Television Production NOCTI Exam

Production Assistant

an entry-level position. For many it is their first industry job.

Talent

the name for anything performing or appearing in front of the camera

Floor Manager

personnel in charge of making sure everybody is in place and all equipment is ready during a LIVE show. They will also cue talent

Sound Engineers

operate the audio console during the show. Also called mixer

Switcher

(also called vision mixer) device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases compositing video sources together to create special effects

Bus

a row of buttons with each button representing a video source. Pressing a button will select a video to play live

Executive Producer

provides the financial backing for a production

Camera Control Unit

CCU, regulates all the elements of the camera signal. (such as focus, white balance, and color balance)

Broadcasting

depends on cooperate (advertising) or public funding (donations and grants)

Subscription TV

depends on monthly fees from the audience to fund programming

Arbitron

survey organization that keeps track of who's watching what and at what time

Ratings

info of who, what, and when are watching

Shares

a tally of how many people are watching a given program

Demographics

measure of what type of people are watching (race, age, gender, etc.)

Primetime

(between 8-11pm) is the time mot people are at home and watching

Commercials

generate income for the broadcaster to pay for the cost of producing or acquiring the program

Focus Groups

screen a show and meet to discuss likes and dislikes

Concept

the initial idea for a show

Treatment

a brief narrative description of what a program will be

Storyboard

a comic book styled sequence of drawings that will help the crew understand the director's vision

Outline

the scene by scene development of the events in your teleplay

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

an organization to license Radio and Television stations. They determine the standards and practices

American Society of Composer and Performers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI)

two organizations (full name and letters) that license music rights to show producers

Release Form

all persons appearing in a film must sign this which gives the film maker the right to use the face and likeness of the performer in the finished film

Copyrighted Material

intellectual property belonging to the copyright holder. Permission must be obtained before using their work

Synchronization Rights

permission by the music copyright holder for you to use that music under a scene in your film

Lower Third

graphic used to identify an on-camera speaker (his name appearing under him)

Crawl

a title moving along the bottom of the screen left to right (Cali term)

Roll

stack of titles that run up the screen (Cali term)

Spotlight

creates sharp directional beam of light onto a controlled specific area of the subject

Floodlight

creates even washes of light over whole set

Fill light

reduces shadows

Contrast Ratio

the difference between the brightest and darkest area of the frame

Three Point Lighting

accomplished with the use of three lights; key, fill, and rim (also called back or hair light)

Barn Doors

mechanical flaps on the sides of lighting instruments that open and close on hinges to control shape of the light and where it falls

Fresnel Lights

light fixtures with lenses in front of the bulb. These lenses have concentric rings etched into the glass and they smooth out the edge of the pool of light they create, softening it

Gels

plastic sheets of specific colors placed over lighting instruments that tint the light a specific hue or color

LED Lamp

light emitting diode

Tones

frequency or pitch, used by audio engineers to adjust playback equipment so accompanying media is at a comfortable volume for the audience

Lavier Microphones

small mics that are hidden in necktie clips in upper shirt button holes

Background Music

supports narrative or and enhances the mood of the scene

Transponder

both a transmitter and a receiver (like walkies)

Dollying

moving the camera and the tripod forward or away from an object on Z

Trucking

moving the camera and the tripod from side to side on X parallel to the picture plane

Panning

to swivel (pivot) or rotate the camera on X horizontally

Tilting

moving the camera lens up and down on Y without moving the tripod

Pedestaling

moving the camera up and down on Y, lowering and raising the base

Headroom

blank space left between the top of the object or subject and the upper edge of the frame

Leadroom

term for the space left in front of a person moving on X toward the edge of the frame

OTS

abbreviation of "over the shoulder"

CU

abbreviation of "close up"

ECU

abbreviation of "extreme close up"

ELS

abbreviation of "extreme long shot"

MS

abbreviation of "medium shot"

Cutaway or Insert

avoid jump-cuts

RCA Cable

yellow, red, and white cables that carries both audio and video signals

XLR Cable

rubberized cable that carries audio signal

14" Phone Jack

used to carry audio signal (used for headphones)

BNC Cable

used to carry video signal only

Streaming video

viewed over the internet

Keyframe

point of which something changes (speed, direction, scale, color, exposure)

ALPHA Channels

determines transparency. Looks just like RGB color channels except it's value doesn't represent color value, but rather transparency

RGB Color Space

any additive color space based on the RGB color model defined by three chromaticities of the red, green, and blue additive primaries

Chrominance

measure of color

Luminance

measure of light

Interactive Video

gives viewer control over how and what is seen when viewing a program

Teleprompter

a monitor with lines written on it for the talent to read from

3 Camera Set Up

three cameras feeding live streams to the switcher where the newsreader (anchor) is looking at whichever camera LIVE while speaking to the audience

W=(VA)

the formula for watts (watts, amps, and voltage)

Character Generator

a machine containing graphic design elements that allows texts and graphics to be superimposed "live" over the talent during 3 camera shoot by CG Operator

Slates

clappers or sticks used at beginning of each shot to identify the take

Electronic News Gathering (ENG)

sports/news item captured live in the field

Shot Logs

list of camera takes written down on the location during the shoot

Raw Footage

unedited takes on the camera roll or SD card

Striking

refers to dissembling an set after wrapping

Floor Plan

used by the director to block camera shots

Set Dressing

items on a set such as pictures, lamps, etc, that are not props because they aren't handled or referred to by performers

Production Schedule

list of start times for the major events in the production (shoot dates, locations, wrap dates, editorial dates, etc)

Zebra Stripes

diagonal parallel lines in the viewfinder or monitor to indicate that that portion of the frame has reached maximum exposure

Auditions

help determine skills/capabilities of a performer

Proper Z Blocking

arranging people and props along the z-axis in close proximity and toward/away from the camera.

Moire Effect

occurs on costumes or set elements that have high contract stripes and delicate patterns

Body, Lens, and Viewfinder

the three major parts to studio cameras

Aperture

hole in the iris of a lens

F-stop

calibrated ring on the lens indicating the aperture setting

Charged Couple Device (CCD)

most common light-sensitive imaging surface on a video camera. Splits the white light into its red, green, and blue components

Spreader

(aka as spider) used to stabilize tripod legs by applying to the bottom. Prevents from moving too far apart under a heavy camera load

GYB Arm

camera support or rig that allows the operator to pedestal, pan and tilt the camera during the move (aka crane)

Quick Release Plate

tripod mechanism that facilitates quick and accurate mounting and dismounting of the camera to the tripod head

Deep Depth of Field

all objects in the scene on Z are rendered in sharp focus

Shallow Depth of Field

only thin band on Z is rendered in sharp focus

White Balance

set to ensure colors are recorded correctly before shooting

Time-Base Corrector

synchronizes a tape source to house sync to ensure that all cameras and recorders are taking frames at the same time

Shot Gun Microphone

unidirectional mic that hears very little to its left and right , little behind it, and everything in front of it

Cardiod Microphone

records in a heart shaped pick up pattern

Feedback

happens when an audio loop occurs between the speaker and the microphone attached to it

AVU Meter

used to monitor audio recording levels and quality

Crossfading

in AUDIO, fading one sound down while simultaneously fading another sound to replace it

Crossdissolving

in PICTURE, fading one image while replacing it withe another imahge

Capturing

transferring digital video from tape or SD card to a hard drive