Digital+Media+Glossary

An imaginary line drawn between two subjects or along a line of motion to maintain continuity of screen direction. Crossing it from one shot to the next creates an error in continuity. It is also referred to as the "180-degree rule."
 * action axis **

Extension arm used to suspend a microphone or camera over subject(s) being recorded. Objective is to keep production gear out of a camera's view.
 * boom **

Camera move above or below subject with the aid of a balanced "boom arm," creating sense of floating into or out of a scene. Can combine the effects of a pan, tilt, and pedestal camera move in one fluid movement.
 * booming **

The most common type of unidirectional microphone. The pickup pattern resembles a heart-shaped figure
 * cardioid **

(also called clap stick) Identification slate with hinged, striped top that smacks together for on-camera scene initiation. Originally used to synchronize movie sound with picture. [See lip-sync.]
 * clap board - (Slate) **

A tightly framed camera shot in which the principal subject is viewed at close range, appearing large and dominant on screen. Pulled back slightly is a "medium closeup" while zoomed in very close is an "extreme closeup (ECU or XCU).
 * closeup (CU) **

Superimposing multiple layers of video. Each layer may move independently.
 * compositing **

Reducing the digital data in a video frame, typically from nearly one megabyte to 50 kilobytes or less, by throwing away information the eye can't see. Compression makes it possible to store reasonably large amounts of video on a hard disk. JPEG, Motion-JPEG, MPEG, DVI, Indeo, Fractals and Wavelets are all compression schemes.
 * compression **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Visual makeup of a video picture, including such variables as balance, framing, field of view and texture. These combined qualities form an image that's pleasing to view, and effectively communicates.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">composition **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A microphone that uses a metal diaphragm and a metal backplate with DC voltage applied between them through a load resistor. The type usually installed on camcorders. Also called capacitor or electret condenser, requires a battery or external power source. [See electret condenser.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">condenser **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[1:visual] Logical succession of recorded or edited events, necessitating consistent placement of props, positioning of characters, and progression of time. [2:directional] Consistency in camera-subject relationships, to avoid confusing a viewer's perspective.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">continuity **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simultaneous fade-in of one audio source or lighting effect as another fades out; may overlap temporarily. Transition similar to a video dissolve. [See dissolve, fade.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">cross-fade **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[1] Instantaneous change from one shot to another. [2] Director's command to immediately terminate on-camera action and recording.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">cut **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shot other than the principal action (but peripherally related), frequently used as transitional footage or to avoid a jump cut.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">cutaway **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Editing limited to immediate changes from one scene to another, without smoother image transition capabilities such as dissolving or wiping. [See cut, edit.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">cuts-only editing **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Process or result of selectively recording video and/or audio on finished videotape. Typically involves reviewing raw footage and transferring desired segments from master tape(s) onto new tape in a predetermined sequence. [See assemble edit, in-camera editing, insert edit.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">edit **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Opening image of a program or scene. Usually, it's a wide and/or distant perspective that orients viewers to the overall setting and surroundings.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">establishing shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sounds that have been converted to digital information.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digital audio **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Special visual effects, such as mirror, strobe, freeze frame, mosaic, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digital effects **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compact videocassette format that stores numbers on tape instead of an analog representation of the image, providing the highest resolution and color richness of any consumer format. DV tapes can be copied from one unit to another through a special connector with no generation loss.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digital video (DV or Mini DV) **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Electronic digital picture modification yielding specialty image patterns and maneuvers: tumble, strobe, page turn, mosaic, posterization, solarization, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digital video effects (DVE) **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The process of converting a continuous analog video or audio signal to digital data (ones and zeros) for computer storage.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digitization **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Device that captures and imports video scenes into a computer by converting it into digital information. for capturing moving video.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">digitizer **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Camera support mounted on wheels enabling smooth movement in any direction.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">dolly **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Camera movement toward or away from a subject. Effect may appear same as zooming, which reduces and magnifies the image, but dollying in or out maintains perspective while changing picture size.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">dollying **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Microphone type, also called "moving coil." Works much like a loudspeaker in reverse, employing a simple magnet and wire coil to convert sound waves into an electrical signal.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">dynamic **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Act of composing a shot in the camcorder's viewfinder for desired visual content.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">framing **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Single frame paused and displayed for an extended period during video playback; suspended motion perceived as still snapshot.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">freeze frame **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**headroom** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Space between the top of a subject's head and a monitor's upper-screen edge. Too much headroom makes the subject appear to fall out of the frame.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unnatural, abrupt switch from and to shots identical in subject but slightly different in screen location. Awkward progression makes subject appear to jump from one screen location to another. Remedied with cutaway.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">jump cut **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Small, easily concealed, unobtrusive, and aesthetically pleasing microphone, typically attached to clothing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">lavalier (also lavaliere) **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Analog, tape-based editing. Called linear because once the program is edited scene lengths can not be changed without re-editing all scenes which follow it. Compare with nonlinear editing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">linear editing **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**long shot (LS)** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Camera view of a subject or scene from a distance, showing a broad perspective.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**medium shot (MS)** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Defines any camera perspective between long shot and closeup, viewing the subjects from a medium distance.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">short for "microphone."
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">mic **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Digital "cut and paste" editing that uses computer hard drives instead of tape to store images. Random access allows easy arrangement of scenes in any order. Also eliminates the need for rewinding and allows for multiple dubs without generational loss.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">nonlinear editing **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**nose room** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The distance between the subject and the edge of the frame in the direction the subject is looking. Also called "look room."

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">View of the primary subject with the back of another person's shoulder and head in the foreground. Often used in interview situations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">over-the-shoulder shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**pan** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Horizontal camera pivot, right to left or left to right, from a stationary position.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**pedestal** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A camera move vertically lowering or raising the camcorder, approaching either the floor or the ceiling, while keeping the camera level.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**point-of-view shot (POV)** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shot perspective whereby the video camera assumes a subject's view and thus viewers see what the subject sees.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Any video production activity following the initial recording. Typically involves editing, addition of background music, voiceover, sound effects, titles, and/or various electronic visual effects. Results in completed production.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">post production (post) **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Short for "properties," objects used either in decorating a set (set props) or by talent (hand props).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">props **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cutaway view showing someone's or something's response to primary action/subject. [See cutaway.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">reaction shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Raw, tentative edit of footage in the approximate sequence, length and content of finished program. Gives preliminary indication of eventual actual work. [See edit.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">rough cut **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**rule of thirds** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Composition theory based on dividing the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally and the placement of the main subject along those lines.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**scene** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the language of moving images, a sequence of related shots usually constituting action in one particular location. [See shot]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Text specifying content of a production or performance, used as a guide. May include character and setting profiles, production directives (audio, lighting, scenery, camera moves), as well as dialogue to be recited by talent. [See storyboard.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">script **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Intentional, isolated camera views, which collectively comprise a particular scene. [See scene]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Any short, recorded video-with-audio or audio-only segment for use in an edited program. Usually only a few seconds long and consisting of one phrase or comment. Common component of broadcast news.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">sound bite **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Contrived audio, usually prerecorded, incorporated with a video soundtrack to resemble the real thing. Blowing on a microphone, for example, might simulate wind to accompany hurricane images.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">sound effects **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The audio portion of a video recording, often multifaceted with voiceover, background music, sound effects, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">soundtrack **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">(FX) Tricks and illusions, electronic or on camera. Employed in film and video to define, distort, or defy reality.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">special effects **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Series of cartoon-like sketches illustrating key visual stages (shots, scenes) of a planned production, accompanied by corresponding audio information. [See script.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">storyboard **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Post-production process of adding music and sound effects to, or otherwise enhancing, purifying, "massaging" a final audio track.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">sweetening **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Generic term for the people or creatures assuming primary on-screen roles in a videotaping.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">talent **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Basic lighting approach employing key, back, and fill lights to illuminate subject with a sense of depth and texture. Strategic placement imitates natural outdoor lighting environment and avoids flat lighting. [See back light, fill light, key light.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">three-point lighting **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Camera view including three subjects, generally applicable to interview situations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">three-shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A camera view including two subjects, most generally applicable to interview situations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">two-shot **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vertical camcorder rotation (up and down) from a single axis, as on a tripod.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">tilt **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The process or result of incorporating on-screen text as credits, captions or any other alphanumeric communication to video viewers. [See character generator.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">titling **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lateral camcorder movement that travels with a moving subject. The camcorder should maintain a regulated distance from the subject.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">trucking (tracking) **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Three-legged camera mount offering stability and camera placement as well as consistency in movement. Most are lightweight, used for remote recording. [See monopod.]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">tripod **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Narration accompanying picture, heard above background sound or music, without the narrator being seen on camera. Typically applied to an edited visual during post-production.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">voice-over **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Camera lens with short focal length and broad horizontal field of view. Opposite of telephoto. Supports the perspective of the viewer and tends to reinforce the perception of depth.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">wide-angle **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Variance of focal length from wide-angle to telephoto, or vice versa, in one continuous move. "Zoom in" and "zoom out" are common terms.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">zoom **

Videomaker, Inc. __The Videomaker Guide to Video Production__. Burlington: Elsevier. 2008.