Descriptionary

opening billboard an opening preview or the open­ing credits of a program. Also, an announcement of sponsors, such as "brought to you by . . ."

opticals optical effects; examples are dissolves, fades, superimpositions, and wipes.

outcue the last four words in an interview, dia­logue, or newscast, used as a cue to the engineers and director to roll music and run the credits. Also, known as endcue.

outtakes unused portions of a program tape, edited out due to flubbed lines or other mistakes.

pan a bad review of a program. Also, a direction to the cameraman to sweep slowly across a scene for a panoramic effect.

pan and scan the method by which a motion picture's widescreen aspect ratio is changed to make it suitable for TV broadcast. See also letterbox format.

Pan-Cake the heavy makeup used by performers.

paper cut a written schedule or list of cuts and splices keyed to time cues made before the actual edit­ing takes place.

PAR light a commonly used spotlight having a par­abolic aluminized reflector.

people meter an electronic system for tracking TV viewers to establish ratings, adopted by A. C. Nielsen in 1987 to replace the diary system.

Pepper's ghost a simple special-effects method of producing a ghost image. A camera shoots through an angled mirror to create a reflection of the subject; invented by scientist John Henry Pepper.

performance royalties payments made by a broad­caster to a songwriter or publisher for the right to play their music.

pod a group of commercials.

poop sheet a trivia information sheet on athletes, used by sports announcers between plays in a game.

preempt to broadcast a special in place of a regu­larly scheduled program.

preview monitor a monitor from which the director chooses the picture to be used by various cameras.

prime time the time period having the largest view- ership, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

producer one in charge of financing and staffing a show. In addition to the business end of a program, a producer may also oversee some creative aspects of a show.

prompter a device that enables an actor or announcer to read off a script while looking into the camera. See prompter script, TelePrompTer.

prompter script a script transmitted to a monitor on top of or beside a camera, or superimposed on the camera lens itself for reading but not seen by the TV audience.

quad split an optical effect in which four different scenes appear on the screen at the same time.

residual a royalty or payment made to a performer for use of their taped performance beyond the origi­nal contract.

ripple dissolve a dissolve or fade in which the scene ripples or wavers into the next scene, as in a dream sequence or flashback.

rostrum camera a camera designed to shoot art­work on a table, for animation.

rotoscope a prism and lamphouse device used on a special-effects camera to produce traveling mattes.

rug slang for background music in a commercial.

scale minimum standard fee for a performer or model.

scoop the most frequently used light in TV, spe­cifically a 1,000-watt floodlamp having a shovel-like reflector. Also known as a basher.

set the location of a TV production; the scenery, furnishings, props, lighting, and equipment of a TV program.

set and light director's order to get the set and light­ing ready for shooting.

shaky-cam slang for a handheld camera.

shooting log a notebook with details of a day's shooting and the camera equipment used. Also known as a camera log.

shooting schedule the schedule of when each shot in a movie or TV show will be made, usually out-of- sequence to the storyline but later edited in order.

shot box on a TV camera, a control panel for zoom and other focus changes.

signature montage a sequence of brief, identifying scenes used as an introduction to a program.

simulation a reenactment of an event, used fre­quently in news programs.

simulcast a program broadcast simultaneously on radio and TV, as a concert or presidential speech.

sister station a TV station affiliated with the same network as another station.

sitcom situation comedy.

snake a special studio cable that combines several cables.

sound bite a quick clip of a quote made by a politician or other newsworthy person, aired on a newscast.

sound dissolve the fading out of sounds in one scene followed by the fading in of sounds from an upcoming scene, a transitional device.

spider a junction box for several electrical outlets, used in studios.

spider dolly a camera mount comprising projecting legs on wheels.

splice to join two pieces of film or tape together.

splicing charge a fee sometimes charged for splicing a commercial into a program.