COM 301

Costume designer

Designs and sometimes even constructs various costumes for dramas, dance numbers, and children's shows. Usually hired on a freelance basis.

Wardrobe person

Handles all wardrobe matters during production.

Framestore synchronizer

Image stabilization and synchronization system that stores and reads out one complete video frame at a time. Used to synchronize the scanning of a variety of video sources that are not genlocked.

Floor manager

In charge of all activities on the studio floor. Coordinates talent, relays director's cues to talent, and supervises floor personnel. Except for large operations, is responsible for setting up scenery and dressing the set. Also called floor director and stage manager.

Producer

In charge of an individual production. Responsible for all personnel working on the production and for coordinating technical and non-technical production elements. Often serves as a writer and occasionally as director.

Director

In charge of directing talent and technical operations. Is ultimately responsible for transforming a script into effective video and audio messages. At small stations, may often be the producer as well.

Executive producer

In charge of one or several large productions or program series. Manages budget and coordinates with client, station management, advertising agencies, financial supporters, and talent and writer's agents.

Art director

In charge of the creative design aspects of show (set design, location and/or graphics).

Fact sheet

List the items to be shown on-camera and their main features. May contain suggestions of what to say about the product. Also called rundown sheet.

Show format

Lists the show in order of appearance. Used to routine shows, such as daily game or interview shows.

Property manager

Maintains and manages use of various set and hand properties. Found in large operations only. Otherwise, props are managed by the floor manager.

Visualization

Mentally converting a scene into a number of key video images and sounds, not necessarily in sequence. The mental image of a shot.

Effect-to-cause model

Moving from idea to desired effect on the viewer, then backing up to the specific medium requirements to produce such an effect.

Close-up (CU)

Object or any part of it seen at close range and framed tightly.

Medium shot (MS)

Object seen from a medium distance. Covers any framing between a long shot and a close-up. Also called waist shot.

Long shot (LS)

Object seen from far away or framed loosely. Also called establishing shot and full shot.

Hue

One of the three basic color attributes; hue is the color itself — red, green, yellow, and so on.

Field

One-half of a complete scanning cycle, with two fields necessary for one video frame. There are 60 fields, or 30 frames, per second in standard NTSC TV.

Walk-through

Orientation session with the production crew (technical walk-through) and the talent (talent walk-through) wherein the director walks through the set and explains the key actions.

News Production Personnel

People assigned exclusively to the production of news, documentaries, and special events.

Nontechnical Production Personnel

People concerned primarily with nontechnical production matters that lead from the basic idea to the final screen image. Also called above-the-line-personnel.

Technical Personnel

People who operate and maintain the technical equipment. Also called below-the-line personnel.

Share

Percentage of TV households tuned to a specific station in relation to all households using TV (HUT); that is, all households with their sets turned on.

Rating

Percentage of TV households tuned to a specific station in relation to the total number of TV households.

Scanning area

Picture area that is scanned by the camera imaging device; in general, the picture area usually seen in the camera viewfinder and the preview monitor.

Graphic artist

Prepares computer graphics, titles, charts and electronic backgrounds.

Effects buses

Program and preview buses on a switcher, assigned to perform effects transitions.

Goal-directed information

Program content intended to be learned by the viewer.

Essential area

The section of the TV picture, centered within the scanning area, that is seen by the home viewer regardless of masking or slight misalignment of the receiver. Also called safe title area and safe area.

Postproduction editing

The selection and the assembly of clips (shots) in a logical sequence.

Noseroom

The space left in front of a person looking or pointing toward the edge of the screen.

Leadroom

The space left in front of a person or an object moving toward the edge of the screen.

Genlock

The synchronization of two or more video sources to prevent picture breakup during switching. A house sync signal synchronizes the raster scanning of a variety of video sources.

Classical dramaturgy

The technique of dramatic composition.

Schedule time

The time at which a program starts and ends.

Single-Camera System

The use of a single camera or camcorder for the capture, recording or transmission of video footage.

Delegation controls

Buttons on the switcher that assign specific functions to a bus.

Dolly

1) Camera support that enables the camera to move in all horizontal directions. 2) To move the camera toward (dolly in) or away from (dolly out or back) the object.

Pedestal

1) Heavy camera dolly that permits raising and lowering the camera while on the air. 2) To move the camera up and down via a studio pedestal.

Time line

A breakdown of time blocks for various activities on the actual production day, such as crew call, setup, and camera rehearsal.

Treatment

A brief narrative description of a TV program.

Super

A change form one video source to another during a show or show segment with the aid of a switcher. Also called instantaneous switching.

Virtual set

A computer-generated environment, normally a studio set, which provides the background for a chroma-keyed action, such as a newscast.

Downstream keyer (DSK)

A control that allows a title to be keyed (cut in) over the picture (line-out signal) as it leaves the switcher.

Character generator (CG)

A dedicated computer system that electronically produces letters, numbers and simple graphic images for video display. Any desktop computer can become a CG with the appropriate software.

Floor plan

A diagram of scenery and properties drawn on a grid.

Pan-stick

A foundation makeup with a grease base. Used to cover a beard shadow or prominent skin blemish.

Matte key

A key (electronically cut-in) title whose letters are filled with shades of gray or a specific color.

Cue card

A large, hand-lettered card that contains a copy, usually held next to the camera lens by floor personnel.

Fader bar

A lever on the switcher that activates preset transitions, such as dissolves, fades and wipes, at different speeds. It is also used to create superimpositions. Also called a T-bar.

Facilities request

A list that contains all technical facilities needed for a specific production.

Foundation

A makeup base over which further makeup such as rouge and eye shadow is applied. For HDTV the foundation is usually sprayed on.

Cake

A makeup base, or foundation makeup, usually water-soluble and applied with a sponge. Also called pancake.

Performer

A person who appears on-camera in nondramatic shows. Performers play themselves and do not assume someone else's character.

Actor

A person, male or female, who appears on-camera in dramatic roles. Actors always portray someone else.

Flat

A piece of standing scenery used as a background or to simulate the walls of a room.

Floor plan pattern

A plan of the studio floor, showing the walls, main doors, location of the control room, the lighting grid or battens.

Teleprompter

A prompting device that projects the moving (usually computer-generated) copy over the lens so that the talent can read it without losing eye contact with the viewer. also called auto-cue.

Location sketch

A rough map of the locale of a remote shoot. For an indoor remote, it shows the room dimensions and the furniture and window locations. For an outdoor remote, it indicates the location of buildings, the remote truck, power sources, and the sun during the time of the telecast.

Key bus

A row of buttons on the switcher, used to select the video source to be inserted into a background image.

Bus

A row of buttons on the switcher.

Grayscale

A scale indicating intermediate steps from TV white to TV black. Usually measured with a nine-step scale for standard TV. HDTV and digital cinema cameras deliver many more steps.

Storyboard

A series of sketches of the key visualization points of an event, with the corresponding audio information.

Clip

A shot or brief series of shots as captured on the hard drive and identified by a file name.

Analog

A signal that fluctuates exactly like the original stimulus.

Windowbox

A smaller picture that is centered in the actual display screen, with the leftover space of the 16x9 frame surrounding it.

Tripod

A three-legged camera mount. Can be connected to a dolly for easy maneuverability. Also called sticks.

Rule of thirds

A variation of the golden section, wherein the screen is divided into three horizontal and three vertical fields. A fail-safe composition places a subject where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect.

Medium Requirements

All content elements, production elements, and people needed to generate the defined process message.

Chroma-keying

An effect that uses color (usually blue or green) for the backdrop, which is replaced by the background image during a key.

Auto-transition

An electronic device that functions like a fader bar.

Locking-in

An especially vivid mental image — visual or aural — during script analysis that determines the subsequent visualizations and sequencing.

Special-effects generator (SEG)

An image generator built into the switcher that produces special-effects wipe patterns and keys.

A/V format

Another name for the two-column AV (audio/video) script. Also called two-column A/V script.

Postproduction

Any production activity that occurs after the production. Usually refers to either video-editing or audio sweetening (a variety of quality adjustments of recorded sound).

Field producer

Assistant producer by taking charge of remote operations (away from the studio). As small stations, function may be part of producer's responsibilities.

Associate producer (AP)

Assistant producer in all production matters. Often does the actual coordinating jobs, such as telephoning talent and confirming schedules.

Associate director (AD)

Assists director during the actual production. In studio productions, does timing for director. In complicated productions, helps "ready" various operations (such as presetting specific camera shots or calling for a video recorder to start). Also called assistant director.

Production assistant (PA)

Assists producer and director during the actual production. During rehearsal, takes notes of producers and/or directors suggestions for show improvement.

Writer

At smaller stations and in corporate TV, the scripts are often written by the director or producer. Usually hired on a freelance basis.

Demographics

Audience research factors concerned with such data as age, gender, marital status and income.

Psychographics

Audience research factors concerned with such data as consumer buying habits, values and lifestyles.

Over-the-shoulder shot (O/S)

Camera looks over a person's shoulder (shoulder and back of head included in shot) at another person.

Blocking

Carefully worked-out movement and actions for the talent and for all mobile TV equipment.

Talent

Collective name for all performers and actors who appear regularly on TV.

Layering

Combining two or more key elements for a more complex effect.

Sound designer

Constructs the complete sound track (dialogue and sound effects) in postproduction. Usually hired on a freelance basis for large productions.

Makeup

Cosmetics used to enhance, correct, or change appearance.

Partial two-column A/V script

Describes a show for which the dialogue is indicated but not completely written out.

Single-camera directing

Directing method for a single camera. For digital cinema it may mean moving from an establishing long shot to medium shots, then to close-ups of the same action. Also called film-style shooting.

Makeup artist

Does the makeup for all talent. Usually hired on a freelance basis.

Gain

Electronic amplification of the video signal, boosting primarily picture brightness.

Television System

Equipment and people who operate the equipment for the production of specific programs. This basic system consists of a television camera and a microphone, which convert pictures and sound into electrical signals, and a TV set and a loudspeaker, which convert the signals back into pictures and sound.

Camera control unit (CCU)

Equipment, separate from the camera head, that contains various video controls, including color fidelity, color balance, contrast, called pixels, that translate the optical (light) image into an electric charge that eventually becomes the video signal.

Two-shot

Framing of two people.

Dress rehearsal

Full rehearsal with all equipment operating and with talent in full dress. The dress rehearsal is often video recorded. Also called camera rehearsal except that the camera rehearsal does not require full dress for talent.

Camera rehearsal

Full rehearsal with cameras and other pieces of production equipment. Often identical to the dress rehearsal.

Color compatibility

Generally used to mean that the color scheme has enough brightness (grayscale) contrast for monochrome reproduction and especially for defining color brightness.

Branding

Generally, establishing a station identity to attract and retain loyal viewers. Specifically, displaying the TV station logo on the screen throughout the program.

Additive primary colors

Red, green and blue. Ordinary white light (sunlight) can be separated into the three primary light colors. When these three colored lights are combined in various proportions, all other colors can be reproduced. The process is called additive color mixing.

Dry run

Rehearsal without equipment, during which the basic actions of the talent are worked out. Also called blocking rehearsal.

Mix bus

Rows of buttons on the switcher that permit the mixing of video sources, as in a dissolve or super.

Preview/preset bus

Rows of buttons on the switcher used to select the upcoming video (preset function) and route it to the preview monitor (preview function) independently of the line-out video. Also called preset/background bus.

Production manager

Schedules equipment and personnel for all studio and field productions. Also called director of broadcast operations.

Floor persons

Set up and dress sets. Operate cue cards and other prompting devices, easel cards, and on-camera graphics. Sometimes help set up and work portable field lighting instruments and microphone booms. Assist camera operators in moving camera dollies and pulling camera cables. At small stations, also act as wardrobe and makeup people. Also called grips, stagehands and utilities personnel.

Intercom

Short for intercommunication system. used by all production and technical personnel. The most widely used system has telephone headsets to facilitate voice communication on several wired or wireless channels. Includes other systems, such as IFB and cell phones.

M/E bus

Short for mix/effects bus. A row of buttons on the switcher that can serve a mix or an effects function.

Pixel

Short for picture element. 1) A single imaging element that can be identified by a computer. The more pixels per picture area, the higher the picture quality. 2) The light-sensitive elements on a CCD that contain a charge.

Props

Short for properties. Furniture and other objects used for a set decoration and by actors or performers.

Extreme long shot (ELS)

Shows the object from a great distance. Also called establishing shot.

Extreme close-up (ECU)

Shows the object with very tight framing.

Cross-shot (X/S)

Similar to the over-the-shoulder shot except that the camera-near person is completely out of the frame.

Multicamera directing

Simultaneous coordination of two or more cameras for instantaneous editing (switching). Also called control room directing even if the control room is housed in a remote truck.

AD

Stands for associated director. Assists the director in all production phases.

DP

Stands for director of photography. In major motion picture production, the DP is primarily responsible for the lighting (similar to LD in TV). In smaller motion picture productions and in EFP, the DP will operate the camera. IN TV it refers to the camera operator, or shooter.

Line producer

Supervises daily production activities on the set.

EFP (Electronic Field Production)

Television production outside of the studio that is normally shot for postproduction (not live). Part of field production.

Production

The actual activities in which an event is recorded and/or televised.

Pillarbox

The aspect ratio that results from fitting a 4x3 image onto a 16x9 screen by blocking the sides with stripes.

Letterbox

The aspect ratio that results from fitting the full width of a 16x9 image ratio onto a 4x3 screen by blocking the top and bottom screen edges with stripes.

Target audience

The audience selected or desired to receive a specific message.

Program bus

The bus on a switcher whose inputs are directly switched to the line-out. Allows cuts-only switching. Also called direct bus and program/background bus.

Production schedule

The calendar that shows the preproduction, production and postproduction dates and who is doing what when and where.

Saturation

The color attribute that describes a color's richness or strength.

Brightness

The color attribute that determines how dark or light a color appears on the monochrome TV screen or how much light the color reflects, Also called lightness and luminance.

Sequencing

The control and the structuring of a shot series during editing.

Running time

The duration of a program or program segment.

Resolution

The measurement of picture detail, expressed in the number of pixels per scanning line and the number of visible scanning lines. It is influenced by the imaging device, the lens, and the TV set that shows the camera picture. Also used snonymously with definition.

Process Message

The message actually perceived by the viewer in the process of watching a TV program. The program objective is the defined process message.

Frame rate

The number of complete video frames the video system is producing each second. The NTSC standard is 30 fps. 480p and 720p scanning systems normally have 60 fps. Standard 1080i HDTV has 30 fps.

Field of view

The portion of a scene visible through a particular lens; its vista. Expressed in symbols, such as CU for close-up.

Preproduction

The preparation of all production details.

ENG (Electronic News Gathering)

The use of portable camcorders or cameras with separate portable video recorders, lights, and sound equipment for the production of daily news stories. It is usually not planned in advance and is often transmitted live or immediately after postproduction editing.

Multicamera System

The use of two or more video camera or camcorders for the capture, selection, recording or transmission of video footage.

Event order

The way event details are sequenced.

Aspect ratio

The width-to-height proportions of the standard TV screen and therefore of all standard TV pictures: 4 units wide by 3 units high. For HDTV the aspect ratio is 16x9. The small mobile media (cell phone) displays have various aspect ratios.

Arc

To move the camera in a slightly curved dolly or truck.

Truck

To move the camera laterally by means of a mobile camera mount. also called track.

Tilt

To point the camera up or down.

Pan

To turn the camera horizontally.

Single-column drama script

Traditional script format for TV and motion picture plays. all dialogue and action cues are written in a single column.

Two-column A/V script

Traditional script format with video information on page-left and audio information on page-right for a variety of TV scripts, such as for documentaries and commercials. Also called A/V format and documentary format.

Wipe

Transition in which a second image, framed in some geometric shape, gradually replaces all or part of the first image.

Digital

Usually means the binary system — the representation of data in the form of binary digits (on/off pulses).

Digital video effects (DVE)

Visual effects generated by a computer or digital effects equipment in the switcher.

Program proposal

Written document that outlines the program objective and the major aspects of a TV presentation.

Script

Written document that tells what the program is about, who says, what, what is supposed to happen and how the audience should see and hear the event.

Key-level control

a switcher control that adjusts the key signal so that the title to be keyed appears sharp and clear. Also called the clip control and clipper.