. I have
also included the list of 100 top British films by the The
British Film Institute (BFI),
as voted on in 1999 by the members of the BFI (represented by
).
As with the awards, the AFI and BFI lists are presented by year in
the Year Views, and as complete lists in the Summary Views.
Of note, the Awards database has a record for every year from 1900 on. Although visible year-specific fields are filled for only a few records prior to the first Academy awards in 1928 (all having to do with AFI lists), all of the records hold some data, so do not delete a record just because it looks blank.
Sorting Data
The data can be sorted by clicking the icons at the appropriate column or field. There are 2 sets of icons by the Director field in master database; clicking the icons to the left sort the records by director, then movie title, while the icons to the right sort by director, then year.
Database Links
You can navigate from a record in one database to a related record in another database for most fields where such links are appropriate, by clicking on the field in question or a related button. For example, one can navigate from a movie listed in the Awards database to the record for that movie (if it exists) in the master database, to the director for that movie in the Personnel database, to another movie by that director in the master database, to the record in the Personnel database for a personnel member from that movie.
Adding Pictures and Media
There are fields in the databases for adding pictures (such as DVD covers or movie posters) and QuickTime-compatible files (such as movie clips, trailers, or sounds); the latter can be played back by clicking the field. QT-compatible files are always added as a reference to the original file - if the original file is moved or deleted, the referenced file will not be played. Note that any QT-compatible file (e.g., MOV, AIFF, WAV, MP3) can be used. Pictures can be added by importing the data into the database or as a reference to the original file; importing the data can make the database rather large, but avoids the problem of the "missing original". Pictures in the Awards database refer to the corresponding pictures in the master database and the Personnel database.
Just For Fun
There are fields for computing data such as the average movie time or the number of movies for the whole database or for each artist. These have no functional significance whatsoever. Note that the data are generally computed only for those records that are available, e.g., if you have just performed a search that produced 10 records, only the information from those 10 records will be tabulated.
There are also fields that tally the number of 'major' awards (among those listed in the databases) received by a movie or artist.
Although I have tried mightily to make this run as smoothly as possible, there have been problems. Namely, FMP fails sometimes while performing tasks involving AppleScript, but on an inconsistent basis - sometimes AppleScript recognizes FMP fields or scripts, sometimes it doesn't, et al. Sometimes a script run from the Script Editor will work, while the identical script run from FMP results in errors (this is particularly problematic in OS 9). These difficulties appear to be specifically related to AppleScript and FMP. Unfortunately, I do not know what to do about this. I have called Tech Support at FileMaker on several issues and they are similarly befuddled. I have implemented some work-arounds, but some problems may still lurk.
There's little documentation for using AppleScript in FileMaker Pro from Apple or from FileMaker, so there are probably simpler and better ways to do some of the things here.
The information on the awards is only as accurate as are my sources - I cannot swear to the veracity or completeness of the information. Whenever the information was available, I have listed the actual winner for each award, as well as the film associated with it, e.g. the screenwriter is entered as the winner of the Screenplay award, and the film for which she wrote it is entered in Screenplay Picture. However, for many of the 'minor' categories, only the name of the winning film was available. Also, although the producerrs are usually included as the recipients of the Best Picture award, I have been able to find the producer information in a readily available form for only the Academy awards; because of this, I have listed the director with the Best Picture recipients.
There is a button in each of the databases linking to websites from which you can search for information on movie titles, directors, and/or actors. The websites are: 1) All Movie Gude, part of the All Media Guide website; 2) Internet Movie Database (IMDB); and, 3) Reel.com. You can also use the buttons to search using Sherlock, and can enter the results of your search in the "URL" field in the master database or the Personnel database. The buttons can be used to search for specific movie titles, directors, actors, and/or keywords where appropriate. You can also search for movie-related events that occurred on the current date at the IMDB website.
There is a wealth of information on the Web about movies. Some of the more interesting sites about movies include:
Version History
Version 1.0 (April 26, 2003)
• Original release