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Film, Audio and Video Terminology - Part 2 of 3
In discussing Elvis' movie and recording career, we often come across
terms not readily understood by the layman. Today we continue with
learning some of the specialized terminology used in the entertainment
industry:
CONTINUITY: A person is usually hired to keep detailed reports of each
scene in order to prevent errors in following scenes.
COOKIE: A perforated material which is used to break up light or create
a shadow pattern. Also known as a cucoloris.
COSTUME DESIGNER: Designs the costumes used in the film.
COWBOY SHOT: A shot framed from mid-thigh up.
CRAFT SERVICE: Responsible for maintaining a table of snacks between
meals to feed the crew or extras.
CUT: A change in either camera angle or placement.
DAILIES: Also known as rushes. The first positive prints made by the
laboratory from the negative photographed on the previous day. It also
now refers to video which is transferred from that original negative.
DAT (Digital Audio Tape): Two-channel digital audio has become
increasingly common as a professional master reference and for use in
field recording.
DIALOGUE TRACK: A sound track which carries lip sync speech.
DIGITAL RECORDING: A method of recording in which samples of the
original analog signal are encoded on tape or disk as binary information
for storage or processing. The signal can then be copied repeatedly with
no degradation.
DIRECTOR: Principal creative artist on a movie set. Communicates to the
actors the way he/she would like a particular scene played.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: A cinematographer who is ultimately responsible
for the choice of film stock, camera, and lenses so to record the scene.
DISTRIBUTOR: For a fee or percentage, the company that rents the film to
exhibitors on behalf of the production company.
DRESSER: A wardrobe assistant who helps the actors with their costumes.
DUB: To make a taped copy of any program source record, CD, tape. Also,
the copy itself. Sometimes used to refer to the ADR process.
DUBBING: An actor's voice synchronization with lip movements which are
not the originally recorded sound. This is used to replace unusable
dialogue or recordings, and also used to prepare foreign films for new
markets.
EMMY AWARD: The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was formed in
1948. Louis McManus, an engineer, won a contest to design the award,
which became a winged figure holding a stylized globe. Originally named
the "Ike", short for iconoscope tube, the award became the Emmy, short
for image orthicon camera tube.
EMULSION: The gelatin layer of photo-sensitive material in which the
image is formed on film.
ESTABLISHING SHOT:Usually a long shot at the beginning of a scene which
is intended to inform the audience about a changed locale or time for
the scene which follows.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Is responsible for the overall production handling
the business and legal issues but not involved in the technical aspects
of the film process.
EXHIBITOR: Represents the cinemas.
EXTRA: A non-speaking part usually in the background or in a crowd.
FAST: The camera assistant's motto. Everything he/she must do before
each shot - focus, aperture, shutter, tach.
FOLEY: Creating sound effects by watching picture and mimicking the
action, often with props that do not exactly match the action. Named
after an early practitioner, the sounds are usually exaggerated and
sometimes produced by odd objects and methods. A Foley artist is one who
creates the sounds.
GAFFER: The chief lighting technician for a production who is in charge
of the electrical department and responsible for the design and
execution of the lighting plan for the production. Name comes from an
early time when stagehands were often sailors or
longshoremen stuck on shore. A gaff is a type of boom on sailing ships.
Also a gaffer is the head of any organized group of laborers.
GRAMMY AWARD: The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was
formed in the back room of the Brown Derby restaurant in 1957 by a group
of conservative record executives in an attempt to "save" American music
from rock and roll. The awards were for quality rather than chart
performance and did not originally have rock as a category. Marvin
Schwartz, then art director for Capitol Records, designed the award as a
miniature gramophone. A contest was held to name the awards. Mrs. Jay
Dana of New Orleans won 25 albums for her idea of "Grammy" short for
gramophone.
GRIP: Person responsible for the adjustment and maintenance of
production equipment on the set.
HAIRSTYLIST: Maintains the actor's hair throughout filming.
HONEYWAGON: Trailer used as a dressing room on location shooting.
KEY GRIP: The chief grip who works directly with the gaffer in creating
shadow effects for set lighting and who supervises camera cranes,
dollies and other platforms or supporting structures according to the
requirements of the director of photography.
KISS: A light that gently brushes a subject.
LAVALIER MIC: A small microphone that can be easily hidden on a piece of
clothing so as not to be seen by the camera.
LOCATION FILMING: An area not constructed for the movie. Usually
outdoors or a real place. Location scouts are responsible for finding
suitable locations for filming.
MAGNETIC FILM: Film which is coated with an iron oxide compound on which
sound is recorded and from which sound is reproduced.
MARTINI SHOT: The last shot of the day. (Presumably followed by a
martini.)
MASKING: A phenomenon whereby one or more sounds "trick" the ear into
not hearing other, weaker sounds that are also present.
METHOD ACTING: A style by Stanislovsky which draws on the actor's own
personal experiences. Or an actor arranges his personal life to resemble
that of the character he/she is playing.
MIX: Electrically combining signals from microphones, tape, and /or
reproducers and other sources.
MIX CUE SHEET: A sheet having several columns for notations of footage,
fades, volume levels, and equalizations which are used in mixing sound
tracks where each column represents one track.
MONTAGE: The assembly of shots and the portrayal of action or ideas
through the use of many short shots.
NOIR: Usually refers to the classic black and white film noir style used
in detective mysteries, typically employing hard lighting and dark, low
key lighting.
OUT-TAKE: A take of a scene which is not used for printing or for the
final assembly of a film.
PAL (Phase Alternating Line): The European color television standard
that specifies a 25Hz frame rate and 625 lines per frame. |
