Use this video production Orange County glossary of terms to reference video production terminology, or to assist in your corporate training video or music video production.
A/B
Roll Editing:
Editing is performed using two video sources, A &
B, and a video switcher or mixer that allows for a variety of transitions
between them as they are output to a video recorder.
ADR:
Automatic Dialog Replacement. Also known as "looping."
A process of re-recording dialog in the studio in synchronization with the
picture.
Above the Line:
Refers to the creative elements of a production such
as the writer, producer, director and actors. Literally, these are the elements
which appeared above a bold line which divided standard production budget
sheets. (Production)
Aerial Shot:
An extremely high angle view of a subject usually taken
from a crane or a high stationary camera position, but may also refer to a
shot taken from an actual airplane or helicopter. (Production).
Ambient noise:
The total sound in a given are which is peculiar to
that space (room tone). (Post Production)
Analog media:
The term used to refer to the media found on traditional
videotape recordings.
Atmosphere:
Extras who are staged and photographed to portray normal
human traffic needed to add detail in various script situations. (Production)
Bin:
A location for storing and organizing
clips in the Project window.
Blocking:
Plotting actor, camera and microphone placement and
movement in a production or scene. (Production)
Blooping:
Any method of silencing unwanted noise produced by the
passage of a splice through a sound reproducer. Traditionally, a small opaque
tape is fixed over a splice. (Post Production)
Boom:
A telescoping arm for a camera or microphone which might
be available in a variety of sizes from the very small handheld types to the
very large, which might be transported as an integral part of a motor vehicle.
(Production)
Call Sheet:
A form which refers to all of the scenes to be filmed
and all of the personnel and equipment required for shooting on a particular
day. (Production)
Camera Blocking:
The process of notating the changing position of the
camera, lens size, and focus during a particular scene. (Production
Canted Frame:
Often described as a 'Dutch Angle' or 'Dutching'. This
is a device or process whereby the camera is angled so that the horizontal
frame line is not parallel to the horizon. (Production)
Character Generator (CG):
The equipment used in a linear editing suite to create titles or other
text on video.
Click Track:
A prerecorded track of electronic metronomic clicks
used to ensure proper timing of music to be recorded. Essential in music scoring
sessions. (Music)
Component:
Video
signal the keeps luminance and chrominance separate for better picture quality.
Control Track:
A recorded track used to adjust or manipulate a recording
or playback device. Generally, these are used to maintain consistent playback
speed of video and/or sound recorders consistent with the recorded speed.
(Post Production)
Counter:
A device for measuring lengths of film by counting the
number of frames.
Coverage:
An indeterminate number of more detailed shots which
are intended to be intercut with a master shot or scene. (Production)
Crossfade:
The gradual mix of sound sources accomplished
by the simultaneous manipulation of two or more mix console faders. (Post
Production)
Cutaway:
A single shot inserted into a sequence of shots that
momentarily interrupts the flow of action, usually introducing a pertinent
detail. (Production/Editing)
Cutting:
The selection and assembly of the various shots or sequences
for a reel of film.
Dead Sync:
An editorial term meaning that sound and picture elements
are perfectly aligned. (Film Editing)
device control software:
A software module that controls a video deck to allow
the capture of source clips to the hard drive of a computer.
Drop-In:
The process of inserting recorded audio by playing up
to a chosen point and switching from playback to record mode. (Video/Audio)
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. (Post Production)
Edit Decision List (EDL):
The list of SMPTE codes, in footage and frames, and
including instructions for fades, dissolves and other special effects which
corresponds to all the segments that the editor of a film or videotape production
has decided to use in the final cut.
Edit Master:
Video industry term for the tape containing the finished
(edited) program.
Eliminate:
A procedure for removing media from a video program
and also removing the space that the media occupied in the program. Using
Eliminate forces the remainder of the program to adjust accordingly and shortens
the length of the entire program. Sometimes called a ripple edit.
Fade:
A gradual increase or decrease of the image and sound.
You can fade an image to black, or do the reverse.
Feed Lines:
Lines of dialogue which are read outside camera range
for the benefit of an 'on camera' or 'on microphone' actor or voice over artist.
Foley:
Creating sound effects by watching picture and mimicking
the action, often with props that do not exactly match the action.
Frame:
A single, complete video image that lasts
1/30th of a second. There are 30 frames in a second.
Freeze Frame:
An optical printing effect in which a single frame image
is repeated so as to appead stationary when it is projected.
Grading:
The process of selecting the printing values for color
and density fo successive scenes in a complete film to produce the desire
visual effects. (Laboratory
Hard Disk:
A data storage and retrieval device consisting of a
disk drive and one or more permanently installed disks. Increasingly common
for storing sound effects and archiving for future use.
Hertz (Hz):
Unit for measuring frequency of d signal; formerly called
"cycles per second."
image resolution:
A measurement of the quality of a video image based
on the number of pixels that make up the image.
Insert Editing:
Used in videotape or digital audio editing to describe
the process of replacing a segment located between two specific and previously
dubbed segments.
Layback:
Transfer of the finished audio mix back onto the video
edit master
Layoff:
Transfer of audio and time code from the video edit
master to an audio tape.
Layover:
Transfer of audio onto multitrack tape or hard disk. Also referred to as "layup."
Looping:
A continuous sound track that runs repeatedly in playback
as a guide for re recording. (Post Production)
Matching Action:
The process of aligning or overlapping the shots of
a film sequence in order to achieve a smooth transition from the action in
one shot to the action of the succeeding shot. (Film Editing)
MIDI:
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A machine protocol
that allows synthesizers, computers, drum machines and other processors to
communicate with and/or control one another. (Sound)
Mix:
Electrically combining the signals from microphones,
tape, and/or reproducers and other sources. (Post Production)
Montage:
The assembly of shots and the portrayal of action or
ideas through the use of many short shots. (Film Editing)
Offline:
The videotape editing process whereby the final edit
list is compiled, usually in a more inexpensive edit room, in preparation
for the on-line edit. (Video)
Out-Take:
A take of a scene which is not used for printing or
for the final assembly of a film.
Pre-Blacked:
A video tape which has already had a control track,
usually with SMPTE encoded time code, but without any picture or sound. This
is done to facilitate the video editing or assembly process.
Prescoring:
Recording of music or other sound prior to the shooting
of the picture which is to accompany it. The most common usage is in animated
film. (Sound)
Process Shot:
A shot that will be composited from two other shots.
The background part of this process is called a 'plate'. (Laboratory)
Production Sound:
Recording and/or mixing sound on location during the
film or video shoot. Typically this has been recorded to an analog Nagra reel-to-reel
machine, though DAT recorders and other digital formats are now making significant
inroads.
Rough cut:
A preliminary trial stage in the process of editing
a film. Shots are laid out in approximate relationship to an end product without
detailed attention to the individual cutting points. (Film Editing)
Rushes:
This refers to daily prints of a film used for evaluation
purposes. (Laboratory)
Score:
The original-music composition for a motion picture
or television production which is generally recorded after the picture has
been edited.
Set Dressing:
Items of decoration which are not designated in the
script or by the director as part of specific action. (Production)
Set Dressing:
Items of decoration which are not designated in the
script or by the director as part of specific action. (Production)
Set Up:
Each discrete position of the camera, excluding those
in which a dolly or crane is used to move the camera during filming. (Production)
Shotgun Mic:
A highly directional microphone, usually with a long,
tubular body; used by the production sound mixer on location or on the set
for film and television productions.
shuttle To move smoothly, forward or backward, through video or audio media
at a constant rate.
Single:
A shot with only one subject in the frame. (Production)
Soundtrack:
Generically refers to the music contained in a film,
though it literally means the entire audio portion of a film, video or television
production, including effects and dialog.
splice The physical act of cutting a medium, such as
film or audio tape, to add new tape to it or take out portions of it.
Spotting:
Used in scoring and sound effects editing to identify
the specific scenes or points where music cues or effects cues will take place.
Usually, this will include information on length and style.
Time Code:
This is a number (could be seconds or frames)
that helps you determine where scenes are located on a video.
track A horizontal band across the time line window that graphically represents
a series of clips in your program. The time line window has multiple tracks
containing different types of media.
Trims:
Portions of a scene left over after the selected section
has been used in final cutting.
Varispeed:
Increasing or decreasing tape speed to match the musical
pitch of tape playback.
Video Assist:
The process of simultaneously recording filmed picture
onto video tape by means of the same lens system in order to immediately evaluate
a take as soon as it is completed. (Production)
Voice-over:
Narration or non-synchronous dialog taking place over
the action onscreen.
Wild Track:
Audio elements that are not recorded synchronously with the picture.
Wipe:
An optical transition effect in which one image is replaced
by another with a boundry edge that moves in a selected pattern across the
frame. (Laboratory)
Workprint:
Any positive duplicate picture, sound track print, or
magnetic duplicate which is intended for use in the editing process. (Film
Editing)
Workstation:
This term generally refers to a disk-based audio recording
and editing system
Zoom:
An optical effect in which the image rapidly grows larger
or smaller as though the camera is moving closer or away from its subject.
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