Glossary: A-D

abstract animation

An aesthetic tenet of animation which sees animation as consisting of lines, shapes and colors, abstract forms to be manipulated by the animator at will. The opposite of naturalistic animation.

act (segment)

A portion or segment of the narrative presented between commercial breaks. Consists of one or more scenes.

actor movement

Typically referred to by the theatrical term, blocking.

actualities

Events from the historical world used in news and sports programs.

additive color

In video, the combination of red, green and blue phosphors to generate all other colors.

ADR

See automatic dialogue replacement.

Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)

Formed in the early 1990s to set standards for U.S. digital television, including HDTV.

aesthetic

A philosophy of the beautiful; criteria which define art (or television) as good or bad. Also used to refer to determining factors of television that are neither technological or economic.

ambient sound

Background sounds of a particular room or location.

analog sound

An electronic replica of a sound wave on audio or video tape; the sound wave is converted into an electronic copy or analog. This type of sound recording is being replaced by digital sound. Vinyl albums and audio cassettes create sound through an analog process; compact discs, DVDs and digital audio tape (DAT) store sound digitally.

anamorphic

A widescreen film process (under such trademark names as CinemaScope and Panavision) used to create an image wider than conventional television's. The aspect ratio of most films made with anamorphic lenses today is 1:2.35, while the conventional television image's aspect ratio is 1:1.33.

antagonist

Character and/or situation that hinders the protagonist from achieving his or her goal(s).

anti-naturalist performance

Performance style in which the viewer is kept aware that the actor is pretending to be a character.

aperture

In terms of a narrative: a conclusion with an ambiguous ending, and/or without resolution, without answering its questions. The opposite of closure. In terms of video and film cameras: the opening through which light passes.

arcing

A term used in television studio production to refer to the semi-circular sideways movement of the camera.

aristocracy

In Marxism, the most elite social class--consisting of individuals who do not work, and hold power through inheritance: kings, queens, princes, princesses, and so on. According to Marx's analysis of history, the aristocracy controlled European countries until the bourgeoisie's rise to power in the decades after the Renaissance.

aspect ratio

The ratio of height to width of a camera screen. The conventional ratio for television has been 1:1.33 (or 3:4), but that may change to 1:1.78 (or 9:16) with the advent of high definition television.

ATSC

See Advanced Television Systems Committee.

automatic dialogue replacement (ADR)

The replacement of lines of dialogue during

-production. Also known as looping.

auteur theory

Posits that a director is the author of a film/television program in the same manner that a writer is the author of a novel. The director is seen as injecting his/her personal artistic vision into a film/television program, and, over time, certain stylistic and thematic tendencies are discernable in the body of the director's work.

axis of action

In the continuity (or 180) system, the line of action around which the space of the scene is oriented.

back light

In the three-point lighting system, the source of illumination placed behind and above the actor. Its main function is to cast light on the actor's head and shoulders, creating an outline of light around the actor to distinguish him or her from the background.

balance

In video and film, the blending of three colors (red, green, and blue in video; yellow, magenta, and cyan in film) to produce a spectrum of colors. Different video processes and film stocks favor some colors over others, resulting in various types of color balance.

base

In film production terms, the celluloid backing of a piece of film to which the emulsion adheres. In Marxist terms, a society's economic system, upon which is built its superstructure.

blocking

The actor's movement around a set; the director's incorporation of the actor into the mise-en-scene.

blue screens

On a newsroom set, areas of the background that are blue (or green), onto which live images or maps are substituted through the chroma key process.

boom operator

The sound technician who physically operates the overhead boom microphone.

bourgeoisie

In Marxist terms, the middle class; owners of the means of production and employers of the proletariat.

Brechtian performance

Anti-naturalist, confrontational performance style based in the theories of German playwright Bertolt Brecht. He demanded that the viewer constantly be made aware of the fact that he or she is watching a play and that he or she should be distanced from the characters (see distanciation).

brand parity

In the context of advertising, when all products are essentially the same. Contrast with a product' unique selling proposition.

Brechtian performance

Anti-naturalists, confrontational performance style based in the theories of German playwright Bertolt Brecht. He demanded that the viewer constantly be made aware of the fact that he or she is watching a play and that he or she should be distance from the characters (see distanciation).

brightness (luminance)

In the context of television's image quality, how bright or dark a color is.

broadcast standards and practices (BSP)

The units within TV networks that make sure offensive material is not broadcast--TV's internal censors.

bug

A small network or station logo superimposed in a corner of the frame.

camera obscura

A darkened chamber with a hole in one wall through which light enters, creating an image of the outdoors on the opposite wall. It was the earliest form of a "camera," and is where the name derives.

camera operator

The person who actually handles the film or video camera.

cardioid microphone

A unidirectional microphone with most of its sensitivity aimed toward the front, and a pickup pattern that resembles an inverted heart.

cathode ray tube (CRT)

A television picture tube. The cathode ray excites the pixels to create the video image.

cause-effect chain

In narrative structure, the way one event leads to (causes) another and is the result (effect) of a previous event.

cel (celluloid)

A transparent sheet of plastic, on which images are drawn and painted in the production of animation.

chiaroscuro

A low-key lighting style, usually in reference to theatrical productions or the dark paintings of Rembrandt.

chroma

See chrominance.

chroma key

An electronic special effects process, specific to video, making a single color (usually blue or green) transparent so that one image may be inserted into another--as in weather maps with a forecaster superimposed over them.

chrominance

The level of saturation of a color; the color's purity, how much or little grayness is mixed with it.

CinemaScope

A widescreen, anamorphic film process with an aspect ratio of 2.35 to 1.

cinematographer

The person overseeing all aspects of the film image--including lighting and the operation of the camera.

cinematography

The process of making a film image, and the characteristics of the film image.

classical Hollywood cinema (Hollywood classicism)

A conventional style of filmmaking with a particular model of narrative structure, editing technique, mise-en-scene, dialogue, music, etc. Narrative is presented in a clear cause-and-effect chain, with definite closure.

classical period

In the history of theatrical cinema, the 1920s-50s when the Hollywood studio system of film production held total power and evolved the classical style of filmmaking. In a genre's evolutionary pattern, the stage during which thematics, narrative structure and audial/visual style are solidified into firm conventions, a recognizable cohesive unit.

close miking

The positioning of a microphone very close to the performer's mouth--often used by radio and TV announcers.

close-up (CU)

A framing that presents a close view of an object or person--filling the frame and separating it or her or him from the surroundings. Conventionally, a TV close-up of a person is from the shoulders or neck up.

closure

Occurs when enigmas opened at the beginning of a program and throughout are resolved; all of the narrative's questions are answered. The opposite of aperture.

code

A set of rules; an historically and/or culturally based set of conventions.

color announcer

A type of television sports announcer; often he or she is a former athlete and/or coach, with first-hand expertise.

compositing

The post-production combination of two or more video/film/digital sources in a single image.

computer-generated imagery (CGI)

Images which are created digitally, usually through computer modeling with wireframe objects.

content analysis

An empirical method of analysis which selects a specific textual component, counts and codes the number of occurrences of this component into a statistical form, resulting in quantifiable data which usually cannot be interpreted beyond the data itself.

continuity editing (invisible editing)

A style of editing that creates a continuity of space and time out of the fragments of scenes contained in individual shots; the shots are arranged to support the progression of the story, thus editing technique does not call attention to itself.

continuity person

The person in a production responsible for maintaining consistency in all details from one shot to the next, including action, lighting, props, and costumes.

continuity system (180 system)

Set of editing conventions that evolved from Hollywood classicism, in which shots are arranged so that the viewer always has a clear sense of where the characters are and when the shot is occurring.

copyright

The exclusive legal rights to perform or sell a song, book, script, photograph, etc. To use copyrighted material (e.g., a piece of music) in a TV program, a fee or royalty must be paid the copyright holder. If there is no copyright the material may be used for free and is said to be in the public domain.

cost per mill (CPM)

The advertising rate charged to TV sponsors, which is quantified per thousand viewers. "Mil" equals "thousand," from the Latin word mile. Thus, the CPM is the cost per thousand viewers.

CPM

See cost per mil.

craning

A movement deriving its name from the mechanical crane on which a camera may be placed. A crane shot is one in which the entire camera, mounted on a crane, is swept upward or downward.

cross-fade

Akin to a dissolve, one sound fades out while the other fades in, resulting in a brief overlap.

CRT

See cathode ray tube.

cultural studies (ethnography)

A critical approach which argues that viewers decode television texts based on their specific ideological position in society; it looks at the interaction between the ideological discourses of the text and those of the viewer.

decoding

In cultural studies, the reader/viewer's interpretation of a text that has been encoded with meaning by its creators.

deep focus

When all planes (foreground, middle-ground and background) of an image are in focus.

deep space blocking

A type of blocking associated with single-camera productions, particularly those shot on location. The depth of the "set" is emphasized by the ability of one actor to be positioned near the camera and another far away; the actors may move toward one another, or participate in independent actions.

definition

In terms of the image quality of film and television, definition refers to the capability of the visual medium to separate and depict detail. Sometimes termed resolution.

demographics

The characteristics of an audience, usually broken down in terms of age, gender, income, race, etc.; used with ratings to set advertising rates.

depth of field

The range in front of and behind the focus distance that is also in focus.

Designated Market Area

Cohesive metropolitan areas that ratings companies use to define television markets.

dialogue

Speech among characters, which does not usually address the viewer. Also, a type of interview in which the voices of the interviewer and the interviewee are both heard, and both persons may be visible on camera.

diegesis

The world in which the narrative is set. In other words, the world fictional characters inhabit.

diegetic sound

Dialogue, music and sound effects that occur in the diegetic space of the television program. I.e., sound that is part of the characters' world.

diegetic space

The physical world in which the narrative action of the television program takes place.

digital audio workstation (DAW)

A computer-based system for digitally editing sound.

digital sound

A technology (e.g., CDs) that converts sound into numbers; this allows computers to process and/or change the recorded sound. It has been replacing analog sound processes (e.g., vinyl albums and audio cassettes).

digital television (DTV)

Television broadcast in a digital format--in contrast to analog formats such as NTSC and PAL. Permits HDTV, multicasting, and enhanced TV.

digital video (DV)

Any video format that relies on digital technology for recording and/or editing. For example, video recorded with a digital camera or edited on a nonlinear editing system.

digital video effects (DVE)

Special effects created with digital, computer-based technology. Compare with electronic effects.

director

A person who is in charge of a television show, on the set or in a control booth, during the actual production process.

discourse

Socially-based belief structures. The viewer brings discourses to the reading of the television text, which contains discourses that match or clash with the viewer's.

dissolve

A special effect wherein simultaneously one shot fades out as the next fades in, so that the two images briefly overlap. Often used to shift from one scene to the next.

distanciation

A technique of Brechtian performance style wherein the actor retains the sense of him/herself as an actor; thus the viewer and actor alike are distanced from the character rather than identifying with it.

DMA

See designated market area.

dolly

A wheeled camera support which permits a rolling camera movement. In conventional television usage, dollying refers to forward or backward movement and trucking (which is accomplished with a dolly) refers to sideways movement.

dominant ideology

In Marxism, the system of beliefs about the world propagated and supported by the society's ruling class.

DTV

See digital television.

dubbing

The replacement of one voice for another.

DV

See digital video.

DVD

A disc the size of an audio CD that can store a feature-length film and include interactive features. There's no consensus on what "DVD" stands for, but when it was introduced to the consumer market in 1997 it was known variously as the "digital video disc" and the "digital versatile disc."

DVE

See digital video effects.

dynamic range

A range of sounds from soft to loud. A measurement of the limits of microphones, recording and playback machines, and other audio equipment.