Video Production Glossary

A video production services company will sometimes use ‘Baby Legs’, which is a short tripod. (Camera crew)

A Baby Plate is used by the Grip of a video production company – it is a steel plate with a baby pin welded to it used primarily as a light mounting or to mount grip heads on a surface such as a box or wall. (Grip/Lighting)

A video production company may refer to a 1kW reference light unit as a baby. The expression is often confusing as it can be employed in the video services industry and film industry to refer to any lighting unit which is a compact version of a standard sized lighting unit. For example, a 2k light which is smaller than the average size used is also called a baby 2k. Grips can be heard using this expression in reference to anything equipment which has a baby plate (5/8 inch stud plate). (Grip / lighting)

When using a zoom lens, the Back Focus adjusts the distance of the camera’s imaging device relative to the lens, to allow lenses of different focal length to be used. (Camera crew)

Background can mean a number of different things in the film production and video production services industries. First, it can refer to the Atmosphere, in which Extras are arranged and organised to simulate a realistic situation. Whilst the same term used in sound editing refers to the ambience of a particular scene (Film or video production / sound)

A common term used to imply that a pre-recorded soundtrack is used to guide a voiceover artist or vocalist wearing cans in the studio. The backing track can be used by a video production company or film maker to mix with the voiceover or singer, or alternatively the backing track may simply be used as a guide reference. (Post production)

Backlights are used by video services companies or film producers to illuminate the rear of a subject or object. (Lighting)

Baffles are used by video producers to control sound reaching the microphones. Video production companies also use baffles to induce sound deadening in recording studios. Baffles are generally made from acoustically dead materials and their primary aim is to eliminate or reduce sound, in order to create a pure source from the direction intended to be captured by the Sound Designer. Sound Baffles are also a good solution for eliminating outside noise when filming in buildings. (Sound)

A Balance Stripe is a magnetic coating applied to the edge of a magnetic tape, enabling the tape to pass ‘flat’ through the magnetic sound heads, eliminating any bumps or distortion. (Sound)

In its simplest form, a Balanced audio cable carries three wires, two for sound and one for grounding the signal, which can be shielded. A common balanced connector is an XLR jack, as found in microphones. (Sound).

Bandwidth refers to the size of the frequencies that a particular piece of equipment can handle. It is used in both Audio and Video and the wider the bandwidth capabilities of equipment, the better the sound or audio capabilities in terms of dealing with a wide range of frequencies. (Sound / Picture)

Bar Sheets are sometimes called Lead Sheets and are used to chart dialogue along with frames duration for every spoken syllable recorded. (Film editing)

Barn Doors enable the shaping and control of illumination for video production companies, TV adverts, live studio audiences or any other kind of production such as indoor sports video productions. They are fully adjustable and mounted directly onto the front of a light unit, controlling and directing light. (Lighting)

A Barney is used during filming by a video production company. A Barney is a jacket which fits over the video or film camera body to make the camera sound proof. A Barney ensures that the sound recordist doesn’t hear the film turn over during filming. Some old cameras can sound like sewing machines and therefore a Barney is essential during video or film production. (Camera crew)

A Base-to-Base Splice is a splice containing the end of a piece of film overlapping the base side of another piece of film, when it is being attached. This is a term used by a video production company during film editing. (Film editing)

In video production, whether the production is for corporate, stage or film usage, Basic Lighting is the description given when using three lights, positioned approximately 120 degrees apart in a triangle. This common technique used in the making of video, corporate video or film is also called 3-poiont lighting. Each light used for Basic Lighting in video production has a special name – The light nearest the front is known as the key light; opposite light (not at the rear) is referred to as the fill light and light positioned at the rear is called the back light. Positioning lights in a video production studio in this way gives depth to the object or subject. The differentiator between the key light and the fill light is in terms of light strength with the key light being the dominant powerful light. The key light produces shadow, allowing the fill light to give soft definition. The backlight is used in basic lighting to ensure that there are highlights to the rear during video production. (Lighting)

Bass describes low frequency or deep sounds, often heard in the home environment through a sub woofer. It is used in video or film production to describe frequencies within an audio track within a video. A video production company will enhance bass in the editing stage to give a production more punch and drama. Adding extra bass to live event or corporate presentations can significantly enhance the audience impact.(Sound)

A Bayonet is a lens mount for heavy lenses during film production. A Bayonet may be used for Zoom Lenses. Also referred to as a PL Mount. (Camera crew)

A Bazooka is a 2K stand used in video production and a Bazooka does not have any support legs. A Bazooka contains a junior hole at one end, with a junior stud at the opposite end. A Bazooka also is used for supporting a camera. A Bazooka normally has a sliding riser. (Grip / lighting / camera crew)

A Big Close Up during video production refers to a shot which is close enough generally to include the whole face. A Big Close Up is used to capture expression or change of expression. A Big Close Up or BCU is not as ‘tight’ as an Extreme Close Up (ECU) which is generally regarded as capturing a very small area such as an eye or mouth. A BCU can also be simply referred to in video production as a Close Up, dependent on the crew involved. The use on-set of the various terms used to describe filming close ups can be quite confusing and can vary from production company to production company, town to town or city to city, however the main cities of London and Manchester in the UK generally use the same terms. Thinktank’s Manchester and London crews are from a variety of backgrounds, having worked across the world prior to joining the London and Manchester production teams. (Camera crew)

The Beat is a musical part of a rhythm, and is generally expressed in Beats per Minute or BPM. A film production company’s sound engineer may talk of Beat when recording the film sound track. The Beat can be used during editing for synchronising events. Usage of the term beat is often used in corporate or sporting videos to describe the need for an ‘upbeat’ production, whereby the overall feel of the corporate or sports video requires a highly positive energy with a faster beat sound, which many corporate directors believe to have a more positive impact upon the effectiveness of corporate videos. (Sound / film & video editing)

A Beaver Board used during video or film production is a 2K pigeon on an apple box – a Pigeon is a large heavy circular disc with a lighting stud – The pigeon is used to position a light on the floor – the lowest form of light stand. (Lighting / Grip)

A Bed is the background music used behind foreground dialog or narration. A Bed is commonly used in corporate video, educational video, scientific films and also for certain styles of documentary productions. Also used for sports, non-musical live events and corporate presentations. (Sound)

The term used by a video production services company to refer to the output of a light used on the film set. (Lighting)

A Beefy Baby is a term used by the film crew during a production for a heavy duty 2K static stand. (Lighting / grip)

A Beep is used to align sound for sync purposes on a sound track. (Sound / video & film editing)

(see also Above the Line) – the term Below the Line means the technical, non-creative production personnel. The term originated during the early years in the film production industry when during the process of drawing the budget plans together, the film production staff were placed below a thick bold line drawn across a production budget form. (Production / finance)

The Best Boy is the assistant Chief Lighting Technician in a video production company or it can also be the position which is the assistant to the Key Grip. (Grip / lighting)

A Best Light is used in Telecine Transfer, a method for producing daily print of film. Best Light is similar to One Light, but the timer has gone through the film more thoroughly, selecting a timing light that is optimum for most of the footage. See ‘One Light’ and see ‘telecine’. (Labs)

BetaCam / BetaCam SP is a conventional tape and tape system reserved for professional usage and has been around since the early 1980’s. It has been extensively used for broadcast TV. (broadcast TV)

Betamax is the infamous victim of the VHS war. Despite VHS cecoming the predominant format, prior to DVD and subsequently Blue-Ray, Betamax has a superior quality to VHS and has a number of die-hard enthusiasts who still use Betamax today. (Consumer)

A Bin is a cloth-bag lined storage container used to store cut film or sound media. The term is used today for the directory on the PC, Mac or storage device which contains stored shots or sound segments. (Film & video editing)

A Bit describes a minor role for an actor, usually involving only a few lines. A Bit part can also be a Cameo, depending on the fame of the actor, however the name Bit part is usually reserved for a jobbing actor rather than a famous one. (Acting)

Bitrate or Bit Rate is the average number of bits contained in second of video or audio data. Bitrates are important as they can indicate quality of video output or audio (for example MP3 files). Also high bitrate files are significantly larger, therefore this is important in situations where bandwidth is important in situations such as use on slow computers or during web streaming, etc.

A Black Leader is an opaque film, also called a Black Opaque Leader. A Black Leader is used for making A and B roll printing due to the fact that it is an emulsion leader which can be cement spliced - only emulsion not plastic can be cement spliced. (Film Editing)

Black Wrap is used for making small flags, in controlling light and for wrapping them. Black Wrap is a type of black aluminium foil. (Grip / lighting)

A Blimp is a housing made from glass fibre, which is used to dampen camera sound for a noisy camera which is being used in film or video production when filming in sync with sound. (Camera crew)

A Blimped Camera is a camera which has been purpose built with internal soundproofing. Therefore a Blimped Camera does not require a Blimp as it is already soundproofed in the design and manufacture process, without the need for a Blimp (Camera Crew)

A Blip Tone is used when filming or making video, to help with the process of synching during film editing. (Film Editing)

Blocking is the process of plotting the position of the talent, camera and audio pickup plus any movement, during any scene. (Production)

A Blonde is an open face 2kW lighting unit. (Lighting)

In film editing, a Bloop is the sound made when a film splice passes the audio heads in the studio. (Post production / sound)

Blooping Tape is used in film production to mask unnecessary parts of a sound track. (Post production / sound)

Blooping refers to the removal of unwanted audio, caused by splices passing through the audio head. This was traditionally cured with adding an additional portion of tape over the splice. (Post Production)

Blowing Up is the process of producing a film enlargement from smaller gauge film – for example, when blowing up from 15 – 35mm. (Labs)

Bluescreen is used in the process of Chromakeying by video production services companies. Bluescreen is a type of special effect (See also Greenscreen) which can be achieved using a painted Bluescreen or Bluescreen roll. Bluescreen can also be commonly referred to as Travelling Matte and is part of special effects. The process of Bluescreen enables a moving subject to be separated from the Bluescreen background, which is then replaced by a false background such as another video, static picture or most commonly in the film industry, a computer generated background, as in films produced with special effects. Bluescreen can be used to produce news programs when the presenter, newsreader or weather presenter is placed in front of a background which changes according to what they are talking about. Bluescreen and Greenscreen are used for Chromakeying due to their unique colours, which are most unlike skin tones. However, keying out backgrounds can be achieved with other colours as well as blue or green. Bluescreen must be lit effectively in order for the process to be effective, otherwise the Bluescreen end result will not appear realistic. (Film production, video production, special effects and post production)

Blu-Ray is the new format for displaying high definition video. Blu-Ray disks are identical in size to DVD disks, however they can contain over ten times more data than a conventional DVD. Blu-Ray disks are read using a blue laser beam, in contrast to DVD disks which are read using a red laser. Most film releases are now in DVD and Blu-Ray, the high definition version being Blu-Ray. There is often confusion when producing corporate DVD with clients specifying High Definition (HD) filming, when DVD players are incapable of showing high definition output. This is likely to be resolved as the Blu-Ray and high definition formats in general are more commonly widespread in consumer and computer technology, however in 2009, at the time of production of this glossary, the use of high definition formats like Blu-Ray for output is reserved primarily for specialist productions, although standard definition DVD and film can be created in HD and then converted to a lower resolution in order to be used at a later date when higher definition equipment is more commonly used. Use of High Definition for broadcasts and post-event distribution is becoming increasingly common for major sporting events, live events, live music concerts and other productions with significant revenue generation opportunities post production. Scientific, medical and nature film documentaries such as Blue Planet are also favourites for filming in HD and distribution or broadcast using HD formats. (Distribution)

The mesh cloth which used for grip scrims is a Bobbinet. A Bobbinet is black and can be used for reducing light from windows during the process of film, video or documentary production. (Grip / lighting)

A Boom Operator is a part of the Sound Crew and is responsible for microphone position. The Boom Operator must work in tandem with the talent and camera crew, to allow the film or video production to proceed without interference, meanwhile capturing the best sound. Boom operators used for live events such as sporting events, music concerts, live shows or presentations have a particularly complex and challenging job to perform – especially when operating under the exacting conditions of major live event filming. (Sound)

A Boom is a telescopic arm used for a camera or microphone. Booms are available in a number of sizes and range from hand held to static in nature. (Sound, camera crew)

A Bottom Chop is a cutter or flag employed in the film or video production industry, used to keep light off the floor. (Grip / lighting)

A Box Rental is the fee paid to crew who provide their own equipment in a video or film production. (Production / finance)

A Bounce Card creates soft lighting. A Bounce Card is usually a white or silver coloured card and works by simply channelling lighting (artificial or natural) during filming. (Lighting)

Bracketing is a common process used by film or video production companies involved in the production of corporate video, educational video, sports video, training videos etc. Bracketing involves filming a number of takes of the same scene, using a variety of f-stops in order to assess the results. (Camera crew / production)

A Branch Holder is a pipe-type device used to hold items such as poles, pipes or similar items during the production process. (Grip / lighting)

Breakdown is the separation of negatives or workprints into individual scenes. (Film & video editing)

A Breast Line is a wire attached to any item which is pulled up high by a crane or pulley. (Grip / lighting).

Brightness is a term used to describe luminosity, a measure of the amount of light in a particular picture. (Production)

A Broad is an open-faced light. (Lighting)

Broadcast quality (or for Broadcast or Broadcast TV) means that a film or video production meets the stringent requirements for general broadcast TV. Compared to non-broadcast quality, Broadcast Quality video productions have excellent colour definition in shadows, good low-light sensitivity, and low noise. (Broadcast TV)

B-roll, or stock footage refers to general footage captured which is not used or intended for use in a particular production. For example, when making a sports training video, general footage may be captured of a stadium, an athlete or equipment, which is then used as stock footage by the video production services company. (Production)

A Brute is an arc light, which is powered by Direct Current. (Lighting)

A Bulk Eraser aligns iron oxide on magnetic tape or film, eliminating all data on the tape. (Editing)

The Bumper is a term used in the film industry to define the beginning section of a movie containing the trademark, logo or title identification. Examples of this are MGM, Universal, Rank, etc. (Distribution)

A Bungee is a term used to describe when a camera is suspended from a dolly, to give an edgy feel to the production, without using a hand held camera. This technique can produce a more cinematic effect especially when making corporate video or corporate DVDs.(Camera crew)

A tape which contains stamped time code information in the corner of the picture. (Film editing)

A Burst is a TV signal component carrying colour information. (Broadcast TV)

A Bus Track is produced by a Sound Recordist during film or video production, when an ambient recording of a room is required. This is used in the final film production, to give a scene a sense of realism. (Film & video production, sound, post-production)

A Bus is found in a mixing environment and is generally the overall output of more than one channel (Electronics / film editing).

A film editing company will refer to a Butt Splice when a splice is made without the film ends overlapping. (Film editing)

Butterfly Kits contain an assorted variety of silks, solids, nets and grifflons. Collectively, they are used for light control. Overhead kits are Butterfly kits with larger items. (Grip)

A slang term used generally in the USA which refers to a Producer who believes they know everything about a technician’s job. Also referred to a BS merchant among other terms, in the UK. (Slang used in US)

A non-overlapping end-to-end splice produced by a process of heat and pressure. (Film editing)

A ’B-Wind’ is a roll of film where the emulsion faces outwards from the core of the roll. (Film editing)